Through sharing critical episodes, the author reminds people of the importance of relationships and personal reflection in the development of teachers. The important early lessons from Mrs. Hanks, Charles, Dusty, and Twyla are the ones that have influenced the author the most, the ones that have inspired her to work at being a better teacher, the…

The need for strong mentors has received more professional attention since the author first began teaching thirteen years ago. Tied to recent changes in teacher certification in their state, the mentoring component is now an integral part of teacher development and evaluation in her district. But mentoring alone is not enough to ensure continued…

In the author's first three years of teaching in Tununak, a Yup'ik Eskimo village of approximately 350 people on the southwest coast of Alaska, there is no question that she has learned just as much, if not more, from her students and this community than her students could ever learn from her. Learning about and getting involved in the local…

Student teaching in New York City on September 11, 2001, forced the author to scrap her carefully planned lessons. Instead, she designed a unit to address the urgent needs of the ninth graders in her care. In this article, the author describes the poetry unit she designed to help students deal with the grieving process and allow them a way to talk…

Teachers improve their presentation of materials and interactions with students when they are able to learn from their mistakes and misconceptions. While there are days that require "an act of survival," as the author writes, helping adolescents reach the maturity of adulthood keeps her from being "just a teacher." In this article, the author…

Like Gertrude Stein's rose, a teacher is a teacher is a teacher. And if one does it right, there is no job more honorable, more fulfilling, more necessary to the betterment of the world. Teachers are the people who love the acquisition of knowledge. Teachers teach because they love learning. In this article, the author discusses what it means to…

The author discusses the power of personal narratives to help writers not only improve their writing and understand themselves but also think more critically. Through poetry that grew from her impulse for narrative, the author reveals her growth as a teacher who was simultaneously learning about students' growth and change. (Contains 1 figure.)

University educator P. L. Thomas recalls the significant figures in his professional life and, drawing from their example, exhorts us to "command the daily events of our own careers." He outlines specific actions that he believes English language arts teachers must take.

According to Columbia University social psychologist Carol Dweck, teachers may find some answers to students' ways of thinking if they consider students' views of "intelligence." In "Messages That Motivate: How Praise Molds Students' Beliefs, Motivation, and Performance (in Surprising Ways)," Dweck maintains that academic motivation and…

While it's OK to focus on their own development as teachers, they must remember who it's all really about: the students. Given the centrality of students in their work, it is important that they consider the motives behind their decisions to be and become teachers and discuss these motives with preservice and new teachers. This has become an issue…

Being a first-year teacher in New York City is not easy. The author received much of the same preparation and advice that he and his colleagues give their students. But even the best education courses and a positive student teaching experience do not seem to be enough to take the edge off of a year he remembers barely surviving. The author…

Considers why some of the author's most memorable classes and teachers invoked Shakespeare and thrilled her with the performance of his words. Concludes that she does not foresee any diminution of the love for Shakespeare in this new age because humans are still possessed of all the emotions and flaws that bind and separate us. (SG)

Shares six teachers' comments on how, why and which of Shakespeare's Sonnets they teach. (SG)

Considers that if there is one writer who may appear in successive years on the AP (Advanced Placement) literature exam, it is Shakespeare. Sets out to discover something about what the connection between drives for accountability, the growing popularity of the AP English class, and the teaching of Shakespeare means for students at the high school…

Describes a 4-week unit of study that focuses on Shakespeare's "The Tempest," a text that has been especially controversial in today's climate of increased multicultural awareness. Involves students in a larger conversation about the possibilities for reading and interpreting literature and prepares them to write mature analyses of the play. (SG)