ABSTRACT
In April of 2007, I was finishing my 4th year of teaching 8th grade English when Stephen Cho murdered 33 people and injured 15 others (Hauser & O’Connor, 2007) at Virginia Tech University. Every television station looped photographs of Cho brandishing guns and video clips of law enforcement clearing students from buildings. Students were reacting, processing, and trying to make sense of what they heard and saw. Might my class provide a safe and productive space for that work?
