Many middle school students claim that their voices are ignored in the classroom, where the attitude is too often that the teacher holds the one right answer. Instead of this approach, teachers may wish to use the Socratic Seminar, which prompts students to examine issues and ideas through dialogue and actively involves and motivates them, giving…

When a seventh grade social studies class was redesigned in a workshop format, the teacher's role became less autocratic, the class atmosphere became more relaxed, and students asked more open-ended questions. Both teacher and students could learn from each other through the process of inquiry. (SK)

Describing a teacher's struggle to help her seventh-grade students reach their full potential, this book is about girls--their learning, their social dilemmas, and their dreams, hopes, and fears. The book reveals the obstacles the teacher faced and how her students collaborated with her to become curriculum builders as they explored issues such as…

Describes a first-year teacher's experience teaching unruly seventh graders and how she has learned, to a degree, to smile and to be patient, and find consolation in those students who have written to her to express how much she has helped them through her teaching and counseling. (TB)

This book is intended for researchers and teachers interested in literacy and concerned about classrooms as a context for literacy activity and learning. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "What It Means to be Literate about Classrooms" (Lyn Corno); (2) "Beyond Access: An Ethnographic Study of Reading and Writing in a…