by Kate Sjostrom Just over ten years ago, right around the time Ethical ELA was founded, I began teaching writing methods courses to pre-service English teachers. While I strived to model an ethical approach to the teaching of writing, there was one area in which …
Looking Back at 2021 by Abby Kindelsperger While much continues to evolve in our world and our schools, when I look back on my Ethical ELA post from 2021, I am struck by the consistency of my teaching philosophy. I still learn from my students, …
by Barb Edler Hello, readers. I am a retired public school Language Arts/Composition teacher from Iowa. Currently, I am an online writing tutor for Kirkwood Community College. My teaching instruction has been greatly influenced by the Iowa Writing Project, and I have worked with students …
by Bryan Ripley Crandall & Ger Duany In 2020, Ger Duany concluded his memoir, Walk Toward the Rising Sun, with “I look toward the future with happiness, hope, and excitement, because having climbed my way out of and faced all that is my past, I …
by Sophia Tatiana Sarigianides & Carlin Borsheim-Black Wow, how much things have changed since we last wrote for this blog. And how much everything is still the same. When we last wrote in June 2020, we were working hot on the heels of so much …
This is a longer piece (about an 8-minute read). I offer it slowly, and in the spirit of ethical literacy. It is meant for teachers who are holding the weight of a charged media moment and wondering how to make space for students to study …
Celebrating Shifts in Priorities By Dixie K. Keyes When I was ten, I wrote a poetry collection with the title of “Me, Myself, and I.” My mother, for some reason, became quite excited about this and hired our next-door neighbor, an ambitious author, Mrs. Self …
A new year invites us to look forward—but here, it also asks us to notice what has endured. Ethical ELA enters this year shaped by teachers and teacher educators who continue to show up, quietly and faithfully, to read, write, and respond. Over time, participation …
by Sarah M. Fleming In 2021, when I first wrote a post for this blog, I was reflecting upon the experience of teaching in the English Language Arts classroom one day after the January 6th Insurrection. I imagine you can clearly remember what school was …
by Dave Schaafsma “I’m Still Standing”–Elton John Thanks to Sarah for inviting me to write an update to my blog post dated January 18, 2018, “You Can’t Drive 65: An English Teacher Reading in (Late) Middle Age.” I was 65, and am now 72 (do …