Relates the experiences of a teacher's summer working as an "Englishman" on the "Mayflower" II, focusing on questions asked by tourists such as "Where are the other two ships?" Considering the misperceptions of history demonstrated by both young and old Americans, reflects that perhaps there was no "golden age" of education to which we should try…

Discusses shifts in language/composition research over the past 20 years as they relate to an emerging consensus about English teaching. (SRT)

Presents the early history of writing across the curriculum (WAC) or "co-operation", as J. Hosic called it in 1913, concluding with a comparison of today's WAC programs with those of earlier decades. (SRT)

Discusses the work of D. Smith, who wrote "Fifty Years of Children's Books,""Instruction in English," and Selected Essays," that largely document the history of English instruction in the U.S. for the last 50 years. (SRT)

Outlines the differences between mediocre and good poetry, asserting that most objections to poetry are really objection to bad poetry or poetry poorly taught or ignorantly read and concluding that good poetry is a way of knowing and a method of organizing perceptions. (SRT)

Reviews the censorship debate in light of three underlying assumptions: (1) reading influences the opinions and beliefs of the reader; (2) the effect of a book, article, or passage is universal, implying there is one correct meaning for a particular work; and (3) the effects of reading are context independent. (SRT)

Recounts one teacher's experiences during the week before the beginning of school and expresses concern over the large amount of time allotted for meetings and the smaller amount allotted for preparation and planning of instructional materials and activities. (SRT)

Criticizes school policies that hamper teachers' use of new methods such as journal writing and reader response to literature because these methods have caused criticism of teachers and school administrators. Concludes that students have a right to ideas, good teaching, sharing, mistakes, and trust. (SRT)

Notes that while personal satisfaction and academic self-esteem are reasons for English teachers to improve and grow, they are often thwarted in their efforts by a system that requires a heavy load of paperwork, censors their methods and materials, emphasizes grammar in testing, and offers few rewards for scholarly self-improvement. (SRT)

Demonstrates the impracticality of imposing rigorous definitions on the various stages of the writing process and the ineffectiveness of requiring students to adhere to strict writing strategies. (SRT)

Reflects on the uniqueness of junior high/middle (JH/MS) school students, including their romantic rituals and fashion conformity, and offers these characteristics as reasons both for and against teaching JH/MS. (SRT)

Reports how the use of microcomputers in a writing class helped change students' writing behaviors, created a writing community, caused the teacher to learn along with the students, and helped marginal writers improve. (SRT)

Outlines research done by teachers on writing apprehension and concludes that teachers are natural researchers because they continually pose questions about the nature of their students and the effectiveness of their teaching. (SRT)

Four educators offer their opinions on whether a core curriculum should promote the study of traditional literature or introduce a varied selection of minority literature to promote cultural diversity. (SRT)

Argues that students should exercise criticism in the classroom, but this criticism should not take the form of mere training in technical skills, indoctrination into a particular conceptual system, or theoretical speculation ungrounded in reality. (SRT)