Thomas M. McCann is a professor of English at Northern Illinois University, where he contributes to the teacher certification program. He taught English in high schools for 25 years, including 7 years working in an alternative high school. He has been a high school English department chair, an assistant principal, and an assistant superintendent. His previous book from Teachers College Press, Transforming Talk into Text, draws from a 2-year research project that examines the impact that authentic discussions have on students’ academic writing. His coauthored books include In Case You Teach English (2002), Supporting Beginning English Teachers (2005), Talking in Class (2006), The Dynamics of Writing Instruction (2010), and Teaching Matters Most (2012). He coedited Reflective Teaching, Reflective Learning (2005). NCTE’s Conference on English Education awarded him the Richard A. Meade Award for research about the concerns of beginning teachers.
