The touch of a keyboard replaces the turn of a page, just one of the many ways that digital tools have transformed the educational landscape. Today’s educational experience is saturated with technology. Screen time has become a normal part of the school day for sixth grade students everywhere, and often replaces the use of pencil … Continue reading Reimagining Teaching Middle School English with Digital Tools by Cami Christman and Lan Vu
Using Mnemonics to Comprehend Narrative by Evan Vargas
Stories are everywhere; they seem to be things we gravitate to. As teachers we see the importance of narratives, for they allow us to make connections to the world and deepen our understanding of ourselves. Teaching students how to both enjoy a story and notice patterns that help them better connect to the world, however, … Continue reading Using Mnemonics to Comprehend Narrative by Evan Vargas
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World: A Cautionary Tale of Totalitarian Ideology by Shahin Hossain
In Texts and Pretexts, first published in 1932, while discussing his concern regarding the present and future, Aldous Huxley asserted, “Personally, I must confess, I am more interested in what the world is now than in what it will be, or what it might be if improbable conditions were fulfilled” (6). In the same year, … Continue reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World: A Cautionary Tale of Totalitarian Ideology by Shahin Hossain
“Cool” Theft: AAVE Appropriation as a Tool of White Hegemony by Anna Lehn
The 1940s archival footage may be grainy, but the big band and its lead singer, Helen O’Connell, are lily white. Her blond perm, powdered nose, and demure blouse pop in the delicate grays of black and white film. So it may come as a surprise to contemporary audiences when she opens her mouth to sing, … Continue reading “Cool” Theft: AAVE Appropriation as a Tool of White Hegemony by Anna Lehn
Didn’t I See That Before?: Edgar Allan Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” Seen in Saw & Saw IV by T. Madison Peschock
For the past decade, the humanities have been on the decline, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) courses have been on the rise. As recent as February 2020, InsideHigher Ed.com reported that many “humanities programs had been frozen in line with what [is] described as a national trend of declining student interest in these … Continue reading Didn’t I See That Before?: Edgar Allan Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” Seen in Saw & Saw IV by T. Madison Peschock
“It’s Not the Teacher’s Job”: Talking About Death and Death-Related Grief with Picture Books in Classrooms by Jongsun Wee and Heather J. Fye
Introduction Death was not taboo in children’s literature before the 20th century (Clement and Jamali 5), but its presence disappeared from after World War I to the 1970s in Western children’s literature (12). Death is still a controversial topic and difficult to talk about. Some adults may avoid discussing death as they wish to guard … Continue reading “It’s Not the Teacher’s Job”: Talking About Death and Death-Related Grief with Picture Books in Classrooms by Jongsun Wee and Heather J. Fye
Opposites Attract: Binary Opposites in Alice Sebold’s Lucky by Tanya Stafsholt Miller
The cover of Alice Sebold’s memoir reads, “In the tunnel where I was raped, a girl had been murdered and dismembered. I was told this story by the police. In comparison, they said, I was LUCKY.” By juxtaposing the incongruous words “rape” and “lucky,” Sebold invites readers to ask, what does it mean to be … Continue reading Opposites Attract: Binary Opposites in Alice Sebold’s Lucky by Tanya Stafsholt Miller
Owning Their Stories: Teaching Memoir at an Alternative High School by Amy Vizenor
On a sunny afternoon in May, I sat in the parking lot of Midwestern Alternative (pseudonym), a high school for “at-risk” students where I was interviewing for an English teaching job. Watching the high schoolers spill out into the parking lot to leave for lunch, I felt intimidated by their stereotypically edgy, alternative dress, style, … Continue reading Owning Their Stories: Teaching Memoir at an Alternative High School by Amy Vizenor
Educating with Little Tree: Reshaping The Education of Little Tree’s Cultural and Pedagogical Value in English Classrooms by Chris Drew
At a recent conference session on literary diversity in classrooms, I and other attendees were encouraged to pass around a selection of books, examine them, and discuss their possible classroom use. A school librarian next to me picked up a copy of Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and we began … Continue reading Educating with Little Tree: Reshaping The Education of Little Tree’s Cultural and Pedagogical Value in English Classrooms by Chris Drew
Minding the Body: Towards a Pedagogy of Enactment by Catherine Fox
Although unable to theorize it at the time, I dropped out of college when I was nineteen because the disconnect had become intolerable. To be a disembodied mind, taking in the “knowledge” of the professor and regurgitating it in the form of papers and exams, was severing me from the interconnectivity that, I now believe, … Continue reading Minding the Body: Towards a Pedagogy of Enactment by Catherine Fox
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