One of the most difficult aspects of teaching for veterans and newcomers alike is engaging difficult to reach students in class discussions. Some of us have even accepted that discussion will only be driven by the teacher and a few precocious students. If this sounds familiar, then read on, because it doesn't have to be that way!

Give One - Get One is a strategy that can get every student to participate every time. It allows students to engage in structured academic discussions with peers – practicing in an environment that is safe and stimulating – before sharing with the whole class.

Sometimes, picking out the students who are English learners is not as easy as one would expect. Some of you may have noticed that the long-term ELs in your classes blend in with the general population seamlessly, except when it comes to formal writing. If you've experienced this, then you're not alone. Here is what the most recent research says:

Although most students easily acquire conversational speaking skills, they often lack the sophisticated vernacular that is necessary to be successful in an academic setting (Bailey, 2007). This problem is even more pronounced among ELs, who on the norm, are able to progress from beginning to intermediate levels more rapidly, but struggle to reach full language proficiency (Goldenberg, 2008).

Anybody who has gone through a credentialing program knows of the plethora of  professional literature for teachers. For many educators, much of the challenge is the simple act of determining which of these many texts to use. During my first year teaching, I was overwhelmed with the amount of available professional books. For those of you who have had similar experiences, I would like to share with you a few of the texts that have made it to the top of my list.

Every year it's the same. It's the first day of school and there are twenty faces staring at me with a look that says, "I dare you to try to teach me." The class is reading intervention and half of the kids have already figured out that they're in the "dumb class." Because of their poor experiences with school in the past, many of them are ready to give up before they even start.

In addition to giving my students the academic tools they need to succeed, my mission is to let them know that they're cared for. I want them to know that before any lesson, they matter.

If you sometimes find yourself up late at night reading through a stack of essays or lab reports then you're not alone. The trend in schools today is that "every teacher is a literacy teacher." With this in mind, today it's not only English teachers who have to edit stacks of papers, but also history, economics, government, art, and even science teachers.

I hate editing papers, but I also assign a lot of them. As a result, I began creating micro rubrics that focus on the quality of specific parts of an essay, making it easier for students to make revisions.

If you're anything like me, you love perusing the isles at the 99 cent store. Yes, I love a good bargain, but the main reason for this is that I'm always looking for gadgets that can help me to manage my class. I think that we can all agree that often, the simplest devices can make a world of difference when it comes to classroom management.

I knew Jesse's story before we had even met. He had been kicked out of numerous schools and had a history of failing. His probation officer required him to check in regularly. I have to confess, I thought that I was going to be lucky just to get consistent work out of this obviously troubled 9th grader. However, after reading his first writing assignment, I was humbled and reminded again of why we should hold all of our students to the highest of expectations. His writing was outstanding.

If you've been following my blog, then you've probably noticed that I place a special premium on good classroom management. If you're an effective teacher, then I'm sure that you do too. This post explains how I've managed to increase my personal classroom quality of life and get more work out of my students at the same time. But before you continue, let me give you a disclaimer, there was A LOT of work that went into what we're about to get into...

For many students, reading out loud is a nerve-racking experience. Whenever I ask my kids to share what they fear the most about class, presentations and reading out loud always rank among the worst. I hear stories about stumbling over words and being laughed at. Kids talk about how they get targeted by their teachers to read to the class if they get caught not paying attention.

From a teacher's point of view, I don't like to rely on read-alouds because I know that my kids won't be able to hold the attention of the class as well as I can. I also know that if a student is struggling with fluency, the fastest way to break his confidence is to make him read publicly when he's not prepared.

When I first began teaching, I realized that one of the most frustrating tasks for below grade level readers is following along when the class is reading a text. What made it worse for me, was that I was forever answering the question, "Mr. Lim where are we at?"

Eventually, I decided to scan all of our core texts so that I could project them onto my whiteboard while teaching. Now, not only is it a snap for my students to follow along, but it's also much easier for me to guide the whole class through a text. The practice has radically changed the way I approach teaching with textbooks.