• Constructivist strategies
• Using Socratic questions
• Multiple intelligence theory
• The lesson
• Group work
• Why civics is important
• Standards
• Her background
• Evolution of her teaching style
• Advice to other teachers

Alice Chandler: Constructivist teaching is bringing reality through the lesson to your students. This is a way of getting young people to understand how to really function. We’re talking about really knowing what you read in the newspaper and what other people are thinking. I don’t want them going away with something that remains in the textbook, something that remains on the page. I want it to be something they can really utilize in life. I have to give them some type of foundation with some real skills that they can use once they leave Ellington.

I also find that it provides a bonding, not only [for me] with my students, but also [among] students, which I think is far more important than anything else. These students are forming networks. It’s very important that students understand that as artists they often can share information that will help them become successes in their lives. So I’m bringing reality [to the lesson]. Students want to come to class, they want to participate, and they want to show what they are intelligent about. I get immediate feedback.