Research in English education needs further exploration on the purposeful implementation of death and grief within English curriculum. In this article Lori D. Ungemah examines how, as a high school English teacher, she integrated death and grief into a unit of study with her eleventh- grade English class. She discusses how her curriculum…

Located in the suburbs of a large midwestern city, Trail Middle School serves a predominantly middle-class population. The data the authors feature in this article include group discussions and interviews with students, as well as recordings of in-class lessons, student work, and fieldnotes. The authors focus on the theme of gender as it emerged…

Sara's story reports the effects of an experimental intervention applying knowledge-building principles for learning, as well as the unanticipated improvement of literacy skills of students with IEPs. According to the author, if you believe that knowledge is socially and collaboratively constructed, as the author does, then an overwhelming…

Parker Palmer's comment that teaching is a "daily exercise in vulnerability" might just as easily be said about living with a disability. As much as the person with a disability might want to hide his or her differences, it is often difficult to do so. Something as commonplace as walking through a grocery store without being stared at is often…

Born with a rare form of ocular carcinoma that left her with no vision in her left eye and severely limited vision in her right, this author has lived her life precariously balanced between two worlds--too blind for the sighted community and too sighted for the blind community. From this vantage point--first as a student, then as a teacher, and…

Time and opportunity to discover truths are essential in education. Discovery takes repetition and trial and error. Discovery crosses intellectual and disciplinary boundaries as well. What is learned through the diverse experiences of one's academic and individual lives will pollinate each other if there is room left for discovery. The tyranny of…

Presents five high school teachers' ideas about how to create a desirable environment for their students' learning in English classrooms. (SG)

Describes a curriculum developed for the English classroom that focuses on numerous outside speakers and helps students develop self-esteem and self-discipline. Provides numerous activities which foster self-confidence. Argues that self-esteem and discipline are essential aspects of a successful classroom environment. (HB)

Relates personal experiences and applies Freud's theory of humor to explain why teachers should not treat the study of comedy too seriously in the English classroom. (RL)

Compares instructions for taking a ninth-grade achievement test to the reality of the conditions in which the test was actually taken. (NKA)

Considers how a teacher can help students become avid readers. Describes how cultivating a culture of reading in ninth-grade English has increased student interest and renewed the author's teaching. Suggests that all students are readers, but that the conditions of reading change from person to person. (SG)

Four experienced teachers replaced the traditional classroom dynamics and environment having micromanaged routines with CyberEnglish classroom structure that supports scholars' choices and voices. The lack of voice in students' writing was one of the reasons for the changes in the classrooms and exciting results were achieved with different…

An essay on the value of contention, arguing that the object of English classes should not be to classify things and ideas but to advance, possibly through an adversary approach, the differences in opinion, reaction, and value that too often lie buried in literary issues. (Author/JB)

Examines gender issues in the English classroom. Notes that by thoughtfully orchestrating classroom activities, English teachers can bolster female students' self-confidence, helping them to construct and convey their own interpretations of texts, characters, and situations. (MM)

Describes how a high school English teacher set up a project to help students who made frequent conventional errors become more aware of them, choose goals based on their own writing weaknesses, collect data, work toward improvement, and assess their success. Argues that, while not all students are reached, the climate of the classroom is…