Reflecting on how “the very nature of language learning has changed”(New London Group [NLG], 1996, p. 64), this article describes an inquiry-driven teaching approach to middle school English. Looking at student outcomes utilizing Google’s 20% approach, this study explored how mentorship, digital tools, and student interests provide “opportunities [for students] to find their own voices” (NLG, 1996, p. 71). In particular, this article analyzes student inquiry based on the 4 pedagogical foundations of multiliteracies: situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and transformed practice. By focusing on the voices and experiences of students, this framework highlights what multiliteracies can look like within classrooms. Ultimately, this study of literacies within inquiry-driven classrooms responds to the call of multiliteracies research from 20 years ago that, “Students need to develop the capacity to speak up, to negotiate, and to be able to engage critically with the conditions of their working lives” (New London Group, 1996, p. 67).

Teacher preparation is dependent on a clinical model of instruction where students apprentice with licensed teachers to gain experience in a classroom. It is not always easy to create these opportunities in schools that are local to the university, especially with a large middle-level program. This qualitative study examines how using lesson study in an early clinical experience can create high-quality experiences and develop innovative thinking around lesson design. This research answers the following questions: (1) What events do the preservice teachers identify as memorable in their interactions with students, peers, and teachers during a clinical experience that uses the lesson study model? (2) How does the lesson study model influence preservice teachers’ thinking about teaching? The results from the study suggest that a lesson study model is a viable option for middle-level teacher preparation programs. While it solves some practical issues, such as a lack of quality clinical experiences, it also creates an experience where students feel supported, scaffolded, and engaged.

This article examines the possibilities of supplementing field experiences with digitally mediated third spaces as a way to foster relationships between urban youth and middle-class teacher candidates. Pairing these experiences with a well-remembered events framework, this study explores how relationships built primarily through digital tools influence preservice teachers’ understanding of teaching. Drawing upon 4 months of data, composed of preservice teachers’ reflections, this study examines the experiences identified by preservice teachers as memorable and unpacks the lessons digitally mediated experiences provide. This study concludes by pointing to technology as a potential solution for helping teacher education institutions create meaningful experiences between preservice teachers and youth in urban centers.

This article highlights an inquiry project in an eighth-grade ELA class in a rural middle school. Using the novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers, we encouraged students to form questions relating the text to the larger world. To begin the unit, students participated in three anchor activities over a three-week period. Students blogged about the book, located non-fiction articles that connected to the text, and interviewed community members who shared roles similar to the characters in the novel. Then, through Socratic Seminar discussions and teacher questioning, we guided students toward the development of questions that emerged while reading the novel. Students researched their questions, refined their questions, and developed a campaign designed to educate their school about their findings. In addition to describing the inquiry process students engaged in, we demonstrate technology’s role in the research process and in the production of texts that showcased their learning.