George Hillocks recalls: "Larry was a leader among the graduates of the Chicago English MAT program in making our approaches available to others outside the program. With Betsy and Carolyn Walter he published two TRIP booklets with NCTE: Designing and Sequencing Preivriting Activities and Writing about Literature. A few weeks ago the latter was released as a new and expanded second edition. The first edition was on the NCTE lists for many years. And those two books led the way for several other titles by other MAT students in the same series." Larry began his teaching career at Hales Franciscan High School on Chicago's South Side. At Hales, Larry initiated his commitment toward working with all students, especially those who struggled with learning and with many other elements in their lives. He continued his commitment to engaging all learners as he moved to Lyons Township High School, where one administrator characterized him as a "maverick." The following vignette, reported before in Talking in Class, might reveal why an administrator would have this impression: Larry's class was embroiled in vigorous debates about the relative moral sense of Huckleberry Finn and Jim. Surveying the room and seeing the students challenging each other, referring to the text, citing rules, making analogies, and contending with multiple perspectives, Larry was delighted to think that his students were deeply engaged in exploring a significant critical question and applying it to an important work of literature. Then a sharp tap at the door attracted Larry's attention. When he looked toward the door, he saw the granite face of Ms. Huff ocher (not her real name), another English teacher, who labored in a classroom across the hall. Larry accommodated his colleague by moving into the hall for a brief colloquy. Ms. Huff ocher faced Larry and announced: "Mr. Johannessen, could you regain order in your classroom some of us are trying to TEACH!" Larry's approach to teaching insisted on the active participation of all learners, and he refined various activity structures that would prompt engagement. Of course, this insistence often ran counter to the practices of his colleagues. As Larry completed his doctorate, he shifted his career toward teaching at the university, where he devoted himself to producing the next generation of English teachers and to scholarship about teacher preparation and about literature connected to the Vietnam War. He had progressed in his career to become a full professor of English at Northern Illinois University. His university students found him just as engaging as his high school students had. It is appropriate to share this post from ratemyprofessor.com because the student had conveyed the same sentiment personally to Larry: "He was the best professor I have ever had! After my father I would consider him the greatest man I have ever met! His class actually changed my perspective on life! Recommend him extremely highly!!! Trust me his class is amazing! I thought I knew about the Vietnam War, but I didn't know the half of it! I never left class without wanting more!!!"
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