Our youngest generation is a scarce and precious resource facing a human wave of global competition. This reality is changing the way teachers think of literacy, and more importantly, it is changing their classroom practice. Teachers across the entire curriculum spectrum are beginning to realize that they are responsible for producing learners who possess the literacy skills needed for the 21st Century. They are realizing that literacy is the ability to comprehend all sorts of text, and helping students accomplish the goal of comprehension requires more than asking them to open a book and read the chapter.  Continue reading...

Looking for a good read or good reading about good reads? Check out these university press blogs for reviews, interviews and tidbits about the wide-ranging and fascinating books they publish:

Indiana University Press Blog

University of California Press Blog

University of Nebraska Press Blog

University of Hawai'i Press Blog

Off the Page (the Harvard University Press author forum)

These books offer advice, know-how and personal experience for teachers striving to grow professionally:

The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom by James Stigler

Becoming a Better Teacher by Giselle O. Martin-Kniep

Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esmé Raji Codell

Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students by Gregory Michie

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How do you effectively communicate -- sell -- your ideas in the marketplace? Anne Miller, a speaker, author and corporate trainer, answers this way: Think in metaphors. Metaphors? Review a speech by Ronald Reagan, Jack Welch or Steve Jobs -- or other legendary communicators -- and you'll read prose laced with imagery and analogies that drive their points home. As the author of Metaphorically Selling, Anne teaches businesspeople to put metaphors to work in their own communication. We spoke to her about her approach:  Continue reading...

I kept hearing about joy, but what I saw was struggle. Doubt. Anguish. I heard praise, but even without looking, I stumbled upon notes of opposition that told -- just maybe -- a different story. The year was 2002 and I was in Puerto Rico on a research trip, watching archival footage of the famous Spanish cellist Pablo Casals.  Continue reading...