As a full-time instructor of English, Bellairs probably had a course load of four or five sections of courses, amounting to approximately 12 to 14 hours per week of classroom instruction.

"I know that John taught the History and Structure of the English Language course, which was an upper division course, and at least one section of the Freshmen English yearlong course, English Composition and Readings," recalls Norbert Geier, the Chairman of the English Department during the 1964-65 school year. "The readings in this later course began with selection from the Greek and Roman classics, moved though selections from the Renaissance (Dante and Shakespeare) and major genres, such as the novel, and ended with selection from American literature. The aim was to teach students how to write acceptable prose as well as to acquaint them with the Western cultural tradition. I am not certain about John's other assignments, but he may have taught one or two sections of the English literature survey."

Geier does not recall Bellairs' attitude toward teaching during this time, suggesting that because it was his first full-time position, he probably engaged in it with some enthusiasm. John Murphy, a member of the faculty since 1960, echoes these sentiments, saying on the whole Bellairs was interested and dedicated to teaching.

Myers remembers when Bellairs told him about assigning The Martian Chronicles to one of his classes. "I told him that I didn't think that this particular work would be too well received by a class of young women, and he had to admit that I was right."

The English department, though small, was quite published outside the realm of Winona; English department chair Sister Bernetta Quinn, for example, was known for her poetry.

Bellairs' also joined "the baroque process of academic publishing" by writing literary criticisms; his first was an extended essay of "Ode on a Grecian Urn," a popular poem by John Keats. "Variations on a Vase" features Bellairs bravely confronting three revered Keats scholars (Cleanth Brooks, Earl Wasserman, and Kenneth Burke), doing his best to wittily blow their analysis out of the water. Surprisingly it was first published in the Southern Review of Adalaide, South Australia, a fact that amused both Bellairs and Murphy. Two University of Adelaide professors, unimpressed and somewhat incensed by Bellairs' attacks, each wrote a response taking plenty of pop shots at Bellairs.

Another article Bellairs wrote - "An Anatomy of Abuses: Why Bad Poetry is Bad" - stayed closer to home, published in the St. Teresa Censor.