In his best-selling grammar book for teachers of English as a foreign language, Basic English Usage (1984), Michael Swan famously used the term "taboo words" to discuss words that we tend to skirt around in the classroom, and this term entered the EFL teachers lexicon from that point on.  Continue reading...

When The New York Times was at its former site just off Times Square, and before the days of computers, when reporters clacked away on typewriters in a newsroom the size of an aircraft carrier flight deck, my high school journalism class and I toured the building annually, visiting the layout department, the newsroom and the press room.  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...

Okay, now that I've got your attention, let's talk hooks. In journalism we might call these leads, but the general concept is the same. Those first few lines are essential in catching your reader's attention, whether you're a novelist or a student writing an essay.  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...

I'm going to let teachers in on a little secret. One of your best allies in top-notch instruction is your school librarian.

However, it always amazes me how many teachers fail to think of the librarian as a teaching partner.  Continue reading...