The author, a teacher at Roosevelt Junior High/Middle School in Eugene, Oregon, has created and taught a variety of elective classes. Each incorporated reading, writing skills, oral presentations, research reports, and specific educational goals. Of these classes, Storytelling became his favorite, because those who became tellers learn skills they…

This is a personal account of the author's naivete, growth, and hope as a literacy educator after she left her position as a university professor to teach reading to young adolescents. She describes how her experience and academic expertise did not fully prepare her for the realities of working in a middle school and how she became more aware of…