English Journal - Volume 97, Issue 6, 2008

Members of the Secondary Section Steering Committee comment on topics of importance to English language arts educators.

“Snapshots” offers insights about teaching and learning through teacher stories about a particular classroom event.

“Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.

Questioning the dichotomy of right and wrong, Virginia R. Monseau explores the tensions that arise from choices teachers make when trying to “do the right thing.” From warning teachers about difficult students to presenting sensitive materials that challenge student belief systems, Monseau advises educators to pay close attention, showing how their choices can affect student learning positively and negatively.

Kelly Sassi and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas describe their struggles and eventual success with students in constructing a “counternarrative to colormuteness and colorblindness”—the self-imposed student segregation and silencing of voice. Because of discussions during a Native American unit and student participation in a classroom intervention activity, interpersonal dynamics openly shifted for the better.

Leila Christenbury, contending that English teachers are expected to live ethically, extends the exploration of ethics into the classroom where virtually all acts of writing, language, and literature involve choices of right and wrong. Christenbury examines the centrality of ethics to the act of teaching, reflecting on examples of teachers breaking and bending school rules for what they believe to be ethical reasons.

Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher address a high school’s need for an updated technology policy. The school community engaged in open discussion about appropriate and courteous uses of technology, and with the revised policy teachers increased integration of technology into the curriculum.

Melissa A. Vosen outlines a unit she has designed to help students comprehend the often unclear boundaries and issues surrounding plagiarism. Using Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive domain, students complete increasingly complex tasks, learning to construct a works cited page and assess scholarly opinions. They also research the consequences of plagiarism at their school.

Ben F. Nelms argues for the necessity of civic literacy and responsibility, of educating students for citizenship. He urges educators to consider the visionary thoughts of James Moffett and others on spiritualizing teaching and learning—in particular, the idea of “[s]erving ourselves through serving our communities and redefining community in a global sense.”

High school English teacher Daniel O. Lawler co-teaches an interdisciplinary American Studies class that fosters inquiry and reflection on the complexity of an authentic telling of US history. Students study competing narratives that incorporate cultural experiences outside the dominant narrative.

High school teacher John Golden interviews social justice educator Linda Christensen. Golden and Christensen begin by expanding on an understanding of social justice and a teacher’s role in the social justice classroom. They continue by addressing complicated issues of student empowerment, meeting state standards, and choosing appropriate texts and writing prompts for students. Christensen also shares her thoughts on how to set up an environment that supports social justice and encourages student empathy.

Drawing attention to widespread instances of discourteous speech and hate discourse that permeate US and world culture, Alleen Pace Nilsen maintains that our imperative as educators is to teach “students the benefits of being civil to each other.” She proposes some avenues for enriching students’ understanding of the power of civil language.

High school teacher Sheldon S. Kohn probes the conflicting dynamics that occur for educators who try to provide students with appropriate tools for thinking and living in a postmodernist, intellectual world, yet who must teach in antiquated school systems that support modernist philosophies and hierarchical practices. Kohn imagines students and secondary English moving away from traditional scholarly approaches toward applied humanities made possible by emerging technologies.

Ken Donelson looks back on two classes that taught him that students are willing to share ideas when teachers are honest and reveal their biases and when classroom experiences are based on trust. Additionally, he recalls how important free reading and thematic units became to inciting authentic student responses to literature.

To “empower students to think and act more effectively” concerning violence and bullying within schools, Allison L. Baer and Jacqueline N. Glasgow suggest close examination and discussion of literature that foregrounds violence and bystander participation. Baer and Glasgow recommend several useful novels for addressing the various roles of bystanders. Additionally, they use process drama as a safe activity to help students creatively and realistically explore problems and solutions when confronted by violence.

High school teacher C. Lynn Jacobs noted that the long-term English language learners in her class had improved in reading comprehension but still lacked writing skills. Inspired by a state humanities project, she worked with the students to publish a collection of stories and poems. Writing about their lives provided the motivation, and writing from models of published texts provided the necessary structure for students’ success. She offers step-by-step suggestions for teachers interested in helping English language learners “write better, with more confidence.”

High school teacher J. Arias employs a research method from anthropology to motivate students to research and write. Learning to use the methods and perspectives of ethnography, students become critical viewers and thinkers, able to connect the themes of literary works to their lives and to critique the variety of texts that surround them. Arias describes units on gender roles, a novel, and American rituals and traditions used with students studying British literature as well as those in a sheltered-content American literature course for English language learners.