In this article Deidre Faughey shares an experimental classroom project that she developed with a diverse group of students in three ninth-grade English Language Arts (ELA) classes. Podcasts provide a unique opportunity for students to embrace experimentation and to take risks with their own voices, explore the school building and community, and…

Huddled around a table, a group of English teachers eagerly discuss their chosen book club young adult novels. The authors appreciate that these texts explore how social injustice and inequity influence people's worlds. The novels invite teachers to consider the perspectives of those whose viewpoints and experiences differ from their own. With an…

In the years since 2008, when the "Success with ELLs" column started, these authors have seen many changes to the educational landscape, not dealing specifically with ELLs, but having implications for their education. Probably, the most significant change has been the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which have no…

The authors report outcomes of a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort through a study group developed to make connections across content areas (English and history/social studies) and grade levels (middle school, high school, and college).

Beginning teachers typically enter schools feeling like foreigners, coping often with the jolting disorientation of not knowing where to find basic things such as restrooms, copiers, and mailboxes. They also struggle to pick up on the routines that others seem to have mastered with ease. At the same time, the culture and territory of US schools…

In this article, the author speaks with four English language arts teachers from Goodland High School, all in differing stages of their teaching careers. These teachers contribute important insights to how the adoption of new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) foster change in teaching and curriculum as well as concerns for classroom practice. All…

Several issues make standardized assessment of ELLs a challenge and the information provided by these assessments unreliable. However, as educators, they do need to know how students are doing, what gains they are making, where gaps in their understanding exist, and what types of instructional strategies and topics need to be introduced to…

When the author first started teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) students, she was incredibly naive about the second language acquisition process. One of the first moves she made was to look at the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) goals, and she began to think about the purposes and situations in which her…

English teachers should give most attention to counteracting the tendency for public language to become an unreliable instrument of communication. (JH)

Presents five teacher responses to the following questions: (1) "In what ways do you see the study of a Foreign language as important to the study of English?"; and (2) "How have you worked with foreign-language teachers in your school?". (JAD)

The English teacher does not use literature to teach reading skills; he rather helps students use those skills to understand literature. (JH)