Articles, essays, editorials, and meditations on T&W’s mission, “educating the imagination.”
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by Amy C. Evans Move during HarveyHad to drive out of HoustonLeave home to get safe—Haiku by Jy’lon, 6th grade Since the 2016 presidential election, Houston, Texas, has been in an almost fugue state of resistance and recovery. Nowhere is this more evident than in our classrooms. As a circuit teacher of sorts, with multiple…
by Jason Koo The following is an excerpt from Spellbound: The Art of Teaching Poetry, a new book from Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Edited by Matthew Burgess, Spellbound offers a range of exciting ideas to inspire students of all ages to explore their potential as writers and creators. I got the idea for this assignment from Ed Hirsch, the…
Bridging Borders with Words: Writing with Immigrant and Refugee Students This article is part of a series in Teachers & Writers Magazine on working with immigrant and refugee writers. Related content includes One Day You Will Be One of the Happier: The Voices and Poetry of Teen Immigrants, Two Poetry Prompts to Inspire Immigrant…
by Lex Talamo I moved to South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 2009 as a naïve 22-year-old teacher, with high hopes and big plans to instill my love of writing in my 80 incoming middle school students. My principal informed me there was no formal writing curriculum—I would have to create one from scratch….
Bridging Borders with Words: Writing with Immigrant and Refugee Students This article is part of a series in Teachers & Writers Magazine on working with immigrant and refugee writers. Other pieces includeSusan Karwoska’s interviews with and poems written by high school students recently arrived in the US, Sarah Dohrmann’s poetry lesson plans for engaging immigrant…
by Aracelis Girmay The following is an excerpt from Spellbound: The Art of Teaching Poetry, a new book from Teachers & Writers Collaborative. Edited by Matthew Burgess, Spellbound offers a range of exciting ideas to inspire students of all ages to explore their potential as writers and creators. Yusef Komunyakaa was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 1947,…
by Sally Ventura This essay is adapted from Sally Ventura’s keynote speech at the 2018 New York State English Council Conference. One day, a student in one of my English 11 classes arrived just a minute or two after the bell. I was standing at my podium, reviewing the day’s plans in the way that…
by Greg Feezell Voice is how the writing feels. Raindrops fall steadily, glancing off the window, tapping against a drainage pipe outside our classroom. Despite the rain, two neighborhood crows confer noisily. Inside, dry if not warm, I confer with a writer, age eight. I teach third grade at Saint Maur International School, in…
by Ruth A. Wilson A number of years ago, I published a paper on the “ecological autobiography” as a tool that could be used to get people thinking about their relationship with the natural world and exploring their “ecological identity.” The audience I had in mind was environmental educators working primarily with adults. To my…
by Emily James Author and St. John’s University professor Gabriel Brownstein selected Emily James’ essay, “At First, the Ground Shakes,” to receive the 2019 Bechtel Prize. Teachers & Writers Collaborative awards the Bechtel Prize to the author of an exemplary essay that explores themes related to creative writing, arts education, and/or the imagination. James’ essay is…