English Journal, Vol. 97, No. 5, May 2008

Table of Contents

Issue Theme: More than Mandates: Reclaiming the Power to Teach

• Call for Manuscripts

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Secondary

• From the Editor

  Louann Reid

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  Abstract: Abstract for this article is currently not available.

  Keywords: Secondary

• From the Secondary Section: Our Mandate as Teachers in a Democracy

  Keith Younker

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

  Keywords: Secondary

• Speaking My Mind: Making Conversation

  Robert Gardner

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

  Keywords: Secondary

• Creating Intentional Communities to Support English Language Learners in the Classroom

  Judith Rance-Roney

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  Abstract: Judith Rance-Roney calls on teachers to form intentional learning communities within their classrooms. The Culture Share Club, initially conceived to provide scaffolding for ELL students to acquire English and pass the statewide test in English, legitimized student knowledge by benefitting all students as they prepared materials for lessons and invested in shared experiences and responsibilities for classroom learning.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Writing Steps: A Recursive and Individual Experience

  Bonnie Mary Warne

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  Abstract: High school teacher Bonnie Mary Warne facilitates students’ ease and awareness of their writing processes as they learn to apply knowledge of it on state assessment tests. Through ongoing discussion, practice, observations of patterns in their writing, and shared terminology, students begin to understand how individualized writing processes are, while still following a general array of steps that support them as successful writers.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Uniting the Disparate: Connecting Best Practices and Educational Mandates

  Pamela K. Coke

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  Abstract: Pamela K. Coke observes two high school English teachers who carry out practical assessments that supply them with an understanding of student achievement. The strategies used, such as Socratic seminar, book club meetings, and sticky notes, provide constructive information about what students are able to do and help identify ways such practices translate into students’ demonstrating their knowledge on standardized tests.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Moving to the Center: Disorientation and Intention

  Maja Wilson and Michael Niemczyk

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  Abstract: Maja Wilson and Michael Niemczyk advocate turning away from mandated writing toward learning environments that honor the messy, inner life of the writer. They explain the importance of disorientation in that it unsettles but nurtures the emerging intention of student writers, and they stress the need to return our attention to the heart and center of writing when assessing written work.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Mandates and the Writing Curriculum: Creating a Place to Dwell

  Sarah Irwin and Cyndi Knodle

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  Abstract: Sarah Irwin and Cyndi Knodle believe that by replacing the confines of content and form in writing instruction and assignments with ample “time and space for invention and arrangement, writing teachers can help to inspire student thinking rather than chopping it off to fit a required format.” They elaborate on students’ eagerness to be guided by a sense of discovery and interest, to dwell in discussion, and to question and consider ideas, rather than focusing on finishing the product.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Teaching beyond the Test: The Possibility of Success

  Kristin L. Main

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  Abstract: Kristin L. Main teaches the Ontario Literacy Course, an alternative course designed to support students who have failed the required standardized test for high school graduation. She sees the purpose of the class as giving students a chance to feel successful and helping them to see the practical value of purposeful communication and integrated literacy in their daily lives.

  Keywords: Secondary

• The Family Writing Project: Creating Space for Sustaining Teacher Identity

  Marilyn McKinney, Saralyn Lasley, and Rosemary Holmes-Gull

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  Abstract: Family writing projects can change the nature of classroom writing instruction and rejuvenate teachers. Marilyn McKinney, Saralyn Lasley, and Rosemary Holmes-Gull report on their study of one such project in an urban school district. Using the concept of “third space,” they describe the influence of this family literacy program on teacher practice.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Sharing Command of the Co-Teaching Ship: How to Play Nicely with Others

  Emily Sims

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  Abstract: High school teacher Emily Sims shares her experiences co-teaching inclusive classes as a first-year teacher. She imparts practical advice for successful co-teaching relationships between the content teacher and the special education teacher, from which both students and teachers can thrive.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Sketching to Create Meaning: The Story of a Second-Language Learner

  Chris Altman

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  Abstract: Chris Altman stresses the importance of helping English language learners ascertain the medium they best work with in interpreting information presented in class. Altman reminds us that meaning does not come directly from teachers giving students information, but from students productively making meaning and clarifying understanding through a variety of mediums.

  Keywords: Secondary

• “The Rose That Grew from Concrete”: Postmodern Blackness and New English Education

  David E. Kirkland

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  Abstract: For David E. Kirkland, the New English Education locates English language arts in the realities of youth, where texts emerge from students’ lives, and the notions of reading and writing in English classrooms are open to revision. Kirkland reflects on how “postmodern Black experience, especially as seen in hip-hop, gives English teachers one way of envisioning the New English Education.”

  Keywords: Secondary

• Chatting with Letters: Developing Empathy and Critical Literacy through Writing Communities

  Mary B. Nicolini

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  Abstract: High school teacher Mary B. Nicolini designed an assignment that allows sophomore and senior students to examine an issue through an exchange of anonymous letters. Letter writing provides an opportunity for dialogue between peers, helping students critically explore questions about their assigned texts through a safe, informal medium.

  Keywords: Secondary

• “Do you remember”: Confronting Post-9/11 Censorship through Critical Questioning and Poetic Devices

  Jeanine M. Staples

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  Abstract: Jeanine M. Staples led a group of students, ages fourteen to eighteen, in developing a critical stance about words and images found in 9/11 media. Through questions, comments, and declarations toward these texts, the students labeled as “disengaged” actively participated in constructing a collaborative poem to confront repressive thinking.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Research Matters: Writing Next and the Power to Teach

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  Abstract: “Research Matters” provides teachers with review and application of research that illuminates the daily concerns and activities of English language arts teachers and classrooms.

  Keywords: Secondary

• New Voices: Overstandardization, or Killing the Process with the Process

  Tiffany J. Hunt and Bud Hunt, editors

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  Abstract: “New Voices” raises questions, offers insights, and provides a forum for novice teachers to engage in the professional conversation surrounding the teaching of English.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Stepping into the Classroom: “When People Own a Place, They Look After It”

  Terry Patrick Bigelow and Michael J. Vokoun, editors

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  Abstract: “Stepping into the Classroom” shares innovative lesson ideas grounded in current literature or action research.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Taking Time: Reclaiming the Power to Teach: The Progression to Powerful Teaching amid the Testing Frenzy

  Tonya Perry, editor

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  Abstract: “Taking Time” addresses challenges in teaching and curriculum that affect middle level education through focusing on the middle child in urban, rural, and suburban settings.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Tools for Teaching: Reaching All Learners: Teaching beyond the Tests

  Colleen A. Ruggieri, editor

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  Abstract: "Tools for Teaching" helps you find the best print and electronic resources for teaching English language arts.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Bold Books for Teenagers: Summer Reading 2008

  Don Gallo, editor

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  Abstract: “Bold Books for Teenagers” provides dynamic, informative viewpoints on important issues in publishing and teaching contemporary literature, especially literature for adolescents. Reviews of young adult literature will also appear in this column.

  Keywords: Secondary

• Poetry

  James Brewbaker, editor

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  Abstract: “Poetry” features poems by teachers and professional poets.

  Keywords: Secondary

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