The expression “no book arrives in the world without the support of many people” is certainly true for the book you are currently reading (thank you for reading, by the way). But, given that this is a book about teaching, we have to add a wrinkle: no book about teaching arrives on the shelves without the support of many teachers.

We have had more than our share – good people who found their way into our lives and cared enough to try to teach us something that, they felt, mattered in a way that, we felt, mattered.

The what and the how, with emphasis on the how. And now onto the who …

Reshan would like to acknowledge: Ms. Muller, Ms. Ryder and Miss Hess, Ms. Bhagia, Mr. Love, Mr. O'Leary, Ms. Rota, Mrs. Milliren, Mr. Lacopo, Mr. Wood, Coach Barile, Mr. Jones, Dr. McCall, Carlton Voss, Professor Currier, Professor Dede, Professor Meier, Professor Vasudevan, Professor Yorks, Dr. Ahmad, Dr. Mentor, Professor Budin, Professor Genishi, Bill Walsh, Deborah Herschel, Darian Levin, Tom Golden, Michelle Dowling, Joyce Evans, Matthew Stuart, Chris Marblo, Don Buckley, Jason Wingard, David Stephens, and everyone on the Explain Everything team.

Steve would like to acknowledge: Ms. Cinotti, Mrs. Fitzgibbons, Coach Fox, Coach Yergey, Professor Von Hendy, Professor Matson, Fr. Michael Himes, Boyd White, Gray Smith, Michael Brosnan, Chris Howes, the Klingbrief Editorial Board, Dave Flocco, Deb Jennings, Gillian Branigan, Kerry Verrone, Maria Shepard, Erica Budd, Jill Maza, Tom Holt, Caroline Toman, John Jacobs, David Korfhage, Mark Bishop, Geoff Branigan, Tony Cuneo, Bill Stites, Dennis Hu, Jordan Raper, Nicole Hoppe, Tony Jones, Dave Hessler, and the mysteriously named “CAC.” Plus: Amy, Gus, Kathi, Jim, Judy, and Vicki. And: Kyle, Justin, all the Joes, and all the sections, over all the years, of English 1 in Room 13.

Our hope is that the readers of this book will be better off because of the teachers that we met along the way, who helped us to learn, whether they knew it or not.

Reshan and Steve would also like to acknowledge the formidable crew that has helped us to learn together, with particular nuance, the art and science of teaching: Tom Nammack, Karen Newman, Pearl Rock Kane, Eric Hudson. Thank you for your deep wisdom and your commitment to your craft – our craft.

To our researcher for Chapter 1, Ethan. Thanks for seeing the connections.

To our editors: Jeanenne, thank you for seeing us. Vicki, thank you for shaping us with the kind of thoughtful feedback that few writers these days are fortunate enough to receive.

And to those brilliant people we interviewed for this book: you (the reader) will want to thank them yourself, and we hope that you will do just that by tuning in to their work and telling them what you've learned from it.

Otherwise, just start turning the pages…or this might go on forever.