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...

Bob Greenman is an award-winning educator who spent 30 years in Brooklyn, New York teaching English and journalism at James Madison and Edward R. Murrow High Schools. Here Bob shares how he kept track of student progress with "Delaney cards," and how revisiting those cards brought back a flood of memories.  Continue reading...

Last week, the College Board reported that SAT reading scores have reached an all-time low. The Class of 2011's SAT reading scores dipped another three points from the previous year (down to 497), and that makes it a whopping 33-point drop since 1972. The bleak news should leave teachers and administrators taking a hard look at how we are preparing students (or not) for the skills that are tested on the reading section of standardized exams.  Continue reading...

In my column "The Dead Letter Classroom," I argued that we needed to be teaching students how to write letters. In this piece, I'm going to tell you specifically how I do it and how I use letters to teach English skills in a timely, relevant manner.  Continue reading...

Margaret Hundley Parker teaches writing at the college level, and for the new school year she's finding inspiration from an unlikely source: songs by the band Talking Heads (and Radiohead and The Doors, too). Find out why she thinks writing teachers should start their year by "burning down the house."  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...