In this article, the authors report the importance of teaching students about collaborative writing. When teachers are effective in helping students to learn processes for collaborative writing, everyone involved needs to speak, listen, write, and read about how to write well and what makes writing good. Students are forced to "go meta"…

Writing centers on college campuses are spaces where students work with tutors individually or in small groups to build the skills to produce better essays, term papers, and other writing assignments. This article describes how high school students can themselves play a role in answering the "yeahbuts" and help create writing centers in…

A mentoring relationship that began as part of teacher preparation can evolve into a professional community that stays connected through several means of communication. While there are examples of mentoring relationships within schools and among former university cohorts, these authors took a slightly different approach. Rather than forming a…

Imagine two classfuls of American high school students, separated by 1,500 miles and profound differences in local cultures (East Coast urban and Midwestern rural) as they correspond and collaborate in writing between their geometry classes. Reading the students' observations, one sees authentic voice, specific detail, precise language, what…

In two projects described in this article, the authors discuss the use of Photovoice and Elder Interviews to draw upon visual and spoken forms of community-based literacy, generate ideas for written projects, promote a connection to community and culture, and engage students in critical analysis of writing process. Both projects took place in…

Writing, reading, and dramatic performance have long been powerful means for representing and contending with thorny problems, and the authors see much promise in engaging students in authoring the dramas and solutions that represent their fears and their hopes for resolutions. In this article, the authors share a series of writing activities and…

The problem of teacher bullying via writing is all too common--and that in many cases, those doing the bullying are unaware of how their communications are being perceived. In this article, the authors call attention to writing decisions that may affect whether or not readers understand communications as bullying. Their goal is to raise awareness…

In his foundational work, "English Composition and Rhetoric," Alexander Bain set forth the framework for what students and teachers now routinely refer to as the five-paragraph essay. Teachers were so inculcated with Bain's paradigm for the "perfect" essay format, they in turn have inculcated their students, and they just say now, "Write an…

Teachers know that the most valuable learning occurs in classrooms where a sense of community exists. Community encourages rich learning because of the interactions among many individuals, not the limited, two-way exchange of ideas or information that is often the case when students fail to form a community. But what makes a community?…

Place plays an indelible role in the way people perceive and come to understand the world around them. Place influences their interactions by shaping the genres, texts, and languages they use as writers and readers. Therefore, writing that's tied to place and community encourages students to seriously consider the effects of these interactions,…

For almost three decades of teaching English and writing, the author has learned that despite years of reading and writing instruction and experiences in school, many, if not most, students have misguided, incomplete, or jumbled perceptions of genre, medium, and text. Two dynamics--traditional transmissional approaches to text as well as…

To define ethics as a mode of inquiry, it is first important to consider how ethics relates to critical thinking. Put simply, ethical inquiry is one type of inquiry required to think critically. A connection between critical thinking and ethics is only possible, however, when ethics is defined not as a static list of rules but as a "mode of…

The relatively new fields of ecocriticism in literary studies and ecocomposition in rhetoric and composition studies provide a usable foundation for those interested in green(ing) English. Nevertheless, even suggesting that interest in the environment within English studies is a relatively new concern is somewhat misleading. Contemplation of…

Pressure for students to produce writing perfection in the classroom often eclipses the emphasis placed on the need for students to practice writing. Occasions for students to choose, challenge, and reflect--to actually risk risking--are too often absent from conversations among students and teachers in countless English classrooms. Tom Romano…

In this article, the author offers a user-friendly approach to semiotics that engages students in critical examination of the popular culture they are already immersed in. She defines semiotics as "the study of signs" and explains how asking students to analyze cultural objects and practices from ordinary life and popular culture can engage their…