KaaVonia Hinton is an associate professor at Old Dominion University. She earned her Ph.D. in Education at Ohio State University in 2003. KaaVonia is the author of two books of literary criticism: Sharon M. Draper: Embracing Literacy (2008) and Angela Johnson: Poetic Prose (2006).  Additionally, KaaVonia has co-authored two books that focus specifically on teaching literature in schools and

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S.S.'s multi-genre paper on teaching for social justice  is presented as an official website of a movie titled  True Educator starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.  Take a look at the poster, script, poem, and review.

A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to be included on the list of scholars Steven Bickmore asked to comment on one of the YA (young adult) books he deemed classic. While he asked me to comment on The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963—and boy, did I enjoy doing so— for his edited issue of First Opinions, Second Reactions, I began to wonder what my own list of classic YA titles would look like.

*“We’re all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  ~~Billy Collins on “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” *The former poet laureate was asked about the quality of the poetry written during his youth.Nov. 1, 2013. I heard the segment when it re-aired on WHRV, July 5, 2014.  I need to figure out if I've reached 100 poems (texts) yet.

I hid And I did  Get caught in the rain today Thought I went insane today Thoughts of you penetrate my brain today   And they'll hate to see me smile  I stand in the rain for a while  And there's rain on my face  As I think about how my heart cannot break  Maybe  I'm invisible  Invincible individual In touch with something spiritual  But I stand in the rain for a while  And with

Yesterday, I visited a seventh grade class about four chapters into The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. I wanted to see how they would respond to The Watsons. Would they laugh at Byron? Situate the book in its historical context? Feel empathy for Joey & Kenny? Before I could search for answers to my questions,  I noticed the teacher had an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper on her door that said, “I’m

A response to Brian Eno's response by Z.J. "We Don't Do Politics" is by Brian Eno, who is an artist, composer and a producer who has produced for famous bands like U2 and Coldplay. Eno writes about the neglect of politics in America and how many people are content with just saying “they don’t do politics” and leaving it at that. Eno uses lots of similes and rhetorical questions. For example,

First Opinions, Second Reactions is an interesting online journal devoted to children's and young adult literature.   It’s co-edited by Drs. Jill P. May and Janet Alsup at Purdue University. I found a number of the first opinion pieces (pieces that usually offer a reading of a book) and the second response contributions (these usually contain teaching ideas) interesting. I’m glad a

Editor's note: Z.J. wrote the response below for an assignment.    The response I chose was written by Helen Fisher, who is a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University. She is the author of a book entitled Why Him? Why Her? How to Find and Keep Lasting Love. Her response was about addiction. She wishes that the idea of addiction would be broadened from just drugs and alcohol and cover

B.B. was asked to focus her multi-genre project on teaching for social justice. She created a hand-painted booklet filled with original writing and quotes from well-known figures.           Changing the World: A Multi-genre Paper about Teaching for Social Justice by B.B.

Please take a look at JM's multi-genre project by visiting her webpage.

I can't wait to blow up The success can be something to hold on to When there's no person for me to hold onto, it can be the recognition I get from ppl i don't even know But we all know how this story ends I get what I want and realize its not everything Sometimes I sit down and I just thank god for the canvas I been given to paint on Wasting talent, that's just plain wrong. And then he

Reading Martinez last week reminded me of "But They Won't Let You Read!": A Case Study of an Urban Middle School Male's Response to School Reading by Grace Enriquez, an article I read  during Thanksgiving break.   Martinez reflected, in part, on how she believed her school experiences, largely influenced by standardized testing, silenced her as a writer. Enriquez’s work features Derrick, a

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. —Audre Lorde       Cited in   ''For Our Words Usually Land on Deaf Ears Until We Scream'': Writing as a Liberatory Practice by Shantel Martinez, 2014, Qualitative Inquiry, 20.3,3-14 About the Article I

Recently, I read some thought-provoking six-word stories about teaching for social justice. I want to remember this one because it sums up what attracted me to reading during adolescence: I read.  I understood.  I changed.

In my line of work, when the conversation turns to teaching for social justice, culturally relevant teaching, or equity in education, someone inevitably interjects with talk about a regular English teacher. Claudette Colvin's description of her English teacher's stance is informative: "We were supposed to be in English literature class, but Miss Nesbitt used literature to teach life. She said

Today's guest blogger shares a summary of an article she read recently.     Batchelor, K. (2012). The "us" in discuss: Grouping in literature circles. Voices from the Middle, 20(2), 27-34. Batchelor’s article details her own literature circle strategies as a beginning point for both veteran and pre-service teachers who may lack experience with literature circle creation and

I recently asked students to write six-word stories about what teaching for social justice means to them. I wanted to sit down and write my own, but felt it would take me days to come up with six words. I still do not have them, but I've started. Reading for your life and mine. Words inspired by Lerone Bennett, Jr. that never left me.

Stream-of-consciousness Sometimes teaching English language arts can be uncomfortable. Sometimes I select books that bring up painful, divisive topics —racism, poverty, sexism. Sometimes people question whether school is the right place for such topics. I zip my lips, sometimes—choose safe books. I’ve got to pick my battles, right? I forget why I thought being a teacher was a

What have I been reading? Hsieh, B. (2012). Challenging characters: Learning to reach inward and outward from characters who face oppression. English Journal, 102(1): 48–51.     Hsieh asks a few questions that probably plague most English language arts teachers at some point:   How am I going to get 21st century middle school students to connect with The Diary of Anne Frank (

Dominique, our guest blogger,  asks, Does how you envision teaching match reality?  Chapter 15, Bridging English "Becoming a Complete Teacher"             To begin, the chapter starts with defining oneself as a teacher.  The main concerns that were identified from an analysis of interviews with new teachers were ·         Relationships with o   students o   parents o  

Christina, our guest blogger, offers important advice to those moving  from pre-service to in-service.   “Becoming a Complete Teacher” in Bridging English   By Christina K. Every single day all of us are closer to becoming English teachers. It is a very exciting time to know that all of our hard work will be used for something good. However, although our label is changing from

Barbara, our guest blogger, highlights key points about the importance of accounatbale talk in classrooms.     Part 2   Bridging English, Ch. 4             Storytelling can be used with all age groups and requires many skills. Technology has opened up the ability to add a visual and auditory track with the narrator’s voice. The power and beauty of digital

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]-->Barbara, our guest blogger, highlights key points about the importance of accounatbale talk in  classrooms.       Part 1     <!--[if gte mso 9]>