Paul Lee Thomas

Renita Schmidt

Renita Schmidt and P. L. Thomas The guiding mission of the teacher education program in the university where we teach is to create teachers who are scholars and leaders. While the intent of that mission is basically sound in theory—we instill the idea that teachers at all levels are professionals, always learning and growing in knowledge—that theory, that philosophical underpinning does not insure that the students who complete our program are confident about the act or performance of teaching. In our unique program, students work closely with one teacher and classroom for the entire senior year and then are supervised and mentored during their first semester of teaching; the program is heavily field-based, and it depends on the effectiveness of mentoring throughout the methods coursework and the first semester of full-time teaching. Students tell us this guidance and support is invaluable, and yet we feel the disjuncture between university and school just as many of you in more traditional student teaching settings. Students hear “best practice” information from us in methods classes and they receive ample exposure to the research supporting our field, but have a hard time implementing research-based practices in their cla- room settings and an even harder time finding it in the classrooms around them.

If We Are Scripted, Are We Literate?

21st Century Literacy

Our English classrooms are often only as vibrant as the literature that we teach. This book explores the writing of African American author Ralph Ellison, who offers readers and students engaging fiction and non-fiction that confront the reader and the world. Here, teachers will find an introduction to Ellison's works and an opportunity to explore how to bring them into the classroom as a part of the reading and writing curriculum. This book attempts to confront what we teach and how we teach as instructors of literature through the vivid texts Ellison offers his readers.

Reading, Learning, Teaching Ralph Ellison

Christian Z. Goering

An introduction: can critical media literacy save us? / Christian Z. Goering and P. l. Thomas -- An educator's primer: fake news, post-truth, and a critical free press / P. l. Thomas -- Reconsidering evidence in real world arguments / Troy Hicks and Kristen Hawley Turner -- What is the story? reading the web as narrative / Sharon A. Murchie and Janet A. Neyer -- Fighting "fake news" in an age of digital disorientation: towards "Real news," critical media literacy education, and independent journalism for 21st century citizens / Rob Williams -- Educating the myth-led: critical literacy pedagogy in a post-truth world / Robert Williams and Daniel Woods -- Teaching critical media literacy as a social process in writing intensive classrooms / Joanne Addison -- Before you click "share": mindful media literacy as a positive civic act / Jason l. Endacott, Matthew l. Dingler, Seth D. French and John P. Broome -- Engaging the storied mind: teaching critical media literacy through narrative / Erin O'Neill Armendarez -- Supporting media-savvy youth-activists: the case of Marcus Yallow / Mark A. Lewis -- Creating wobble in a world of spin: positioning students to challenge media poses / Sarah Bonner, Robyn Seglem and Antero Garcia

Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post-truth America

Steven Singer

Steve Nelson

Charlene Smith

Jonathan Foley

David Joseph Kolb

Jennifer C. Berkshire

Russ Walsh

Kate Lapham

Anne Haas Dyson

Esther Sokolov Fine

Vanessa Barnett

Carolyn Walker

In United We Stand Divided We Fall Garn Press has gathered together essays by great scholars and renowned teachers who oppose the direction in which President Trump is leading the country. These are essays, to quote George Lakoff, which frame American values accurately and systemically day after day, telling truths by American majority moral values. These are essays of protest against and resistance to Trump's presidency, to his billionaire cabinet, to the privileging in the White House of white supremacists, the promulgation of "alternate facts," the denigration of media sources, the purges of State Department personnel, the gag orders at the EPA and scientists placed on "watch lists," the travel bans on people from wide swaths of U.S. society and on refugees ... the list is long. They are also essays that tackle the question of what we can do to stop Trump from becoming a fast moving catastrophe. When the hands of the Doomsday Clock were moved closer to midnight, President Trump was named specifically as an existential risk to humanity. There is no doubt that we must all act. The writers of conscience who have written this collection of essays are all actively engaged in opposing President Trump and their writings encourage us to participate in the resistance movement. Read with a pencil in hand. Make notes on what you can do to join aspects of the movement that reflects the needs and concerns of your community. Through social media you can go global while acting locally.

Opposing Trump's Agenda: Essays On Protest And Resistance And What We Can Do To Stop Him

United We Stand Divided We Fall

Literature that confronts our students' assumptions about the world and about text is the lifeblood of English classes in American high schools and colleges. Margaret Atwood offers works in a wide variety of genres that fulfill that need. This volume introduces readers, students, and teachers to the life and works of Atwood while also suggesting a variety of ways in which her works can become valuable additions to classroom experiences with literature and writing. Furthermore, this volume confronts how and why we teach English through Atwood's writing.

Reading, Learning, Teaching Margaret Atwood

Introduces the work of American author Barbara Kingsolver and gives suggestions for incorporating it into a reading and writing curriculum.

Reading, Learning, Teaching Barbara Kingsolver

Introduces the writing of contemporary American author, Kurt Vonnegut, and offers teachers ideas for bringing his works into the classroom as part of the reading and writing curriculum.

Reading, Learning, Teaching Kurt Vonnegut

A. Scott Henderson

"The recognition and study of African American (AA) artists and public intellectuals often include Martin Luther King, Jr., and occasionally Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Malcolm X. The literary canon also adds Ralph Ellison, Richard White, Langston Hughes, and others such as female writers Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, and Alice Walker. Yet, the acknowledgement of AA artists and public intellectuals tends to skew the voices and works of those included toward normalized portrayals that fit wellwithin foundational aspects of the American myths refl ected in and perpetuated by traditional schooling. Further, while many AA artists and public intellectuals are distorted by mainstream media, public and political characterizations, and the curriculum, several powerful AA voices are simply omitted, ignored, including James Baldwin. This edited volume gathers a collection of essays from a wide range of perspectives that confront Baldwin’s impressive and challenging canon as well as his role as a public intellectual. Contributors also explore Baldwin as a confrontational voice during his life and as an enduring call for justice."

Paul Lee Thomas

Books

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