The passing of Frank McCourt, high school writing teacher and Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirist, has occasioned the sharing of many fond memories online.

Artsbeat (N.Y. Times)

Book Bench (New Yorker)

Salon Books

Jacket Copy (L.A. Times)

We recently spoke to education experts Amy Benjamin and John T. Crow about their new book, Vocabulary at the Center. Amy and John explain the most effective methods for extending the use of new words, so that vocabulary instruction can move beyond rote memorization.  Continue reading...

When I was in high school, I was a major eco-head. I belonged to Greenpeace, insisted on recycling everything not nailed to the floor, and gave up eating meat, despite my family's innate fondness for... um, meat. I was probably pretty insufferable, but people put up with me for the most part. I remind myself of this phase when dealing with self-righteously insufferable kids as a teacher.  Continue reading...

Can teachers manipulate language to their advantage, as a way of shifting their students' perspectives in a more positive direction? It might sound a little Orwellian, but Steven Kushner, who teaches at Bremen High School in Midlothian, Illinois, has found that taking a page from "Big Brother" can be an effective educational strategy.  Continue reading...

I do not have any sisters. I have but one sibling, a beloved brother, Poopie (not his real name). I'm blessed in that over the course of my life, I have made very close female friends who feel like family to me, but no actual sisters of the Lord-Help-The-Mister-Who-Comes-Between-Me-and-My-Sister type. Maybe that is why I've long been fascinated with Louisa May Alcott's classic American novel, Little Women, about four sisters.  Continue reading...

You may have heard the educational buzz phrase "essential question" a lot lately, but do you really know what it means? Or how to develop meaningful essential questions of your own? In this excerpt from Learning to Question to Wonder to Learn, technology and teaching guru Jamie McKenzie, Ed.D. explains what makes some questions "essential" and provides some examples for every grade level.  Continue reading...