Teachers Seize Chances To Be Students Again

By David J. Hoff

On the first day of school this fall, thousands of teachers will be able to write riveting essays about how they spent their summer vacations.

Some 100 will tell of digging for artifacts in Colorado that will provide clues to life there almost 1,000 years ago. Another 800 might re-create the improvisational plays they performed in one of New York City's leading performing-arts centers. And 100 more may write of their trips to a San Francisco museum where they saw science in action.

This summer, more than ever, teachers are expected to take part in professional development that expands their own knowledge and gives them new classroom activities. Such adventures go beyond the workshops available during the school year and offer a chance at in-depth...