English Journal - Volume 97, Issue 2, 2007

Some days it is difficult to remember why we love being teachers. For those difficult days, high school teacher Tim Gillespie maintains a list of fifteen reasons to keep teaching. He shares his list to remind us of the “greatest pleasures and highest callings” that we can experience as English teachers, believing that we can sustain ourselves and our colleagues by creating our own list and returning to these reminders throughout our teaching lives.

High school teacher Susan Arpajian Jolley vitalizes her British literature course by asking seniors to investigate, through an I-Search paper, the concept of heroism. Students research a historic or contemporary individual, drawing on their understanding of heroic literary figures previously studied, and interview family, community members, and others connected to their research. On their journey, the students continually revisit the question, What truly makes a person a hero?

Considering how to better assess student writing, middle school teachers Molly Fanning and Brigid Schmidt revolutionize their conception of themselves as teachers. They challenge all educators to become what Henry A. Giroux calls transformative intellectuals by identifying as writers, practicing collaborative inquiry, and sharing their work with peer audiences.

Starting from a framework that emphasizes indigenous heritage, high school teacher Curtis Acosta and students in the Chicano/Raza Studies classes engage with literature that reflects the students’ lives, families, and histories. Doing so encourages students to visualize and affirm academic identities while they confront current issues of oppression, develop critical consciousness, and become familiar with movements of resistance and action.

The availability of new technology and a willingness to experiment led Laura Christine Rochette to re-imagine a successful high school English curriculum. A SMART Board, individual laptop computers, and blogs became essential tools to enhance the learning of all students and to renew her excitement about teaching.

James Bucky Carter argues for the transformative potential of graphic novels in the English classroom. He advises teachers to be actively aware of the newer and lesser-known graphic novels and suggests approaches for examining the complex social issues the novels address.

Amanda Haertling Thein, Richard Beach, and Daryl Parks explore the subtle yet powerful changes that transpire when white students encounter multicultural literature and experience tensions between their beliefs and those that appear in the texts. As students mediate the tensions, they become more critically aware of their beliefs and may be more willing to “try on” alternative perspectives or even amend their original beliefs.

Stressing the importance of Lev S. Vygostky’s ideas about teaching and learning, Peter Smagorinsky challenges readers to form their own interpretations of the Russian psychologist’s work. He highlights three points with implications for secondary school English teachers working to “cultivate a literate citizenry.”

Based on the various metaphors we use to describe the work of teaching, high school teacher Jeremiah Hill articulates a new model—the teacher as creative professional. Hill urges educators to transform the “culture of teaching” by moving away from traditional expectations for classes and embracing connections that we discover among disciplines.

Don Zancanella challenges us to step away from the everyday tasks of teaching English to reimagine the larger idea, asking, “What should high school English be?” Eight teachers, researchers, and writers briefly answer this question, offering their versions of what high school English could be.

High school teacher Jeff House and his students revamp their study of The Grapes of Wrath by creating a class website. Students practice traditional skills such as researching, organizing material, and providing focused ideas while pursuing areas of interest such as music, film, and journalism. The project enhances their understanding of Steinbeck’s classic novel as students become engaged in the story’s current social relevance.

In this chapter from his forthcoming book, Tom Romano reflects on the zigzag path that he has followed in making a life for himself in teaching.