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An essay by the 2008 Republican Party Presidential Nominee.

Last year, our staff adopted the positive discipline approach to replace ineffective no-tolerance policies. Positive discipline is based on the practice of problem-solving instead of punishment. At its core are weekly class meetings, where students work through problems together. At the beginning of the year, teachers “train” students to present problems and offer solutions. Within this process, both teachers and students explore topics such as mutual respect, encouragement and recognizing mistaken goals. One of the biggest challenges is to shift our focus from punishment to solutions.

Teachers often have mixed feelings as the new school year approaches, but one of the most common—and least talked about—is dread. Here’s what the TT Advisory Board had to say about it.

Educators can’t display religious symbols in public schools, but that does not mean religious symbols can never appear in the classroom. So when is it OK?

Middle school teachers struggle to find ways to respond to bullying, teasing, name-calling and exclusionary practices among students. We tread lightly sometimes, afraid of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time thus making conditions worse for a bullied student. Being heavy-handed almost never works. Students also know how to say the right thing to adults and then act in a completely contrary way towards peers.

This history teacher offers a strategy for teaching about the presidential election. It starts with organizing ideas into three categories: consensus, legitimately controversial and out of bounds.

Heritage months offer opportunities to model yearlong inclusive teaching practices.

In 1964, my third-grade teacher relied mainly on an air of motherly authority to maintain control over her classroom of more than 50 8-year-olds. But when pushed, she warned darkly of deploying her spanking machine.

Talking to kids about immigrant stereotypes.