I think much of what I know about teaching, about kids, about life itself, I learned from Spanky and Our…
High Stakes Testing Leads to High Blood Pressure
This time last year I admitted to a high degree of frustration when it comes to standardized testing. It drives…
Save Five Bucks!
Save $5 on any of my Scholastic titles at teacherexpress.com. Symbols of America and Classic Short Stories gives you a…
Nine Minutes, Two Misconceptions, and One Easy Fix
The good people of America have some misconceptions about teaching. Planning for a lesson, they believe, is as easy as…
Why You Should Teach Black History on April 15th
The Major League Baseball season is underway, which seems a trivial point in the broad scheme of academics. Yet were…
Is There an App for That?
I’m told school districts around the country are investing millions of dollars into iPads and other online devices. The idea…
What’s Your Fatal Flaw?
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic short story, The Birth-mark, the main character becomes obsessed with his beautiful wife’s one and only…
Desk Rent is Due Friday!
No doubt you’ve had kids ask, “Why do we need to know this stuff?” In my classroom, we spend a…
One of My Best MLK Plays, Free!
As part of its Black History Month celebration, Scholastic publishers is offering my most oft-published play for free. I Have…
I Propose a Speed Limit for Young Readers
Imagine if we tested prospective drivers the way we test our students for reading fluency. Instead of mumbling to the…
