The English Teacher's Companion: A Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession

In a world of disappointing texts on the nuts and bolts of teaching - Jim Burke's book delivers. I'm a new teacher, and I was given this book by a veteran teacher who considered it the English teacher's bible. She was not far off. I can't recommend this book highly enough as a complete resource for all teachers new and seasoned. With everything from structuring curriculum to bibliographies for further reading, I can't have asked for a better prep as I enter the world of teaching. I am infinitely grateful to Mr. Burke for his hard work in producing this magnum opus.

I first discovered Jim Burke in my English Methods class in college. Once I began student teaching, I referred to his companion web site (www.englishcompanion.com) at least weekly. Both have wonderful tips and practical suggestions for running an English classroom, and the web site includes invaluable teaching tools and "thought organizers" that could go with infinite number of projects. Especially appreciated are Burke's classroom projects -- he challenges his students and appears to get good results.

As a second year teacher, I have been stressing about my teaching style and what I want my classroom to be. This book is an immense help. The reading is straight forward and informative. Chapter 9 is great! If you need justification for teaching grammar or vocabulary this book really helps and it gives concrete ideas and examples for the teacher who needs plans for her classroom. It's a good buy!

This book was recommended to me by one of my directing teachers after attending a seminar taught by the author. This book is an absolutely RICH guide and "companion" (very informal and user friendly) for the new (or experienced) English Teacher. I cannot recommend it more strongly. The author includes copious examples from his own teaching experience at Burlingame High School as well as abundant references to sources. This book is as good as it gets for new English teachers. The book has exhaustive chapters on teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking, composing a curriculum, measuring student progress, digital literacy, media literacy, issues in teaching English, getting a teaching job in English, organizing, the politics of education, etc. These are very broad areas which are covered in detail.