Confession: When I was a kid, I loved Sweet Valley High books. I must have read a hundred of them. My teacher was glad that I enjoyed reading in my spare time, but she wanted me to try classic works and Newbery Medal winners. She'd bring me suggestions, and I’d turn them down. I had to find out if Elizabeth and Todd would break up! Eventually, I grew to love high-quality literature on my own. But did it matter that I wasn’t reading award-winners as a kid? I think the only important thing was that I loved to read. Educators should encourage teens to read for pleasure and not turn their noses at kids’ reading selections.

Here are our TOP 5 favorite educational tweets of the week, which were RT’ed and/or clicked on the most by you!—our loyal Twitter followers. These tweets were originally tweeted by @eyeoneducation and some of our other favorite Tweeters. If you're not yet on Twitter, join today!

There is good news from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), a nonprofit network that provides schools with lab equipment, teacher training, and tutoring services. One of their programs has resulted in a considerable increase in the number of students – many of them black and Hispanic – taking Advanced Placement (AP) Exams...

Real Writers Have Routines – and so should your students.

Stephen King keeps a strict routine each day. He starts each morning with a cup of tea and a vitamin. He sits down to work between 8 and 8:30 AM and doesn’t stop working until he has at least 10 pages typed.

When John Grisham began writing, he still had his day job as a lawyer. He woke each morning at 5:00 and headed to his office. His goal was to write a page per day...

The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her new book: 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors, 2nd Edition.

In 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors 2nd Edition, written by Annette Breaux, you will find many resourceful tips for new teachers and their students and mentors alike. Read below for a tip about how to gain feedback from your own students.

Can popular social technology be used to engage students in reading? In a recent article for Education Week, "Virtual Book Clubs: Connecting Adolescent Readers," sixth-grade reading and language arts teacher Ryan Kinser shares how instead of fighting his students' "need for virtual connectivity," he embraced it as a way to add excitement to his curriculum. Kinser implemented a virtual book club (VBC) in his classroom, a forum in which students could share their ideas about texts, converse with their peers, and experience a more interactive side to reading.

When Best Practice Language (BPL) is used consistently and modeled effectively in the classroom, teachers and students can experience positive behavior outcomes. These student behavior outcomes can serve as a catalyst for a Culture of Hope in the classroom and at the school wide level. In a Culture of Hope, all members of the school expect to experience the hope of better days and better ways! Better days: where students and teachers offer their best to one another. Better ways: where everyone works to find promising paths to individual success! BPL reverberates into a cycle of promise that feeds on itself and generates excitement and enthusiasm about—"Why we're all here."

In our monthly E-News, we bring you the latest education news, resources, and classroom ideas from the Eye On Education Blog and other blogs we read. Click below for our favorite educational blog posts from the past month. If you would like to have E-News sent right to your inbox, click here to sign-up.

In a recent Washington Post article, Cathy N. Davidson comments: "Standardized tests for everyone? In the Internet age, that’s the wrong answer." The article talks about the invention of the first multipe-choice test in 1914 and the dissapointing fact that antiquated standardized tests still remain the "backbone" for measuring acheivement in the United States. The truth is, times are changing, and assessment needs to be evolving as learning does. Davidson writes, "We are not teaching and testing our students for responsible participation in the interactive digital age."

The following guest post was written by Amy Benjamin. Amy is the co-author of Vocabulary at the Center with John T. Crow.

Are the nation's declining SAT scores a cause for concern? According to E.D. Hirsch, Jr., the answer is an emphatic yes. In a recent New York Times piece, "How to Stop the Drop in Verbal Scores," Hirsch argues that the drop in reading and writing scores is alarming but fixable. He explains that the average verbal score of 17-year-olds "correlates with the ability to learn new things readily, to communicate with others and hold down a job. It also predicts future income."

In Assessing Middle and High School Mathematics & Science: Differentiating Formative Assessment, author and educational consultant Sheryn Spencer Waterman provides examples of instructional strategies that address students' readiness levels, interests, and learning preferences.

Graduated Difficulty is a perfect strategy to use to assess math and science learning. Teachers should follow these steps to design a Graduated Difficulty strategy:

One of the strategies Todd Whitaker suggests in Leading School Change: 9 Strategies to Bring Everybody on Board is based on the saying "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Dr. Whitaker applies this adage to the way a school leader initially presents an innovative idea to their faculty and staff. If the first exposure is handled well, it is more likely to be followed by excitement and support. If not, it is more likely that indifference and/or negativity will result.

In Rigor in Your School: A Toolkit for Leaders, authors, educators, and consultants Ronald Williamson and Barbara R. Blackburn provide tools to raise the level of rigor in your school and dramatically improve student learning.

Higher Levels of Learning: Rigor in Your Schools & Classrooms

Probably the major concern heard from leaders is "What exactly is rigor? How do I know if our classrooms are rigorous?" In Rigor is NOT a Four-Letter Word, Barbara defined rigor as "creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels" (Blackburn, 2008).

Introducing a new blog post series from Eye On Education and Bob Sickles: In the Trenches: Everyday Solutions at Work! In this monthly series, Bob will identify an engaging educational concept presented in one of our published books. Then, a number of select educators will provide examples that demonstrate how they have applied the concept to their schools or classrooms. Readers are invited to provide their own examples in the comments section of each blog post, which will go live on the first Monday of every month.