Offers short descriptions from 5 English teachers, each describing a book on the teaching of writing that they recommend to other English teachers. (SR)

Considers the teaching of grammar and its importance in the writing classroom. Examines what grammar is; why writing instruction has moved away from grammar; differing opinions regarding grammar and writing instruction; and grammar's place in the writing classroom of the new century. Argues that grammar must be applied to students' own writing.…

Argues that educators need to acknowledge how the material interests of part-time and adjunct teachers, graduate assistants, tenure-stream faculty, and administrators can come into conflict in composition in order to negotiate fairly among them. Discusses how the culture of academic professionalism militates against such a consciousness, and…

Describes an assignment where the student must examine him/herself as a writer. Discusses the implementation of the National Writing Project noting its purpose to improve the teaching of writing and improve learning in the nation's schools. (SC)

Calls for more complicated understandings of the relationship between women and technology. Draws on feminist technology theorists' constructions of technology as always ideological but never predetermined in its meanings for users as a way of beginning this project. Believes compositionists can disentangle themselves from the technologies that…

Describes how the author teaches children to write poetry the way the cubists made art, by connecting cubist portraits with series poems in a drawing-and-writing lesson that connects art and poetry. (SR)

Examines positions held by those challenging the status quo in composition and dispels apparent misconceptions about their goals and motivations. Outlines the discontinuities between earlier "abolitionist" calls for reconceiving the discipline and recent "new abolitionist" arguments to illustrate that in these newer calls lies the potential for…

Offers two essays responding to Horner's article in a previous issue of this journal. Argues for redefinition of "professionalization,""evaluation," and the uses of professional authority in relation to students' and other laypeople's knowledges. Discusses the need for professional organizations and unions, and the ongoing need…

Presents the idea of "contemplative reading" and suggests that certain nonfiction works evoke an experience of contemplative response that is familiar to innumerable teachers and other readers. Notes that by looking at the big picture, good contemplative writing can balance the tendency toward overemphasis on negative, problem-based…

Presents a revised version of a talk given at the 2001 meeting of the City University of New York Association of Writing Supervisors. Offers a critique of current use of metaphors of community in teaching writing as both utopian and confining. Suggests alternate ways of imagining writing and teaching. Proposes three counter-concepts to community:…

Describes some of the thinking behind learning communities, how they have been defined, and considers why they can be effective. Suggests a direction that educators might go to rehabilitate the idea of learning communities because it represents something fundamentally good about human beings in their relations with one another. (SG)

Presents two writing activities. Gives a brief description of an activity of personal reflection for composition students. Describes a composition classroom activity for writing effective introduction lead-ins. (SG)

Addresses the climate of disappointment that characterizes English studies generally and composition studies--particularly writing program administration (WPA). Considers that the context of disappointment is shaped by a number of overlapping factors including: the widely perceived job market collapse in the humanities; the national abuse of…

Describes, in the form of a letter to a young writer, how the author celebrates the pendulous life of the poet: from arrogance to uncertainty, from misstep to breakthrough. Emphasizes the sustaining force of reading and the need to be initiated into one's own work by the work of others. (SG)

Presents an interview with Michael Palmer. Discusses the direction of poetry after September 11th. Concludes with a poem by Palmer, "Song of the Round Man." (SG)