Making the Journey, Third Edition : Being and Becoming a Teacher of English Language Arts

by Christenbury, Leila

• ISBN13: 9780325008172
• ISBN10: 0325008175
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-20
• Publisher: Greenwood

Summary

Making the Journey is a staple of secondary English methods courses and teacher libraries because it not only provides practical advice on what to do and how to act in the classroom but also offers a realistic yet optimistic sense of what it means to embrace the practice of good teaching. Now, trusted educator, writer, and researcher Leila Christenbury has returned with a remarkable new edition of her classic.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Using This Book	xiii
The Teacher, the Student, the School	1	(35)
Beginnings	1	(5)
Teacher, Student, School: The Dance of the Three	6	(2)
The Teacher/Learner	8	(6)
The Student/Learner	14	(6)
The School	20	(14)
References	34	(2)
What It Takes to Be a Teacher	36	(29)
From Expert Learner to Novice Teacher	36	(3)
What a Teacher Needs to Do	39	(4)
Beginning Your Life in the Classroom	43	(1)
The Politics of School	43	(1)
Discipline	44	(3)
Classroom Environment, Room Arrangement, Creature Comforts, Food	47	(6)
A Few Other Things: Getting Started, Openings, Voice, Body, Touch, Dress	53	(5)
Teaching as Failing	58	(6)
References	64	(1)
Planning for Your Teaching	65	(29)
Five Models of Teaching	65	(6)
Teaching Their Eyes Were Watching God and the Five Models	71	(2)
It Didn't Work	73	(6)
Creating Activities	79	(2)
``Central School'': From Poem to Plan to Class	81	(4)
The House on Mango Street: From Chapter to Plan to Class	85	(3)
A Brief Word on Creating Tests and Test Items	88	(1)
The Place of Standards in Your Planning	89	(3)
A Final Caution About Planning	92	(1)
References	93	(1)
Those Whom We Teach	94	(28)
No One Ever Said It Was Going to Be Easy	96	(1)
The Tough Times of Teaching: Apathy and Violence	97	(1)
Two Researchers on Students: William Glasser and Linda McNeil	98	(2)
The Alienated Student: Not Always Who You Think	100	(5)
Three Students: Marianna, Antoine, and Marc	105	(6)
One Teacher's Strategy for Dealing with Alienated Students ``Big Bucks''	111	(3)
The Average Student: Lost in the Middle	114	(1)
The Gifted Student: Burdens and Responsibilities	114	(1)
The Delicate Contract with Students	115	(2)
Two Students: Tanya and Barry	117	(4)
References	121	(1)
The World of Literature: Teaching and Selecting	122	(56)
The Fear of Not Knowing Enough	122	(2)
Literature: The Heart of Language Arts	124	(1)
Schools of Literary Criticism: Why You Should Care	125	(1)
The Four Schools: What to Do?	126	(1)
Transactional Theory/Reader Response	127	(9)
Organizing Literature	136	(3)
Looking at Fiction: Novels and Short Stories	139	(2)
The Lure of Nonfiction: Literary and Informational	141	(2)
Teaching and Selecting Poetry	143	(2)
The Power of Drama	145	(1)
Using Shakespeare	146	(4)
Building Bridges to Adult Reading: The Place of Young Adult Literature	150	(2)
New Kid on the Block: The Graphic Novel	152	(2)
The Specter of Censorship	154	(2)
Using Literature: Some Teaching Tips	156	(10)
A Final Note on Choosing Literature	166	(1)
A Story: Thurman and Architectural Digest	167	(2)
References	169	(4)
Resources	173	(5)
Words, Words, Words	178	(31)
It Ain't Necessarily So: The English Language Arts Teacher as Language Expert	178	(1)
Prescriptive Versus Descriptive: The World of Linguistics	179	(4)
Spelling and Vocabulary	183	(2)
The Five Grammars	185	(1)
So What Do We Do About Teaching Grammar?	186	(3)
English Language Learners	189	(3)
Language Play/Language Games	192	(4)
Sentence Combining	196	(4)
Students' Right to Their Own Language	200	(2)
The Language of Hate	202	(1)
The Glory of Language	203	(3)
References	206	(3)
Writing and Rewriting	209	(30)
Fifth Period, Wednesday Afternoon	209	(1)
A Traditional Model of Teaching Writing	210	(3)
A New Model of Teaching Writing	213	(3)
When Students Have a Choice: Getting Writing Ideas	216	(3)
When Students Have No Choice: Writing on Demand	219	(2)
Writing Groups: Questions, Answers, and Reasons	221	(4)
Conferencing with Students	225	(1)
The Place of Correctness and Grammar in Its Place	226	(2)
Now They've Written It---What Do You Do with It?	228	(1)
Creating and Using Rubrics	229	(2)
Using a Writing Portfolio	231	(1)
The Wonderful and Varied Journal	232	(1)
The Research Paper	233	(2)
What We Are About as Teachers of Writing	235	(2)
References	237	(2)
The Craft of Questioning	239	(18)
The Power of Talk	239	(2)
Questions That Teachers Ask	241	(4)
The Questioning Circle	245	(2)
Beyond Hierarchies: Questions You Don't Want to Ask	247	(3)
Questioning Behaviors	250	(3)
When Questions Don't Work	253	(2)
Questions That Students Ask	255	(1)
References	256	(1)
Media Literacy	257	(17)
Issues in Media Literacy	258	(4)
Computers	262	(3)
The Internet	265	(3)
Television	268	(1)
Film	269	(2)
The Popular Culture and Media Literacy	271	(1)
References	272	(1)
Resources	272	(2)
A Question of Ethics	274	(14)
English Class as Ethics Arena?	275	(1)
Ethical Issues for the Classroom Teacher	275	(6)
Breaking the Rules	281	(4)
Being and Becoming an Ethical Teacher	285	(1)
References	286	(2)
Teaching Today	288	(15)
Things Have Changed/Things Have Stayed the Same	288	(1)
Four Contemporary Challenges	289	(6)
Staying in the Classroom	295	(3)
The End of the Lifetime Teacher?	298	(1)
Making the Journey	299	(2)
References	301	(2)
Index	303