After twenty-five years, the authors find that the "natural" writing center-WAC connection has proven its value over time. Pointing to the growth of WAC-writing centers, their scholarship, role in faculty development and community building, the authors end by reflecting on how this program building over the last years supports and can…

In this article, the author reflects on keynotes by Debra Myhill and Wayne Sawyer in a search for ways with grammar. One of the keynote speakers, Debra Myhill, shared her research into teaching grammar that she had conducted in the UK. Myhill had asked a sample of teachers to follow a specified unit plan and had conducted pre- and post-testing to…

The recently released Common Core State Standards increase classroom emphasis on informational texts in high school and recommend a three-part measurement for text complexity when selecting texts for classroom use. In this commentary I argue that fictional narratives can not only meet these stated criteria for complex texts and result in critical…

As concerns mount over the costs and benefits of higher education, it may be worthwhile to glance at the benefits of high school education at present as well. Of course, high school costs, while high, are borne by the taxpayers in general, but it is reasonable to hope that there are sufficient benefits for such an outlay. One of the most…

2011 marks the Centennial of the National Council of Teachers of English, and to commemorate this milestone, CCC will publish two Symposia, one in this issue of the journal, and a second in June. Here we learn from Erika Lindemann about the founding of both NCTE and CCCC; about how both groups have developed; and, drawing from these histories,…

In this article the author analyzes a composition written by an 18-year-old student from Puerto Rico fluent in Spanish and English, who struggled with writing in both languages. She analyzes the student's work from a framework of discourse and narrative analysis and the tenets of oral culture. Her intent is to clarify the structural complexity of…

In this frankly utopian essay, Robert Yagelski's theme is the transformative power of writing as an act in and of itself. He makes us reevaluate our motivation and point for teaching writing in schools and asks us to consider an agenda that will quite frankly scare teachers as he explains why we need an ontology of writing. (Contains 6 notes.)

This article explores the emotioned dimensions of racist discourses at an all-white public high school. I argue that students' racist assertions do not always or even often originate in students' racist attitudes or belief. Instead, racist language functions metaphorically, connecting common racist ideas to nonracist feelings, values, beliefs, and…

Like many high school English teachers, I often had a difficult time getting my students to write. I knew the key to getting them to write was to find activities that interested them. What do most students love? They love going out to eat! They love not just the food, but the whole experience of "going out." Cozzy's Restaurant was this teacher's…

In this article, the author recounts her teaching experience with new high school students at Northwest Yeshiva High School, an Orthodox Jewish high school on Mercer Island. In teaching the students about writing, the author describes how she was moved by the narratives written by her students, and that after reading their stories she decided to…

Although teachers focus on style, fluency, tone, and correct grammar in writing, they rarely emphasize the importance of content. Both the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges and the NAEP seem to favor emotional and personal writing, at least at the high school level. Judging from their guidelines, both the SAT and the…

In this tale of a single event told from the perspectives of multiple narrators, Erick Gordon, Kerry McKibbin, Lalitha Vasudevan, and Ruth Vinz write about their work together on a Student Press Initiative (SPI) writing project at Horizon Academy, the Department of Correction/Department of Education high school at Rikers Island Jail in New York…

Various studies revealed the ineffectiveness of direct grammar instruction to produce better writers. However, a high school teacher finds that explaining grammar rules provides students with tools for building complex thoughts and expressing themselves more elaborately.

A high school teacher has created a more effective method of responding to students' papers by using the tools that are available in common word-processing programs and widely available technology. Assessment has become a powerful tool for instruction and student self-reflection as the response of most of the students is positive towards…

Thirty years ago, Peter Elbow wrote "Writing without Teachers" and ushered in the process, heuristic approach to language pedagogy. Most distinctive about Elbow's book--and the plethora of others that would follow--was the invitation to allow writing to evolve, to develop, and to grow as a living organism. Suddenly, teachers were supplanting…