Teacher planning is a necessary process by which educators establish, facilitate, monitor, and evaluate lessons and learning within their classroom. For art educators, sketchbooks have been a foundational pillar in art curricula. The sketchbook has a lengthy legacy of yielding common, structured assignments. However, recent considerations have reframed sketchbook practices. Contemporary analysis has produced a pedagogical shift in approaches to sketchbooks and planning for sketchbook inclusion in the classroom. The sketch-plan book offers art teachers a streamlined resource to collect and maintain lesson ideas and inclusions, track on-going lessons, and plan for future teaching and learning. The purpose of this work is to explore an art teacher’s sketch-plan book usage as a resource and tool in the secondary art room.

This study documented the initial planning process of a group of sixth grade teachers on a collaborative team over a six-month period. Using action research, this team of teachers examined their own practices of planning and implementing instruction. The teachers identified a focus area, planned for instruction, implemented the plan, observed the results of their plan, reflected upon the results and revised the plan (Kemmis and Wilkinson, 1998) to map their instruction. The teachers used archival, conventional and inventive information sources (Calhoun, 1994) to collect their data on the identified focus areas. The teachers used the concept of curriculum mapping (Jacobs, 1997) to plan instruction for their assigned students. The researcher originally had planned to assume three roles in the study: a coach or facilitator, a participant and a participant-observer. As the study progressed the researcher also assumed the role of a member/learner (Mertens, 1998) in the process. Classroom observations, transcribed audio-tapes of planning meetings, field notes, teacher lesson plans, the team's reflection journal, teacher biographical information, interviews and visual curriculum maps designed by the teachers provided data for the study. Emergent themes in teacher planning included instructional design, student personal information and parent communication. The themes were defined by the supporting actions of the teachers. Instructional design was defined in the study with mapping, curriculum and instructional strategies. Student personal information encompassed personal learning styles, information regarding student feelings and behaviors, and instructional strategies specifically identified for individual students. Parent communication included school, classroom and student information shared with parents. The research questions explored were: How does the planning process take place? How did the planning process change as the team worked through the action research process? The findings show that: (1) a team of teachers can become stronger when they articulate their plan for instruction in writing (or in this case, drawing). (2) The concept of curriculum mapping can be a vehicle to insure a systematic instructional planning process. (3) Teachers detail individual assessment and instruction in planning sessions, lesson plans or curriculum maps. (4) Action research can provide a means for teachers to examine their own practices in a non-threatening format when they identify the focus areas of examination. (5) Teachers can learn from each other and share learned information in team planning if they perceive shared beliefs. (6) Teachers can plan for the success of all students when they consider essential questions to be learned and the individual learning styles of their students. (7) Teachers and administrators can work collaboratively in examining planning and instructional practices. (8) Teachers can identify their own professional growth needs when they examine their own practices. The findings also indicated that these middle school teachers created their own visual description of their planning for instruction, bringing ownership and empowerment to the process. The implication of these research results is that teacher planning in a team can be a powerful force in the improvement of instruction influencing the design of an instructional plan, the implementation of the plan and teacher reflection on the results of the plan in student learning and success within the classroom. Recommendations for future research are discussed. / Ed. D.

Florida has experienced some of the greatest growth of Advanced Placement (AP) programs in recent years and student scores on the AP exams have evolved into a highly significant metric in evaluating student proficiency and teacher and school effectiveness. Despite this growth, it is not well known how AP teachers make decisions about the content they teach, what learning activities they select, how much the AP exam influences their decision making, how they modify learning opportunities for diverse learners, and how they prepare their students for the College Board AP exam. This interpretive, phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of four AP U.S. History teachers whose students consistently achieve pass rates above the Florida average. The study examines how these teachers interpret competing environmental factors, construct meaning, and develop course plans and classroom environments for their students that lead to successful outcomes. Four successful AP U.S. History teachers were selected from a large school district in central Florida and invited to participate in the study. Participants were purposefully selected to create a sample where all participants possessed the "intensity" characteristic of successful student performance but where variability in the high school settings and individual teacher demographics were maximized. Data collection consisted of a pre-interview survey, a classroom observation, and three one-hour semi-structured interviews for each participant. The four participants' data were used to construct interpretive phenomenological narratives to share the lived experiences of these successful AP teachers. Additionally, analysis of participant data yielded participant and inter-participant themes. Findings indicate that the successful teachers in this study were highly organized, developed supportive and caring classrooms, and designed their courses, in large part, based on their own personal beliefs about what a college experience should be like. While all teachers in this study reported considerable academic diversity in their individual classrooms, the greatest effects of academic diversity were seen when comparing teachers in different academically performing schools where teachers adapted their pacing, content, and methods to the academic skills of their students. The significant impact of the AP exam on all dimensions of teacher course planning and decision making was clearly evident throughout this study. Implications of these findings are that educators and administrators should select AP teachers carefully, recognize that the academic characteristics of students influence these classrooms, and be cognizant that they surrender a significant degree of control over content and skills taught in these types of classes. Furthermore, given the nature and size of the current AP program, policymakers and the College Board should examine whether they provide sufficient curricular-instructional guidance to teachers, students, and other stakeholders.

This study aimed to investigate how teachers integrated the development of students&#039 / critical thinking skills into their teaching during the three major phases of their teaching, namely, their planning practices, interactive practices, and reflective practices and to evaluate the influence of their instruction as felt by students in fourth grade Turkish course. The study was conducted as a comparative case study in which three teachers from three different primary schools participated. Data were collected through classroom observations, interviews with teachers and their students, logs written by students and documents. The findings of the study indicated that, in the planning stage, factors such as autonomy, methodological stance and relevance played a role on the level of teachers&#039 / incorporation of critical thinking into the process. In the lessons, their classroom climate and management, perception of their realm of influence, their approach to challenge and tendency to create a common frame of reference were found to have an effect on the ways their students were involved in critical thinking processes. Furthermore, metacognitive skills and critical reading skills, together with others, were addressed by teachers in different ways. In their reflection, the way they referred to the strengths and weaknesses of their lessons and the way they evaluated their students&#039 / learning as well as their discrimination of thinking concepts and the ways they dealt with assumptions underlying students&#039 / reasoning involved elements revealing their approach to critical thinking. Among students, some interactive patterns, curiosity and interest constituted the factors that motivated students to think critically.

Limited research has focused on the knowledge, beliefs, and professional practices of elementary educators related to digital citizenship. The purpose of this study was to identify elementary educators' knowledge and beliefs about digital citizenship, as well as understand their plans and implemented practices, supports, and barriers related to digital citizenship instruction. This study was grounded in Mezirow's theory of transformative learning, Siemen's theory of connectivism, and Ribble's concept of digital citizenship. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data collected from an original survey instrument developed from the literature by the researcher. Participants were recruited using publicly accessible email addresses and the monthly newsletter from Hawaii Society for Technology Education; a total of 74 educators completed the survey. All educators in the district who met the demographic criteria of working at the elementary level as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, or technology coordinator were welcome to participate in the study. Data were analyzed for frequencies and percentages to develop generalized statements about the population. The results indicated, on average, that educators rated themselves with high knowledge and beliefs about digital citizenship concepts with the exception of digital law. Additionally, correlational analysis revealed schools with greater adoption rates of 1:1 technology-device integration had a significant impact on professional practices in digital citizenship implementation and overall instructional practices. This research study contributes to positive social change by helping educational leaders identify what is needed to support educators in teaching with digital citizenship, and especially in supporting those educators in schools which are further behind in adopting 1:1 technology integration.