The English Teacher's Companion, Fourth Edition: A Completely New Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession

The author is a well-known guru and the text is helpful for any language arts teacher at the HS level.

While this reinforced my thoughts on education it gave little information for me to be able to apply many of the ideas in my classroom. High school teachers would likely find it more helpful, but being on the lower end of the grades, I would have to heavily modify much of the information. In addition, I feel like Burke complains that one flaw of teachers is the 'aboutitis' where we teach about something more than actually teaching it, however I feel that is what most of this book is.It did help me visualize more conversations occurring in my classroom and how to better frame reading through discussion, which is why I went up to 4 stars. The journey was worth it, but not the most effective it could be.

Don't let Burke's first book lead you into thinking this 4th edition of the same book is one you should pass up. If you're an English teacher (I've been one for 28 years), you need his book. The first one was good, in that it offered page after page of workable ideas and so forth, but this one is completely different. First of all, he somehow seems to have become more (I need a stronger word than passionate; he's not just passionate and driven and dedicated, it's clear he's made teaching his life work.) He's a missionary. He's intense and focused, but there's a deep commitment behind what he does that makes it work. He believes in his students, every single one of them, and he teaches them extremely challenging books (his ninth graders read The Kite Runner; his tenth graders read Heart of Darkness). He seems to be truly Socratic: gentle, kind, observant, warm and caring, but ever the prodder. The depth of this book may seem a bit daunting, as the sheer amount of work he gets his kids to do might be as well, but the methodical way he builds his classes, the extremely high expectations, the devotion to detail AND the grasp of the big picture, make him stand out. Get the book. Even if you got the first one, and it's collecting dust or you gave it away, get this one. Get it, keep it, read it, re-read it. You'll use it.

I loved the original "Companion" but this one is a more extended version to include more lesson plans and ideas for modern-day teaching. The one thing I don't like is that he does alot of "talking" in this edition; meaning there are more facts and opinions about reading and writing than giving ideas for lessons and classroom activities. Less advice than the first edition. Many of these facts and opinions are already known by teachers. Also, many of the lessons are taken from his AP & senior class whereas the first edition included all four high school grades. I teach Sophomores and Juniors.

Absolutely loved the latest edition of the English Companion by Jim Burke. It includes tons of valuable and succinct resources that every teacher can actively use in their classroom. He gives actual examples of things that he has done in his classroom, and I really appreciate the way he talks to me throughout the book - like I am his colleague and he is just mentoring me. This is the best resource that I have found thus far during all of my graduate classes and I highly recommend it.

I have found every book Burke has written to be well worth a good read. I am, however, sad to say that this new fourth edition does not have the flare, the punch, and the passion of his green-covered third edition. The fourth edition is a nearly complete revision and, in revising, Burke added some useful information and updates tp current practices, but in his extensive revision, he seems to have lost a lot of truly valuable and thought-provoking information and observations especially geared to English / Language Arts teachers in training as well as for first-year teachers. I use The English Teacher's Companion in my Techniques for Teaching English in Middle & Secondary School university course. together with books by Penny Kittle and Tom Romano. I ordered this fourth edition last year, was disappointed, and went back to the third edition for this year's class.

Had to buy this for a Master's level class on teaching High School language arts - and it is full of ideas. Now, after actually teaching English for several years, I would say it is okay. Some of the ideas are too complicated for the amount of time I have. But I still recommend it. Mr. Burke is a smart man and has a lot of experience. You'll glean some good stuff from this.

This book was required for one of my education classes but I would recommend it to any educator that wants to improve their writing instruction techniques!