HC English Department

"You plan. You assess. You network. You collaborate. You tweet, differentiate, administer literacy probes, scour 504s and IEPs, use technology, and inspire thinking. And for all of this, you're given bar graphs on tests to show if what you're doing is actually making a difference. But there are other data points you should consider as well."

"I talked with Cain about her mission of supporting introverts, and asked her advice on how to teach them."

" As the technology to shoot and edit films becomes more ubiquitous, where is a teacher with no experience in video production to begin? I've shared some resources below to help you and your students get started on making blockbusters of your own."

Members of the 127-year-old American Dialect Society anointed "they," the singular, gender-neutral pronoun, the 2015 Word of the Year. As in: "They and I went to the store," where they is used for a person who does not identify as male or female, or they is a filler pronoun in a situation where a person's gender identity is unknown."

We've done the math, and below you'll find the 100 most-commented-upon questions we've ever asked that call for persuasive writing. Many of them are, of course, on topics teenagers care about - technology, video games, sports and gender issues. Others are classic debate issues like government regulation and gun violence. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the broad topic that seems to engage students the most? School - from questions about homework to cheating, bad report cards, bullying and gym class. So skim the list and pick issues that interest you. Each question is linked to a related Times article, which you can access free, and includes additional subquestions to help you flesh out your ideas. "

The challenge is pretty straightforward. Choose a topic you care about, gather evidence from both New York Times and non-New York Times sources, and write a concise editorial (450 words or fewer) to convince readers of your point of view. Because editorial writing at newspapers is a collaborative process, you can write your entry as a team effort, or by yourself. When you're done, post it in the contest form below by March 29, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern."

"Four years ago, I quit zeroes. They are no longer allowed in my classroom. I still have F's which communicate, in number and learning, performances well-below standard. Kids still receive failing scores in my classroom, but I don't tack on punishment, additional insult to injury in the form of sub-50% scores; 50% is now the lowest score possible in my class. The kids know from the mark that they have failed to meet standard; I don't need to crush them more with added penalties. It makes sense to me, it makes sense to my kids, and it makes sense to parents. It's also beginning to make sense to some of my colleagues, who, too, have adopted a no-zero policy. But not all. Some of my colleagues have accused me of malpractice, suggesting I am ruining kids' lives by not teaching them a lesson. And I guess of that I am guilty. But I sleep at night knowing that I have given kids a fair shake, and while I may not be teaching them the harsh lessons of life, I am giving them opportunity by creating a realm of possibility in room 219."

"This collection offers middle and high school teachers multiple ways into the idea of "creating a culture of argument" in their classrooms. In other words, it offers advice and support for why it is important to give students many opportunities to practice argument writing, and lots of practical and material support for how to do that."

"Paradoxically, when kids go to school they stop asking so many questions. "Children enter school as question marks and leave schools as periods," Berger said, quoting Neil Postman.* But why? There are a lot of understandable reasons why questioning drops off in school. Foremost among them is time. "Time really conspires against questioning," Berger said. "In the classroom there often isn't time to let kids ask their questions." And really good, deep questions often take a lot of time to unravel - more time than a harried teacher trying to cover all the curriculum often feels she can afford. And while time pressure is a very real part of teaching, not making time for questioning says a lot about how valuable it is to us. People make time for the things they value."

"Should teachers call on students who haven't indicated they want to talk and, in fact, have tacitly indicated they don't want to talk?"

Nice infographic for the classroom on how to use Google more effectively.

"There are plenty of resources out there that can speed the editing process up and make you more confident about the work you're submitting. For today, I went though Product Hunt's newest Tools for Writers collection and chose my seven favorites. Use them all, and you'll be a stronger writer faster than you can say, "How did I ever live without these?"

"Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. See my favorite closure strategies below!"

A short article on literary analysis with a nice infographic

If you are doing, reviews in class. You might want to use the winners of this contest as models.

"Now, I know that teaching poetry, in many of our minds, is akin to a nonswimmer diving into the deep end, blindfolded. I also know that teaching poetry is often a balancing act between the technical aspects of form and the creative aspects of writing, and that reciting rules and stressing form can stifle creativity or turn students (and teachers) off of poetry. So, I've devised a method that guarantees your students will get on board. It's worked for me in high schools and summer teen programs, in Virginia and Singapore, in libraries and juvenile detention facilities. The truth is, we all know how to swim; we've just forgotten how much we like it. This is a friendly reminder. Want to get your students excited about poetry? Try love."

"Rather than begin class with a passive warm-up, success starters have the power to get every student motivated about the lesson and successful right from the bell.  Starting off on the right academic foot in the opening minutes can pay dividends throughout the lesson by sparking intellectual curiosity about today's concept. Students get the message early that, "Hey, I think I can do this!" We've shared 12 Interesting Ways To Start Class Tomorrow before. Here are a few more strategies that get students involved in new learning right away."

"In stories throughout the ages there is one motif that continually recurs-the journey into the woods to find the dark but life-giving secret within."

"The New Year is a wonderful time to start trying some new things. You've spent a good amount of time with your students and feel more comfortable exploring new strategies and practices that are more tailored to their learning needs. I want to share some great ideas that you can use to change things up for the second part of the year -- and that can also help beat the winter blues."