Back In The Classroom And Search For New Editor Of Voices From The Middle

By Author: White
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With the specter of Lord of the Flies casting its pessimistic pall, it is hard not to feel weary and inadequate back in the classroom. I know I have to lead students on a forced march through Silas Marner, Fahrenheit 451, and A Tale of Two Cities in just under six weeks' time before the semester ends. I have a new "Name That Character" activity for the Dickens unit, where I will play a Cartier Santos Replica classic pop song and students have to guess the character it represents (e.g., "Sister Golden Hair Surprise" for Lucy Mannette, and Prince's "I Would Die 4U" for Sydney Carton). But I am feeling Horace's Compromise acutely. There is no time for helping students make corny connections.

Also, I have just introduced the research paper. This year's History Day theme is "The Individual in History." A bright-eyed tenth-grade student, Hailey, asks for some guidance selecting a topic, and I offhandedly suggest Harriet E. Wilson, the first African American novelist. Hailey has never heard of Wilson but shuffles off to read Wikipedia, despite my admonitions, ...
... to see if she is even remotely interested. The next day Hailey plows through the door demanding to know if I know that Wilson lived in our town. She has driven around the community and found the house where Wilson was an indentured servant. She has to go back when it is light out to take pictures. "And I heard there's a park," says Hailey, "with a statue of her. Do you know where that is?"

I do know. Two years ago, the school's Peace-Jam students sold fair-trade coffee to help fund the statue and then landscaped that park as part of their community activism. My authentic teaching is coming full circle. Peace jam is an extracurricular activity that empowers young people to engage in the world. And so is History Day. Both programs create opportunities for authentic learning that have improved my teaching both in the classroom and outside the curriculum. Teachers who open their classrooms and curricula to meaningful competitions and organizations, whether local, national, or international, can inspire great learning.

NCTE is seeking a new editor of Voices from the Middle. In May 2011, the term of the present editors (Roxanne Henkin, Janis Harmon, and Elizabeth Pate) will end. Interested persons should send a letter of application to be received no later than August 14, 2009. Letters should include the applicant's vision for the journal and be accompanied by the applicant's vita, one sample of published writing, and two letters of general support from appropriate administrators at the applicant's institution. Do not send books, monographs, or other materials which cannot be easily copied for the Search Committee. Classroom teachers are both eligible and encouraged to apply. The applicant appointed by the NCTE Executive Committee will effect a Tag Heuer Replica Watches transition, preparing for his or her first issue in September 2011. The appointment is for five years. Applications should be addressed to Kurt Austin, Voices from the Middle Search Committee, NCTE, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. Questions regarding any aspect of the editorship should be directed to Kurt Austin, Publications Division Director: kaustin@ncte.org; (800) 369-6283, extension 3619.