Harvard Teacher Published in National English Journal
Taryn Galasso, Harvard High School English Teacher and Drama Director began writing about scenario activities in the classroom when the current seniors (Class of 2022) were freshmen. The paper began as an assignment for Ms. Galasso’s Master of Arts in Education program at Northern Illinois University. Three years later, Ms. Galasso’s research has been published in English Journal, an award-winning publication from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
The article, Scenario Activities: Gateway to Discussion, Argument, and Critical Reading appears in the November 2021 edition of English Journal. Ms. Galasso wrote the article with Alexandra Kirby, a Wheaton North High School teacher. In their writing, Galasso and Kirby developed a framework for connecting literary themes to contemporary controversies.
“Teachers can engage students in critical thinking and discussion about our complex world while making space for all voices and viewpoints,” said Galasso. “At the same time, students can develop the skills they need to be active participants in their local, national, and global communities.”
After submitting her action research paper to English Journal in the fall of 2019, Galasso didn’t expect much.
“It is always the goal of my classes to write material that could one day be turned into something that could be published,” Galasso said. “My writing partner and I decided to shoot for the sky when we submitted our manuscript to the national publication, English Journal.”
Ms. Galasso began writing Scenario Activities; the current senior class (Class of 2022) were freshmen. After completing her research, Ms. Galasso submitted the article to NCTE in the fall of 2019. She was delighted to be selected, but the work was just beginning. In the three years that followed, Galasso collaborated with copyeditors from English Journal to polish the piece, which was published last month.
Ms. Galasso couldn’t have predicted the impact her findings would have. Although she developed the scenario activities with Harvard High School students in mind, her impact goes far beyond Harvard.
“I am really proud to be a teacher at HHS,” Ms. Galasso said. “I am so excited to be able to show a wider audience the fantastic things that are happening at our school.”
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