I recently found a 1984 edition of Comprehensive English by Harold Levine.  An Amsco publication, it was meant to "help students pass the New York State Comprehensive Examination with distinction."  At the time, the examination contained a listening test, a reading comprehension test, the literature test, and the composition test. I have serious doubts as to whether my current crop of college students could pass this examination   In the course of teaching, one develops some theories about classroom discipline and the ability to reach students.  My "theory of threes" used to mean that if there were three troublesome students in a class – i.e., class clown, disruptive individual, pupil outwardly resistant to reasonable demands – it was going to be a rough class to teach.  Thus, creative strategies were devised to reach those three without adversely affecting the other students, who were eager to learn and who expected the...(Read Full Article)