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...

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...

Here are a few summer programs that provide incentives for students who reach their reading goals.  Continue reading...

I'm an avid reader, and when I was little, I'd ride my bike down to the library bookmobile at the start of June and sign up for the summer reading program. Each week I'd read book after book, make the pilgrimage and watch my goal chart fill up with stars.  Continue reading...

Figment is an online community for teens and young-adults to create, discover, and share new reading and writing. Figment enables its users to read amateur and professional content and create their own unfiltered creative writing to share with their peers on web and mobile networks. Since launching in December, Figment has more than 35,000 registered users and more than 75,000 individual pieces of writing. Check it out here!

I was recently asked by a young and annoyingly successful poet how I thought language learners dealt with the special demands that poetry puts on the reader, and the discussion that followed led us into a marvelous land.  Continue reading...