Education Commons^™

Engaging Students And Teaching Life Skills Through Community Collaboration, Kim Stein

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Collaboration with the Youth First Program of Saginaw increased students' engagement in eleventh-grade English. Students bonded with community partners, their teacher, and their peers in new ways which produced an environment of mutual respect and deeper learning. Students engaged in a debate project which garnered recognition from school administrators and community members, who were influenced to enact positive changes for the school community.

Building Sustainable Antiracist Coalition: Developing A Research Team For Studying Diverse Language And Literacy Practices At The University, Nicole L.G. Varty, Adrienne Jankens, Linda Jimenez, Anna Lindner, Mariel Krupansky

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In the face of so many current challenges, teachers may feel overwhelmed at the thought of engaging in antiracist work, or they may be discouraged by seemingly slow progress. This article presents present a narrative of building and maintaining an antiracist research coalition across departments at our university. By grounding our work in the important work of key black scholars, we describe our process of naming whiteness, inviting collaboration, grappling with definitions, and even identifying a few small victories along the way. Members of our group contribute their voices and perspectives from across the past two years of developing our …

New Possibilities For The Esl Classroom: Toward An Appreciation Of Creative Writing, Alyssa A. Jewell

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article addresses the gap between ESL and creative writing in college-level ESL writing courses. In ESL classrooms, creative writing activities may be implemented sporadically, but rarely, if ever, prove part of a standard, long-term curriculum. However, the benefits of utilizing creative writing in ESL classrooms are manifold. Highlighted here are various short-term studies and personal accounts that examine smaller creative writing assignments used in college ESL classroom settings. Gloria Anzaldúa has provided a philosophical rationale and springboard for engaging in this pedagogy and its potential wider applications, especially through her bi-lingual approach to creative scholarship. Felicia Rose Chavez’s anti-racist …

Doing The Work -- Collectively Pursuing Anti-Racist And Equitable Teaching: One High School English Department’S Journey, Sharon Murchie, Anthony Andrus, Pat Brennan, Gina Farnelli, Shelby Fletcher, Dawn Reed, Emily Solomon, Benjamin K. Woodcock

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Our district has long been heralded as a beacon school, one that delivers exceptional education in an exceptional community. Peeling back the layers, however, revealed a district that lurched towards the traditional, even with the hiring of DEI faculty and the step away from an historical indigenous mascot. In a time where teachers are exhausted and afraid of community backlash, our

English department dared to tear off the scabs of old wounds and united to push toward what is best for our changing community and students. Hard conversations, difficult topics, and months of legwork at last successfully provided the impetus …

Journeying Toward Liberation: Creating Civic Utopias Through Restorative Literacies, Rae L. Oviatt, Megan Mcelwee, Owen Farney

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this article, we forward three narratives from educators whose lived experiences moving from underrepresented youth to queer educators support the necessity of furthering representation for historically marginalized youth across classroom spaces. We begin with situating our argument in response to current policies that would seek to silence historically marginalized voices, histories, literacies, and thereby inhibit a more just social and civic future. Our narratives provide three varied perspectives of lived experiences as youth moving toward our current status as queer educators. Finally, we seek to call in other educators to engage advocacy and resources to support this work in …

Muffintops, Fat Rolls, And Self Love: Using Fat Young Adult Texts To Promote Body Positivity, Laura M. Davis

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

With the findings of Wood-Barcalow, Tylka, and Augustus-Horwath (2009) as a framework, this essay offers an analysis of two texts portraying fat protagonists: The Summer of Jordi Perez and the Best Burger in L.A. by Amy Spalding and To Be Honest by Maggie Ann Martin. I examine the authors’ depictions of fat characters to determine if the characters align with Wood-Barcalow, Tylka, and Augustus-Horwath’s (2009) definition of body positivity. Using critical content analysis (Short, 2017), I consider how relationships, environment, and self-concept support and work against body positive attitudes. This essay also includes suggestions for how educators can use these …

“In The Midst Of Experience:” Civic Education Through Narrative Creation, Jeff Spanke

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Through employing a narrative, reflective approach, I discuss how the experience of working with international students during a summer institute informed the developed and implementation of a civically minded project in a college Young Adult Literature seminar. The project sought to frame "America" as an actual teenager, relative to other, more "adult" countries in the world, and asked students to construct a conventional YA narrative featuring America as the primary character. Through this narrative, I explain the various successes of the project and ultimately argue that students' stories and original compositions offer a viable mechanism for progressive, democratic citizenship education …

Yellow Pads And The Return Of The Writer, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

College, Career, And Community Writer’S Program (C3wp) Data-Driven Reports Of Literacy Growth, Kathy J. Kurtze

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Through the implementation of mini-units in from the C3WP, a teacher demonstrates that routine argument writing leads to great gains in argument writing literacy.

Writing On Demand In College, Career, And Community Writing: Preparing Students To Participate In The Pop-Up Parlor, Kelly J. Sassi, Hannah Stevens

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The Writing on Demand Unit is an important part of the College, Career, and Community Writers Program. In this article, we review the literature on C3WP; contextualize the writing on demand unit in relation to the other instructional resources in C3WP; explore five big ideas about writing on demand; and describe an approach to teaching this unit that includes some preliminary results of teaching this unit in a rural, Native American high school. The five big ideas that inform its use are the following: 1) emotions matter, 2) everyone does it, so provide reasons for writing on demand, 3) time …

Knotworking The College, Career, And Community Writers Program, Rachel Bear, Tom Fox

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

"Knotworking the College, Career, and Community Writers Program" examines its history and success through four "knots." Using Engeström's concept of "knotworking," the article explores the relationship of the program to national standards, mandated curricula, hyperpartisan public discourse, and student achievement.

Coming To Terms With College Writing, Tyler Judd

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The task of defining college writing is one that will more than likely never find a definitive end. As writing teachers it is important to understand what the future for our students holds, but for those college-bound students it can often be hard to predict. With new resources such as Joseph Harris’ Rewriting: How to do Things With Texts, and National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program teachers can be sure they are guiding that population of students toward a successful academic future. This piece explores some of the specific resources and tools that I have found most …

A Wood Comes Toward Dunsinane: The Synthesis Of Traditional And Constructivist Methodologies, Randall L. Kaplan

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Education professionals now favor Constructivist and project-based strategies for learning over Traditional methods, which include such frowned upon practices as rote memorization and recitation. The Constructivist approach is being taken to its natural apex by educators like Larry Rosenstock who have created Constructivist utopias such as High Tech High in San Diego, the school put under the microscope in the 2015 documentary film Most Likely to Succeed. Project-based, experiential units of study are effective, exciting, and edifying for both students and teachers. They promise to prepare students for the type of world they will inhabit, a world whose economy …

Thomas Jefferson, Slavery, And The Language Of The Textbook: Addressing Problematic Representations Of Race And Power, Sarah L. Thomson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This paper uses critical discourse analysis to demonstrate how two written texts about Thomas Jefferson and slavery construct very different representations of the past. The paper suggests methods that teachers can use to help students critique representations of marginalized groups in written texts, and develop a more authentic understanding of the experiences of enslaved African American men and women.

A Tapestry Of Eyes In The Literacy/Literature Class, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

It is essential that language arts classes make room for different voices, different cultures, and new settings for writing. This paper examines ideas and methods for expanding the discourse and refers to Morrison's Bluest Eye as a way to appreciate the dilemma our students face.

Black Voices Matter, Shenika Hankerson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article examines the role of voice in the writing of African American students from the African American Language (AAL)-speaking culture. Drawing on data from a qualitative study, this article presents empirical evidence that is likely to inform existing and new initiatives to support the voice and writing practices of AAL-speaking students, and by extension, all culturally and linguistically diverse students. This rarely considered insight, I argue, is important as in recent decades there have been a growing number of calls for instructional material that meets the language and literacy development needs of second language speakers and writers. By generating …

Using Visible Thinking Routines To Teach About The Impact Of Colonialism On Race Within The Language Arts Classroom, Carol Kelly

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Particularly within Language Arts, the curriculum has historically been based around the classics of Literature, which are heavily dominated by wealthy white men. Finding suitable materials to teach from, whilst still providing the background knowledge of the traditional canon, is a challenge to effective teaching about diversity. I am aware that I come from a culture of whiteness, and this makes me wary of my own biases when teaching about cultural diversity. When approaching this topic I have drawn upon a variety of resources, and this paper will use a mixture of academic research, teaching materials, and self study to …