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I think that two major issues in teaching ESL students are the teacher’s attitude and the teacher’s knowledge. I know that teachers have to wear many hats. English teachers have a lot to teach: reading skills, many forms of writing, Voice, persuasion, multiple literacies, and of course life-lessons in open-mindedness, self-expression, respect, etc. We try [...]

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Does current technology truly better engage students? I assume that this is because of the visual aspect. So could other less current technology be used just as beneficially (writing/drawing tools, paper, etc)? In “But Will It Work With Real Students?”: Scenarios for Teaching English Language Arts, Alsup and Bush discuss the benefits of using PowerPoint [...]

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I’ll be blunt: I don’t feel comfortable teaching deconstruction. I’m not sure that I even understand it fully, though Appleman’s chapter helps a bit. If I’m understanding correctly, deconstruction means that the reader takes the text apart to find what is wrong with [...]

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            I enjoyed Appleman’s chapter about feminist literary theory chiefly because this chapter focuses on teaching students to look at texts and life experiences through different perspectives which leads to a greater understanding of and critical thought about the world around us. Appleman (2000) states that “theory helps us recognize the essential quality of other [...]

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In the couple of readings that discuss reader-response approach versus close textual reading/interpretation, I agree with a teacher’s response to a narrative in Alsup and Bush. The narrative tells about a teacher’s experience in having students write a personal response that ties into The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After students read about how being on [...]

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This week, I truly enjoyed reading Ramsey’s chapter on How to Say the Right Thing to Students. Ramsey gave specific suggestions and lists of what to do and what not to do. Ramsey discusses how to talk to students, carry out classroom discussions, how to praise, and how to discipline. A couple points that really [...]

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Rex Gibson (1998), in Teaching Shakespeare, discusses ways to study Shakespeare’s characters in the classroom. In keeping with his view that these plays should be treated as scripts, not text, Gibson suggests various activities that parallel what Shakespearean (and other) actors do to get “into character.” These are interesting. I have seen such activities done [...]

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In his 1994 article, Toward Thoughtful Curriculum: Fostering Discipline-Based Conversation in the English Language Arts Classroom, Arthur Applebee brings up an interesting question through a student’s shared thoughts. Brett, the student, explains that his teacher asks questions in order to try to get students to think for themselves, but she is really looking for a [...]

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While I understand that there needs to be some statewide way of assessing schools and students, I agree with the IRA that these tests do not “yield enough information to make an important instructional decision” (International Reading Association). Perhaps these tests are useful in some degree, but they should not determine which track a child [...]

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While perusing the first two chapters of Teaching Shakespeare by Rex Gibson, I truly enjoyed and agreed with many of the author’s statements on the benefits of teaching Shakespeare. Gibson addresses why Shakespeare should be taught and methods of teaching Shakespeare that engage students and increase their understanding of the text/script, the world around them, [...]

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