I recently went to see a production of John Ford's play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, a 17th-century British delight that is easily one of my all-time favorite titles to get to say. The production was excellent, but my companion and I were disappointed that the company we saw chose to drop the last line of the play, when (spoiler!) the Cardinal in the play says, "...who could not say, 'tis pity she's a whore?" Yes, that's right, they cut the line that gives the play its title. The play felt incomplete, and incorrectly named, without it.  Continue reading...

Last month, I suggested a dozen or so "approachable" poems, which I've used successfully in my poetry-abhorring classroom. This column builds on that, as I share some of the ideas I've used to help my students write poetry in the classroom.  Continue reading...

Before I began teaching, I had assumed that the many stories I had heard about how students don't like poetry were just myths. After all, I liked (some) poetry, so why wouldn't my students like (some) poetry? But unlike nearly every other myth I've dismissed in my time as a teacher, the one about poetry proved to be true: Nothing makes my students whine more than being handed a poem.  Continue reading...

Our words matter.

Of course, you know that — you're choosing to read words about words here at the Visual Thesaurus, so the chances are very good that you love words, love learning about them, love using them. You may even love correcting people who've misused words.  Continue reading...

Shannon Reed writes: "Texting, Twitter, Facebook statuses, IMing... all of these take up more of teenagers' lives than reading, hand-writing or (I suspect) conversing these days. Thus, I wanted to find a way to incorporate this familiar way of communicating into my curriculum."  Continue reading...

With the rising emphasis on preparing students for standardized tests in reading, writing and math in the classrooms of the U.S. today, it's easy for the "other" subjects — Science, Foreign Language, Social Studies, the Arts and so on — to feel neglected. As an English teacher, I feel the disparity too, especially in teaching the upper grades.  Continue reading...

Hi, Teachers at Work readers! I've dragged myself up from my beach towel and stowed my mojito away so that we can take a look together at some basic vocabulary for studying plays in your classroom. Hey! Don't throw those beach umbrellas at me! It's not my fault that the New York City school year starts after Labor Day! Seriously, though, this column should help you whenever you want to incorporate theatre into your class.  Continue reading...