The English Teacher's Survival Guide: Ready-To-Use Techniques and Materials for Grades 7-12

This book outlines teacher-tested ideas for teaching reading and writing. I have used many of them in my classroom, and they really work. Used in conjunction with Brandvik's other book--Writing Process Activity Book--this book is a gold mine.

As a first year teacher, this book saved my life on more than one occasion. Like most new teachers, I had been taught a great deal of educational theory, but was given very little practical advice about arranging my classroom, managing my class space, and making lesson plans. Brandvik's book provides a ton of useful suggestions and ideas that can be put to use in any classroom. I highly recommend this book to any teacher, from those in their first year who are hungry for new ideas to those who have been in the profession a while and want to rejuvinate their methods.

I wish I had had this book when I changed careers midlife and stepped into a 9th grade English classroom with little more than a textbook, my emergency credential, and a pair of knocking knees three years ago. Mary Lou Brandvik's book is aimed at new junior high and high school teachers and offers help in classroom management, lesson plans, and teaching writing and literature. Many books I've looked at or purchased tend to offer general ideas for instruction designed to work in a wide range of classes, but this book is truly aimed at the English teacher. Her book gave me what no one else did: a guide and a framework that would have helped me get through that first difficult year. It's filled with good ideas for writing assignments and novel (but functional) suggestions for student reading responses, group and individual projects, and speeches. A friend of mine complains about "quilt-making" activities taught at teachers' classes we've attended -- those vague, touchy-feely activities that don't move students ahead in skills. This book's activities are really linked to improving writing and reading. No paper quilts, thank heaven. Brandvik includes a section on working with others (parents, administrators, etc.) and a brief chapter on becoming a more effective teacher. Save the life of a new, desperate English teacher: Give him or her this book.

This is an excellent book for new or struggling English teachers as well as the experienced teacher who is look for fresh ideas or just to be recharged. I am a middle school English teacher with five years of experience, and I wish I had this book when I first started as I learned many of Brandvik's techniques the hard way. I have tried out a few of her ideas with great success, and I look forward to trying more ideas when school starts in September. I like the sample forms she has included in the book. They may be reproduced or reworked to fit your individual needs. The book covers the whole gamut of an English class from classroom management, to dealing with administrators, to avoiding burnout, to teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Her ideas are presented clearly and consisely. This is one of the most worthwhile teaching books I have ever bought.

I'm just finishing my first year of teaching, and came into the profession by a 'non-standard' route, spending over twenty-five years in a professional career first. When I walked into the classroom, it was almost a sink or swim experience. I knew my discipline but very little of the practical side of teaching; I had no idea how to keep a gradebook, arrange the classroom, grade essays, etc. While my colleagues were ready to help if asked, I didn't know enough to ask questions. 'Survival Guide' presents solution to all those problems and more. And equally important, it presents ideas and techniques for teaching English composition, essential for any teacher, even if that teacher is instructing something other than English.