Reviews for Teaching Secondary English

The average rating for Teaching Secondary English based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-11-12 00:00:00 Kimberly Gygi Interesting but too superficial overview of High School hazing rituals. The chapters are separated into topics such as Gang Initiation, Frat/Club Initiations, and so on. The author has obviously spent years of research in this area and has the facts and data to prove it, but what's missing is a deep analysis or attempt at understanding the phenomenon. Although the stories are all tragic, after a while it almost becomes a recitation of the facts rather than an attempt to shed insight into the needs to belong, the lack of self esteem and the other factors which tend to build up and create this very dangerous and risky rite of passage or belonging. Overall, it is a quick read and will keep your interest, but I found myself skimming sections because I was really looking for a thoughtful analysis which just isn't there.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-07-14 00:00:00 Joseph L Lapomardo This book is a good primer for all the basic teaching methods used nowadays. One valuable (and thoroughly produced) part was the section on effective questioning strategies. One could teach a whole unit on helping students learn how to ask the right questions. Most of the time though, the book doesn't go far beyond basic, common pedagogy, and some of the claims rest on weak examples of application(the bane of most professional development literature and presenters). For example, one of the core tenants is to "entice" the students at the beginning of class, but the best strategies offered to do this are cliches like 'make predictions about the passage based on these key words.' I'd recommend this book for new teachers only.