Have you noticed how the word awesome once meant "awe-inspiring" or "extraordinarily good," but now just means, well, "good"? It's a case of semantic inflation, according to The Economist's Robert Lane Greene. Read his fascinating exploration of the word's plunge into mediocrity in Intelligent Life magazine here.

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...

This year, don't just Google it, Google Scholar it! When students are in search of reliable sources for their research, have them visit Google Scholar to find articles, books, and court opinions on an endless number of topics. Start searching here.

Ever wonder what those squiggly words are that you have to spell in order to get past security on many websites? They're called CAPTCHAs, and Mike Pope, a technical writer and editor at Microsoft, has the full story on them.  Continue reading...

I was having coffee with a friend of mine recently and she started telling me about the "voices" inside her head. As soon as she described the voices, I laughed in recognition, "Oh, we all have devils on our shoulders!" I said.  Continue reading...

Avast, ye mateys! Did you know that September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day? Arrrr, it's true! Check out the website here, and to learn more about pirate talk read Erin McKean's latest column for the Boston Globe here.