This is an introduction to a high school student's perspective on what the ideal language arts classroom should look like. It is based on a middle school language arts classroom structured around a Nancie Atwell style workshop model. The workshop model in the classroom was grounded in real life literacy experiences, allowed for choice in writing and reading, included daily shared reading experiences, fostered discussion about texts, and included open communication between teacher and students. However the language taken from Atwell's "In the Middle" is the true foundation of the workshop. One student's contribution, "An Open Letter to Language Arts Teachers" by Gabrielle A. Habeeb is included at the conclusion of this article. In this essay, Gabrielle identifies certain aspects of the workshop that made a difference to her: the connection between the work she was doing and real life, choices in writing and reading, shared readings of examples of the kinds of writing students might try, discussion of texts among a community of readers and writers, and a teacher who reads, writes, and shares.