Racism is different. It’s fraught, and it’s hard to discuss, and so as a result we often don’t – Jodi Picoult. Every year that I have taught, To Kill a Mockingbird has been in the curriculum. As a lover of literature, I am excited to share this masterpiece with my students. And every year, most students […]
Book Review
Book Review: ‘Play Like A Pirate’
I recently met teacher and author Quinn Rollins at the National Council for the Social Studies Conference earlier this month, and the session he led was on incorporating graphic novels into the classroom (you can read more about it in the link above). I’d be interested in teaching with graphic novels since Jeff Kinney’s first Diary of […]
The Good News In Education We’ve Been Waiting For: ‘Capturing The Spark’ – a Book Review
Palo Alto High School English teacher David B. Cohen has done a favor for the teaching profession by writing Capturing the Spark: Inspired Teaching, Thriving Schools. The book pushes back again a tired and prosaic cynicism about the teaching profession that reflexively asserts that American education is in a sad and dilapidated state, soiled by […]
Book Review: Teach Like A Champion 2.0
The book Teach Like A Champion is one that many educators have read, or, at the very least, heard of. This especially rings true for our classroom leaders who teach in urban schools. The first edition launched in 2010 by Doug Lemov, a teacher and administrator for the Uncommon Schools initiative, this book chronicles Lemov’s attempts to […]
Reading Outside of the Canon: Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes
Why this novel? At the end of the year, I ask my students to write advice and words of encouragement for next year’s class. I present their wisdom during my first-day-of-school presentation. For my juniors (both honors and regular), this phrase (or something similar) is the most common: Read Nineteen Minutes. Out of all of […]
Movie Review: Tested
Think that there’s a lot on the line for kids taking tests? Plenty of pressure? Stress? Difficulties? Mess? Welcome to New York City Public Schools, says writer, producer, and director Curtis Chin in his film Tested. His story line follows twelve 8th grade students who are wrangling over the decision to take the Specialized High School […]
The Secrets of Timeless Teachers: Book Review
The Secrets of Timeless Teachers: Instruction That Works in Every Generation is aptly titled. Great teachers have existed in every age, with every type of technology, and in every nation. It is not the tools that make them great, but rather their form. Such can be said about this book, which is readable for just about […]
Read Alouds With A Purpose For Third and Fourth Graders
I have been working through several books this summer to read aloud to my students; books that I’ve never  read to them before. I love my old standbys but really wanted to find some books that could strike up some discussion instead of just entertain. I have read twenty-five books and have chosen the top […]