Contends that the accelerated school model is a key to effective school reform in America. Provides a case study of one such school. Describes accelerated schools as positive, empowering vehicles by which students may succeed. (HB)

In this high-accountability era--one in which there is an expanding movement to condemn teachers for the failures of their schools--teachers teach students who believe writing is primarily an act of complying to a prompt, likely for a state accountability assessment or the troubling 25-minute essay that constitutes less than half of the writing…

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.…

Describes a project which used email to link the author's English classroom with classrooms in three other states so that students could discuss Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Discusses email as a distinct genre of writing with rules, characteristics, and even an aesthetic of its own. Offers a student-generated list…

Time and opportunity to discover truths are essential in education. Discovery takes repetition and trial and error. Discovery crosses intellectual and disciplinary boundaries as well. What is learned through the diverse experiences of one's academic and individual lives will pollinate each other if there is room left for discovery. The tyranny of…

Three English teachers share their ideas on how their work as a writer helped them as a teacher. One teacher has found that the desire for meaningful response to her own writing has led her to evaluate her students similarly. A second teacher discusses how personal experience translates into teaching how to convey rejection in a useful and tactful…

An article entitled "Pupils Persevere" covered the front page of Madison's local newspaper in February 2005. Highlighting the plight of four alternative programs in Madison's public school system, the article both angered and pleased students at this school. Although the central point of the front-page article was a plea for a larger physical…

In this third "Innovative Writing Instruction" column, the author invited a former high school teacher on the verge of preparing for doctoral candidacy exams, an instructor and doctoral student interested in writing research/practice, and a university supervisor for teacher education preservice students to share aspects of their writing selves,…

Criticizes theoretical schema of learning/writing processes (e.g., steps such as problem identifying, investigating, getting insights, expressing, refining, announcing, and reacting) to the actual experience of process which never fits such classifications. Cites theories of J. Dewey and F. M. Alexander to distinguish between attention to means…

Presents a potpourri of classroom techniques used by 28 teachers to develop skills in paragraph composition, public speaking, classroom discussion, the examination of specific literary works, and other language arts activities. (RL)

Considers the teaching of grammar and its importance in the writing classroom. Examines what grammar is; why writing instruction has moved away from grammar; differing opinions regarding grammar and writing instruction; and grammar's place in the writing classroom of the new century. Argues that grammar must be applied to students' own writing.…

Relates, in third-grade students' own words, the rewards and difficulties of creative writing in the classroom. (NKA)

Reports of classroom research on the effectiveness of sentence combining as a teaching technique. Notes the value of in-class research. (RL)

Shows how the Western stories of Dorothy M. Johnson can be used in the classroom to help students learn who and what they are. (EL)

Describes the pros and cons of using collaborative writing assignments in the English classroom. Gives one teacher's experiences using collaborative writing in a college prep composition course. (HB)