Engaged in Learning: Teaching English, 6-12

Kathleen and James Strickland provide their students with opportunities for authentic learning through meaningful, reflective activities every day. They firmly believe that if we empower students to make decisions about their learning, to set goals, and to work at a pace that is appropriate for them, they will be engaged in true learning. The Stricklands demonstrate exactly how this happens-how students learn and how beliefs inform behavior, in teachers and students alike. In the process, they provide an indispensable methods book for English language arts teachers.

The authors draw on their backgrounds in composition, linguistics, and literary theory to ground their teaching in a philosophy that is student centered and inquiry based. In each chapter, they address the means to facilitate inquiry-in the reading or writing workshop, in the use of technology, or in assessment and testing. Best of all, they offer stories from real classrooms, numerous examples of lessons and handouts that are immediately usable, and suggestions for new activities that engage students.

After years as a classroom teacher and reading specialist, Kathleen Strickland now teaches undergraduate and graduate students at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. She has written numerous books for Heinemann with her husband James, including Engaged in Learning (2002), Making Assessment Elementary (2000), and Reflections on Assessment (1998). Her book Literacy Not Labels (1995) tells the story of her two-year study of a literature-rich special education classroom. She has given keynote addresses and conducted workshops for professional development for teachers from the Big Island in Hawaii to Atlantic City, New Jersey.

James Strickland author of Engaging in Learning (2002) and numerous articles on computers and writing teaches English at Slippery Rock University. In addition to teaching first-year college composition courses and graduate courses focusing on the teaching of writing and literature, Jim has offered a popular summer workshop to pre-service and in-service teachers examining the use of computers and the teaching of writing. His many Heinemann books have been valuable resources for elementary, secondary and college teachers interested in assessment and student centered transactional classrooms. From 1988 to 1994 Jim was the editor of English Leadership Quarterly, a publication of the NCTE Conference on English Leadership.