This semester I’m teaching Adolescent Literature for the first time . . . and loving it. As a former 8^th grade Language Arts teacher, I was immersed in the texts that my students were reading. We would talk about texts, share book suggestions, and laugh/cry together over the characters’ predicaments.

Many may have heard of the popular resource book from Harry Wong titled, “The First Days of School.” In the book, the author urges teachers that effective classroom management takes modeling, repetition, and most importantly, preparation!

That is why the first days of service learning are so important to the effectiveness of the projects, activities, and learning that will ensue.

A current debate is raging in professional counseling associations surrounding the issue of professional identity of counselors.

Are "modernization" and "westernization" synonyms? Is "modern" technology essentially a "western" - i.e. Euro-American - invention? These are important questions for students and teachers to consider, especially in today's rapidly globalizing socioeconomic milieu.

As educators assigned with teaching the same or similar courses year after year, it is inevitable that we will reuse/recycle some instructional materials from course to course. This is especially true with foundational courses, since the fundamentals of the field rarely change much between one semester and the next. However, that being said, it still remains our duty to ensure that, in reusing course materials, we don't exhibit the kind of professional complacence/sloppiness that invites ridicule from our students!

Those working in the field of multicultural education recognize that there are diverse ways in which human beings are diverse ... culture, socioeconomic class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and so on. And when these multiple diversities interact, they produce patterns of breathtaking complexity reminiscent of fractal geometry.

The Association of Michigan School Counselors (AMSC) and the Michigan School Counselor Association (MSCA) are hosting a joint spring conference on April 27, 2009 at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

[Editor's Note: MySpace is a social networking site whose former popularity has been eclipsed by other services, such as Facebook and Twitter. While referencing MySpace may date the following post, the underlying concepts are nonetheless highly applicable to current issues. - 2011]

To read press accounts, one would think that Stacey Snyder was dismissed from her teacher preparation program at Millersville University solely because she posted a picture of herself on her myspace site with the caption “drunken pirate” posted underneath. However, like most press accounts, there’s more to the story…much more.

The Dean of the College of Education at Grand Valley State University holds a Professional Advisory Council (PAC) meeting every two years, inviting superintendants and principals from the tri-county area to help the College of Education with feedback about pre-service teachers. This year’s focus was on service-learning, and as an added bonus, all who participated were able to be a part of a workshop/presentation by international service-learning consultant Cathryn Berger Kaye.

Students and teachers at three Grand Rapids Public Schools worked to give a little warmth to those in need. Along the way, they learned that in order to get a little help, you need communication skills, determination, and the ability to see a project through.