Contemplative educator Parker Palmer suggests that we teach who we are. What I take him to mean is that a whole person is standing in front of the classroom and that who we are as a person impacts how our students perceive us and respond to what we are attempting to teach. On the one […]
I recently received a wonderful question about best practices for classroom visits. This is something I plan to work on in my first year in a comprehensive way. But as I do this more comprehensive work, I want to share some initial thoughts and insights. To begin, departments should create expectations for informal and formal […]
I’ve enjoyed getting the opportunity to work one-on-one with SLU faculty in my new role, and I invite anyone on campus to reach out at any time with questions you might have about your teaching practice. I want to stress that my aim is to facilitate a nonjudgmental and solution-oriented conversation. If you’ve ever wondered […]
A question that many of us may have, especially those of us teaching in the humanities and arts, is about trigger warnings. If some of the content we are going to teach has the potential to trigger a student in a way that shuts them down, thereby keeping them from learning, don’t we have an […]
The start of this semester feels different. Though it would be too quick to say the pandemic is behind us, there is new life and energy on campus this fall. As is often the case at SLU, I looked across my classroom on the first day and saw students I’ve known since their first year […]
I got a great question from one of our colleagues about starting the semester. This colleague mentioned how Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Evelyn Jennings emailed very helpful tips at the start of the semester in previous years and was wondering how–if at all–these types of tips might work as we come out of the […]
Recently, I’ve had a lot of conversations about whether fall 2022 would be a “normal” semester. What this conversation often turns on is whether accommodations made during the pandemic–giving students more flexibility, adjusting our expectations for attendance, etc.–will be needed again this fall. As I reflect on this issue, I appreciate Pauline Boss’s research on […]
After spending a day with new faculty at their orientation, I am even more excited for the start of the semester and the prospects for liberal education. Tomorrow, my presentation to new faculty will focus on St. Lawrence University’s Mission Statement, and I will suggest that it offers a roadmap to an excellent education. At […]
Assessment is easy to misunderstand. There is a sense that assessment is something we must do, even though so much research asserts that assessment is the key to learning. Why the disconnect? To hazard a guess, assessment often isn’t aligned with our goals and objectives. If our assessment isn’t connected to things we care about, then […]
As I was preparing to meet our new faculty at orientation, I found myself thinking about what calls us to this work to begin with. Why teach? Many new teachers are extremely nervous and anxious, and many can succumb to what Dan Lortie called, back in 1975, “the apprenticeship of observation.” Lortie, a sociologist of […]