diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/editing_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/editing_module.py
index c52483ace4..5799689b0e 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/editing_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/editing_module.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 from pkg_resources import resource_string
-from lxml import etree
 from xmodule.mako_module import MakoModuleDescriptor
 import logging
 
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py
index 798febfc1d..f5672ca1b8 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/html_module.py
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ import sys
 from lxml import etree
 from path import path
 
-from .x_module import XModule, Template
+from .x_module import XModule
+from pkg_resources import resource_string
 from .xml_module import XmlDescriptor, name_to_pathname
 from .editing_module import EditingDescriptor
 from .stringify import stringify_children
@@ -34,6 +35,9 @@ class HtmlDescriptor(XmlDescriptor, EditingDescriptor):
     module_class = HtmlModule
     filename_extension = "xml"
 
+    js = {'coffee': [resource_string(__name__, 'js/src/html/edit.coffee')]}
+    js_module_name = "HTMLEditingDescriptor"
+
     # VS[compat] TODO (cpennington): Delete this method once all fall 2012 course
     # are being edited in the cms
     @classmethod
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b2ed0aebf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+class @HTMLEditingDescriptor
+  constructor: (@element) ->
+    @edit_box = CodeMirror.fromTextArea($(".edit-box", @element)[0], {
+      mode: "text/html"
+    })
+
+  save: -> @edit_box.getValue()
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py
index 51a24010fc..d5c26d889e 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/seq_module.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ from xmodule.x_module import XModule
 from xmodule.progress import Progress
 from xmodule.exceptions import NotFoundError
 from pkg_resources import resource_string
-from .editing_module import EditingDescriptor
 
 log = logging.getLogger("mitx.common.lib.seq_module")