Following the #ReadingWars on social media? If you are, you may feel like me—lost and confused. Although I teach middle school English, reading instruction is near and dear to my heart because I teach in a school where many of our readers are considered striving readers. (Please note the phrase "striving readers." It is intentional: … Continue reading #ReadingWars and Equity by Allison Sirovy
The Sustainability of the Empathetic Teacher by Shaina Lane
At 6:30 on a snowy Monday morning, I click my key into the lock of the school office to start my day. There is never anyone there before me, which I prefer because it gives me enough time to get myself together before adolescent bodies start streaming through the door. I set my stuff down, change out … Continue reading The Sustainability of the Empathetic Teacher by Shaina Lane
Internalizing the Message by Kay J. Walter
I had a few extra minutes that day when I entered the classroom in which I was teaching composition to second-semester freshmen at my university. I teach at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, a public university in rural Arkansas attended mostly by first-generation students of higher education. I try to start each of my … Continue reading Internalizing the Message by Kay J. Walter
The Same School Year: Narratives of Early- and Middle-Career Teachers in a U.S. Public School by Lisa M. Dembouski & Kari Eloranta
At the Start of the Year Kari: I thought I was ready. Student teaching had been everything I’d dreamed it would be. I’d spent countless hours studying, training, and volunteering to be just the kind of teacher I had hoped to be. My teaching program prepped me with content and pedagogy and everything else I’d … Continue reading The Same School Year: Narratives of Early- and Middle-Career Teachers in a U.S. Public School by Lisa M. Dembouski & Kari Eloranta
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
Seriously, What’s the Difference? by Jeanette Lukowski
It all began with an article from The New York Times titled “The Community College / ‘Real College’ Divide.” The article was part of an assessment tool being used by the community college for whom I was an Adjunct English Instructor that fall semester of 2016; the Assessment Coordinator was asking all teachers of Composition I … Continue reading Seriously, What’s the Difference? by Jeanette Lukowski
A Few Confessions of an English Teacher by Alexandra Glynn
Preparing for classes rouses up the guilt again. I teach writing, but I don’t do what I tell my students to do. I plagiarize, in a sense, all the time. I don’t read articles; I skim them enough to make them seem read. And when I write, I really don’t consider any of the items … Continue reading A Few Confessions of an English Teacher by Alexandra Glynn
Listening to the Silence: Addressing Anxiety Disorders in Our Schools by Abby Rosen
As teachers, we ask a lot of our students. We demand not only respect for our authority, but curiosity, effort, and perseverance in the face of failure and humiliation. They also ask a lot of us: content mastery, understanding, and the ability to constantly adapt to new challenges. Usually, students rise to our expectations with … Continue reading Listening to the Silence: Addressing Anxiety Disorders in Our Schools by Abby Rosen
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