The past 100 years of "English Journal" have positioned students and teachers in a variety of ways. As the authors embarked on exploring issues in the constructions of students in "EJ", they found that some concerns that teachers raised about English and English education resonated in their own classrooms and experiences as students and teachers.…

In this article, the author shares challenges of teaching writing in a virtual classroom. One of the challenges of online education--the often-asynchronous nature--also holds one of the strengths: the opportunity for a lesson to continue long after the classroom closes. The author's experiences online offer ways to rethink meanings of youth…

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. (Contains 1 figure.)

School problems are reflections of the problems of a troubled society; teachers need most to care for and be honest with their students, who often are victims of their society. (JH)

Many English teachers feel underprepared to teach students with disabilities. While teachers may want to do whatever they can to make all their students successful, some may feel that they don't have as much time as they would like to prepare high-quality differentiated instruction, to fully accommodate every student, or even to know what…

Several years ago, in the roots of the author's teaching career, she was consumed with reading research papers, creating innovative lesson plans, and grading. While today these activities still fill her time, now her days are marked more by dismantling and reassembling a wheelchair, programming an augmentative communication device, and carrying…

Humorously reports two failed attempts to give inservice information on teaching writing in content areas. (JL)

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "our own experience instructs us that the secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he should know, what he shall do." As teachers of American Literature, the authors admire Emerson's faith in the individual and find Thoreau's resistance to conformity an act of daring bravery,…

Destructive notions about the relations between social class dialects and cognitive ability are still current in teacher education programs in Britain and the United States.

Describes the experiences of a high school English teacher who never could, and still cannot, spell. Describes the author's experiences in writing doctoral comprehensive exams in English education with this disability. (PRA)

A teacher responds to educational accountability by stating it fails to recognize education is the result of a human encounter which can liberate enough energy to satisfy any educational goals set forth. (MM)

Suggests that English teachers should be familiar not only with the recommendations by the Commission on Excellence in Education, but also with Ernest Boyer's "High School," and John Goodlad's, "A Place Called School." (MM)

This article is an open letter to English teachers by the author, a second-year graduate student in English education doing substitute teaching. She argues that as a substitute teacher, expectations of her teaching abilities and those of most substitute teachers are incredibly low, and that low expectations often result in low performance. Here,…

Notes the high percentage of teachers of all subjects who feel unprepared to address the needs of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Argues that multiculturalism means viewing the classroom as a microcosm of society. Discusses J. Banks's five dimensions of multicultural education, and notes the work of the National Council of Teachers of…

Presents a script for a play that focuses on the death of a teacher co-worker of the actors (teachers) in the play. Discusses how the "traditional" grammar teaching methods of the deceased teacher were not always respected by his fellow educators, yet he did have a place in the school and education of the students. (SG)