This book offers successful classroom practices that encourage students to learn purposefully and constructively by reflecting on their own learning processes and by making connections between what they read (whether verbal or visual texts) and the lives they lead. Extending from middle and high school through college composition and English education classrooms, the 27 essays in the book provide practical and innovative ideas to establish a climate that supports reflection; to help students make connections via multiple discursive processes; and to help both students and teachers engage in effective self-assessment. After an introduction, essays in the book are (1) "A Well of Mirrored Mirrors" (Dan Chabas); (2) "Lightbulbs and Pandemonium: Thinking about Thinking" (Jeff Schwartz); (3) "Responding, Reflecting, and Evaluating" (Kathleen and James Strickland); (4) "Stories, Readers, and the World beyond Books" (Renate Schulz); (5) "Reading 'Ceremony,' Reading Ourselves" (Bruce Goebel); (6) Reading Writers/Writing Readers" (Claudia Greenwood and Cynthia Walters); (7) "In Praise of Simple Things" (Carol Jago); (8) "Rainer Maria Rilke's Song' Poems" (Leslie Richardson); (9) "The Perfect Novel for Creative Writing Assignments" (Kathryn Megyeri); (10) "What's the Big Idea? Linking Creative and Academic Writing in the Multigenre Research Paper" (Sheryl Lain); (11) "Writing toward Thoughtfulness through Logs" (Cynthia G. Kuhn); (12) "'You Learn from within Yourself'" (Helen Collins Sitler, Kelly A. Carameli, and Brandi J. Abbott); (13) "Connecting Letter Writing and 'Real Life' in the College Writing Class" (Erika Scheurer); (14) "Living What You Read and Write" (Darrell g.h. Schramm); (15) "Searching for Words To Cross Cultures" (Susan Tchudi and others); (16) "Media Target Assignments' Invite Students to Tune In, Turn On, and Write" (Meta G. Carstarphen); (17) "Activating the Viewing Process" (Richard H. Fehlman); (18) "Vietnam War Literature and the Arts" (Larry R. Johannessen); (19) "Crossing Borders with a Multicultural Poetry Project" (Dana Nevil); (20) "Investigation Waltz" (Daniel L. Kain); (21) "Distinguishing between the Myth and Reality of Self" (Ann Wheeler); (22) "The Project Method in the Literature Classroom" (David S. Miall); (23) "Reflection and Portfolios across the Curriculum" (Barbara King-Shaver); (24) "The Resource and Professional Development Portfolio Projects" (Thomas Philion); (25) "Keeping the Candle Lit through the Fierce Winds: Encouraging Personal Mastery through Portfolios" (Patrick Monahan); (26) "Nourishing Independence through Self-Assessment" (JoAnne P. Miller); and (27) "How-Two: Learning about the Horizons of Our Teaching Selves" (Linda Shadiow). (RS)