American adolescents are experiencing an epidemic of anxiety and depression. In this article, Eric Piotrowski explores how regular writing practice and conscious conversations help students struggling with loss, grief, trauma, and myriad associated difficulties including anxiety and self-harm. Students in his classroom use fictionalized…

This article considers how relationships in the English classroom are influenced by the types of literacy activities, the role of the teacher, the tone of oral comments, and the types of writing students share with peers.

The Bechdel test, the author's student Marley explained, is named for the US graphic novelist and cartoonist Alison Bechdel. To pass the test, a work of fiction must contain at least one scene in which two or more women (preferably named characters) discuss something other than a male. Students who read from the canon of works regularly encounter…

Communicating effectively is a skill that must be taught and practiced--and the act of listening is a large part of this skill. According to the "International Journal of Listening," listening skills are imperative to reading comprehension and are valuable enough for "38 out of the 51 government entities to include listening skills as part of…

In society, expertise bestows directive power--the authority to tell others what to do and how to do it, or simply to do it for them. In a school system that still operates on an authoritarian model, the author's expertise as a writer and teacher gives her directive prerogative when responding to student writing. Traditionally, teachers have used…

Motivation has long been viewed as a key element of learning. A study of over 300 high school juniors and seniors demonstrated that motivation was at least as predictive of achievement in a subject as was intelligence. Among younger students, motivation is a linchpin to learning, even at a time developmentally when overall motivation for…

Sarah Irwin and Cyndi Knodle believe that by replacing the confines of content and form in writing instruction and assignments with ample "time and space for invention and arrangement, writing teachers can help to inspire student thinking rather than chopping it off to fit a required format." They elaborate on students' eagerness to be guided by a…

Authentic discussions about writing are the sorts of conversations that professional or experienced writers might have, where writers explore purpose, effect, clarity, and interpretation. These discussions help students develop "writing skills and strategies because students are able to work at progressively higher levels with the guidance and…

High school teacher John Golden interviews social justice educator Linda Christensen. Golden and Christensen begin by expanding on an understanding of social justice and a teacher's role in the social justice classroom. They continue by addressing complicated issues of student empowerment, meeting state standards, and choosing appropriate texts…

Some days it is difficult to remember why we love being teachers. For those difficult days, high school teacher Tim Gillespie maintains a list of fifteen reasons to keep teaching. He shares his list to remind us of the "greatest pleasures and highest callings" that we can experience as English teachers, believing that we can sustain ourselves and…

Like Gertrude Stein's rose, a teacher is a teacher is a teacher. And if one does it right, there is no job more honorable, more fulfilling, more necessary to the betterment of the world. Teachers are the people who love the acquisition of knowledge. Teachers teach because they love learning. In this article, the author discusses what it means to…

A veteran teacher with over 35 years experience, the author reflects on the events of September 11, 2001, and how the events of that day demonstrated that teachers fulfill many shifting roles in their students' lives. Here, he shares his own feelings of profound sadness for all the victims on that day, and discusses how the roles of teachers often…

In this article, several teachers share their ideas on what they enjoy about coaching, directing, or advising. One of them, Mary Ann Yedinak, teaches middle school language arts, has a family, and has several partially written books still stored on her computer. However, she still wants to add an extracurricular activity such as Drama Club to her…