I have to admit that I have a problem in teaching the verb to get to English language learners. It's not just that it is a verb that has multiple meanings depending on context — around a dozen, I'd say. No, the bigger problem for me is that I haven't recovered from it being a prohibited item when I was a kid.  Continue reading...

Shannon Reed has been teaching English and theatre in New York City schools for the past eight years, and for four of them we've been privileged to feature her columns in our Teachers at Work series. Now, however, Shannon is moving on, and here she reflects on lessons learned from her teaching career.  Continue reading...

As my school year draws to a close and I pack the box to head over to another building and teach summer school, I've paused for a minute of reflection. So I'll share some of my thoughts with you. First, reflecting back on the school year is something that needs to be done. Too often (and yes, I'm guilty on occasion, too) we close the door, yell hooray and try to forget the past. After all, isn't that what summer's about? So we start fresh in the fall?  Continue reading...

In this Wordshop article, Susan Ebbers provides teachers with some creative suggestions for showing students how to make the most of adjectives, "those fabulous descriptors that comprise about one-fourth of the words in the language."  Continue reading...

Almost 30 years ago, back in the stone ages of 1983 when records debuted on vinyl and the idea of iTunes just another science fiction, my Advanced Placement English teacher Claudine Vignery taught me something I still use today. She taught me that everything is connected. At the end of a unit she'd let us listen to music. She'd pick out a song, put it on the record player, and for around three to four minutes we'd sit quietly and listen.  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 he recalls how he he used objects encountered in everyday life as the inspiration for enjoyable and effective vocabulary instruction.  Continue reading...