This American Life 474: “Back to School”
I’m not always a big fan of This American Life. But Ira Glass nailed last Sunday’s episode, “Back to School,” and I recommend that you ...
Category: teaching
On the Common Core and its “informational texts”
The Common Core standards call for a major shift in reading in schools, from mostly fiction to mostly nonfiction. Many English teachers are up in arms. What ab...
Using think-alouds to teach reading
By high school, most teachers don’t help their students read better. Instead, this is what typically happens: The teacher assigns a reading for homework,...
Another unsolicited text from a former student
Three days in a row! Today’s text: “You were my all-time fave English teacher.” (Pretty soon, I’m going to begin to wonder whether my s...
Today’s text from a former student
These unsolicited texts from former students are becoming a regular thing. Here is today’s: “I’m the only person in my class that has read Th...