This post is written by members Pamela J. Hickey and Vicki McQuitty.
Words are power(ful). As teacher-writers, we know the power of crafting our world by strategically crafting our words. We wish for our students to re颅alize this power, but too often, they experience the opposite. Rather than crafting words for meaning颅ful and important purposes, they write with neither conviction nor commitment: to placate their teach颅ers, to get a grade, to just get it done.
In inviting submissions for this issue, we hoped to receive stories of classrooms where stu颅dents engage in authentic, world-changing writing. We asked, 鈥淗ow do teachers inspire their students to take ownership of their words, say something important, and add their voices to the conversations around them?鈥� The articles in this issue answer these questions in ways that inspired and some颅times surprised us. In curating the issue, we have sought to share a wide range of voices and a wide range of possibilities for empowering adolescent writers. Through spoken word poetry and blogs, and鈥攜es鈥攅ven through grammar instruction and standardized tests, student writers are using words to craft their wor(l)ds, both in and outside of school.
While the articles in this issue offer a variety of perspectives, they also reflect some common themes. First, young writers are empowered when they see how writing can help them live better lives and bet颅ter the lives of those around them. April Brannon takes us onto the Appalachian Trail and explains how writing can help students lead fuller, more hu颅mane lives by encouraging them to notice the vi颅brancy of the natural world. Rebecca Woodard and Rick Coppola demonstrate how spoken word poetry can empower young people to reposition themselves proactively within their peer communities, while Rob Simon, benjamin lee hicks, Ty Walkland, Ben Gallagher, Sarah Evis, and Pamela Baer demonstrate how digital composing can open up possibilities for adolescents to reimagine both their own and oth颅ers鈥� identities. Sarah K. Gunning explains how to prepare adolescents for the professional writing re颅quired on the job market, empowering those who are often marginalized in today鈥檚 college-prep-focused schools: students who plan to go directly into the workforce. And Casey Olsen shows us how classroom argument writing can bring about real and lasting change as students offer solutions to the challenges faced by their local communities.
Young writers are also empowered when they learn to co-opt traditional texts and processes for their own purposes. Mike Miller鈥檚 students reas颅serted their individuality and voice by writing al颅ternative genres on standardized tests, while those in Ben Roth Shank鈥檚 classroom used an ancient rhe颅torical heuristic鈥擜ristotle鈥檚 enthymeme鈥攖o em颅power their argument writing. Victoria Johnston Boecherer argues that students can 鈥渆xceed [their] formulaic limits鈥� when they read texts closely and value their own thinking, rather than imitate the traditional five-paragraph theme. In fact, even grammar instruction can empower: Michelle D. Devereaux and Darren Crovitz explain how stu颅dents can intentionally and subversively use gram颅mar as a communication tool. In addition, Amber Warrington, Lauren Graeber, Holland White, and John Saxton explain how to transform classroom writing assessment into an opportunity for students to take risks and take up writerly identities; David Narter explains how to transform traditional modes of feedback into multimodal feedback that can help students to gain confidence as writers; and Christo颅pher Mazura, Jacqueline Rapant, and Mary Sawyer explain how to transform revision from a proce颅dure students must complete into a space for voice, agency, and community.
Finally, young writers are empowered when writing serves social, as well as academic, purposes. Christina A. Melly describes how blogging about literary content created a community of writers in her classroom, while students in Jessi Thomsen鈥檚 Upward Bound program composed images as a way to both engage with intellectual content and col颅laborate and invest in the classroom community. Molly Buckley-Marudas and Katharina Cerny show us how, by 鈥済oing public鈥� with their writing, stu颅dents were empowered and enabled to challenge their identities as nonwriters.
We wish to acknowledge the marvelous edi颅tors of English Journal, Julie Gorlewski and David Gorlewski, for the privilege of editing this issue. None of this work would have been possible with颅out the tireless efforts of Nicholas Shipman, EJ鈥檚 editorial assistant. We also want to thank senior editorial associate Theresa Kay, production editor Rona Smith, and Kurt Austin. Finally, we want to thank the teacher-writers who believed in this topic and its importance in classrooms. We re颅ceived more than 70 manuscript submissions, and the most difficult part of this process was selecting to showcase a representative few among the many amazing stories. We appreciate the work of all of those who sent their stories and allowed us, and now readers, to witness how writing can transform the world.
Pamela J. Hickey is an assistant professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Towson University, where she teaches courses about multilingual literacy and writing instruction. She has been a member of 51猎奇 since 2013 and can be reached at phickey@towson.edu.
Vicki McQuitty is an associate professor of elementary education at Towson University, where she teaches courses about writing and writing instruction. She has been a member of 51猎奇 since 2008 and can be reached at vmcquitty@towson.edu.