The 2017 English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) standards from Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) reflect best-practice literacy instruction. The seven strands of Foundational language skills, Comprehension skills, Response skills, Multiple genres, Author's purpose and craft, Composition, and Inquiry and research form an integrated…

In this article, Darrell Rasco, a full-time student at Waxahachie Global High (STEM/ECHS), presents a dialogue that took place between him and his high school teacher throughout the course of several writing assignments during the school year. Through writing assignments and encouragement from his teacher, Darrell has recently discovered his…

The articles in this journal issue reflect the theme of "passages." Five articles contain teachers' reflections and descriptions of the following forms of passage: (1) passing from the classroom to motherhood and back again; (2) passing from academe to the world of work--the retraining of literature professors; (3) ways in which students gain…

Suggests that one of the biggest flaws with current teacher education programs is that the prospective teachers do not interact with the students in the role of instructor until their last semester. Argues that preservice teachers need to be equipped with the proper tools--realistic assignments, opportunities for student/teacher interaction,…

Suggests that if inclusion programs are implemented correctly, students with special needs will begin to have more success stories, which will help educators find a pathway out of the dead ends of the inclusion maze. (RS)

Addresses drama in the early childhood classroom as a useful tool for focusing on many of the current concerns in education including problem solving, integration of curriculum, writing across the curriculum, and authentic assessment. (RS)

Discusses ways in which Mikhail Bakhtin's two key ideas--multivocality and carnival--are played out in John Knowles' novel "A Separate Peace." Suggests that the novel will remain vital, alive, and accessible to students as long as they hear, respond to, and participate in the dialogues in the novel. (RS)

Suggests that the telling of vivid stories can help engage elementary students' emotions and increase the chances of fostering an interest in Texas history. Suggests that incorporating elements of the process approach to writing can merge with social studies objectives in creating a curriculum for wisdom. (RS)

Criticizes content-area teachers for not knowing what they are talking about when they criticize English teachers. Suggests that students be given the same opportunity to understand the self-evident truths of written sentences as was given to teachers--by doing lots of writing. (RS)

Shares what is being done in one English methods course to address the call for English education teacher preparation programs to help prospective teachers construct pedagogical understandings of subject matter. Includes three drafts and a final version of students' basic premises for teaching English language arts. (RS)

Explodes five commonly held myths: at-risk students (1) do not want to learn; (2) have no pride in their work; (3) are incapable of discipline; (4) have poor attendance records; and (5) are violent. Argues that at-risk students have the same hopes and aspirations as other students. (RS)

Explores: (1) expression in talking, particularly as it expands the writing process; (2) spoken traces of culture filtering into writing; and (3) richness and color of expression as writing motivators. Describes four strategies for improving writing instruction that recognize the orality of composition and the duality of language. (SR)

Argues, from the point of view of an undergraduate engineering student, that making the pass/fail grading system mandatory for college freshman composition students will help them achieve the goal of learning to write. (SR)

Compares and contrasts attitudes toward the Internet of people in composition, technical communication, and rhetoric with those of people in engineering, who tend to be reluctant to use the Internet as an idea-sharing open communication channel. Notes the dilemma this creates for the technical writing instructor. (SR)

Describes how a teacher became converted to thinking about her developmental composition classes as genuine writing classes, classes about learning to express ideas on paper, not classes about error or exercise. Notes that the teacher thinks of her students as composition students first and developmental students second. (SR)