As we wrap up National Poetry Month, teacher/novelist Michele Dunaway returns with more tips about teaching poetry in the classroom. In the teacher's battle to "defeat the poetry monster," Michele encourages a musical approach.  Continue reading...

We welcome back Michele Dunaway, who teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri, when she's not writing best-selling romance novels. Here Michele argues that to get students excited about books in this highly distracted era, choosing the right literature to read is key.  Continue reading...

After "How can you possibly stand being around so many kids all day long?" and "Why do you look so tired all the time?", the question I get asked most often is "How do you get your students to write?"  Continue reading...

We caught up with Timothy Gangwer, a pioneer in the field of visual learning and the author of Visual Impact, Visual Teaching, and asked him some hard questions about how teachers can expand their teaching methods to keep pace with the current generation of visual learners.  Continue reading...

I'm in mourning this week: my school is closing. Not the one I work in now, but Stella Maris High School, a small (ultimately, apparently, too small) Catholic girls' school, which I've always described as "on the beach in Queens." It really is on the beach — just about 50 yards from the sand. When we had fire drills, we dispersed to the boardwalk. Stella might be the only school in New York City where students were routinely chastised for wearing bikini tops under their uniforms.  Continue reading...

Michele Dunaway teaches English and journalism at Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Missouri, but she has a double life: she's also a best-selling romance novelist. Michele has some compelling advice to teachers of writing: "teach the basics first and worry about voice later."  Continue reading...