“Teachers shouldn’t expect to make a difference in the life of every student. They don’t and won’t. But making a difference in one life is a powerful motivator. We never forget those students who tell we have, and we are further motivated by those teachers who once made a big difference in our lives.”
Posts Tagged ‘teaching and learning reflections’
The Study Strategies that Work in Your Field
Posted Thursday, January 14th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerThere’s a piece coming out in the February issue of the newsletter that highlights content from an article written by a political scientist who teaches quantitative content to math averse students. It’s a very pratical piece but also a great model—of pedagogical scholarship and of something we should all consider doing.
The author’s basic premise [...]
Learning from Experience
Posted Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerI meet regularly, usually over breakfast, with my good friend and colleague Larry. We share our papers, ideas, and good stuff we’re reading. I am so lucky to have this wonderful pedgogical colleague. I’ve been working on a paper that explores the knowledge bases for teaching, one of which is the experiential knowledge faculty derive [...]
All That Teaching Entails
Posted Thursday, January 7th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerThe February issue of the newsletter contains highlights from an amazing article—one written by a faculty member who describes himself as a “bad teacher.” The piece chronicles his transformation as a teacher. It’s one of the best articles I’ve read in a long while (and you know I read more than a few articles).
What I’d [...]
Oh Those Students. . .
Posted Thursday, December 17th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerEven with the holidays upon us, it’s hard not to think about those students who did poorly in our courses this semester.
Some of them just didn’t make the effort. They tend to be the ones who don’t really know why they’re in college or what they want to do with their lives. At this moment, it’s the social life — meeting new people, the parties, games, and the myriad of “fun” things college kids can find to do.
‘A Teaching Life’
Posted Friday, December 4th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerOn a fairly regular basis, I reread what may well be my all time favorite essay on teaching—Christa L. Walck’s “A Teaching Life.” Walck’s essay draws heavily from one of my favorite books, Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life, in which Dillard describes how writing creates her life. Walck wonders if teaching does the same for [...]
Thankful for Pedagogical Colleagues
Posted Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerIt’s the week for being thankful, and I’m thinking gratefully about my pedagogical colleagues—those faculty friends and compatriots with whom I can talk teaching.
I have colleagues who indulged my need to blow off steam—some student behavior is nothing short of outrageous; some department policies are nothing short of senseless; some department heads nothing other than [...]
This I Believe
Posted Thursday, November 5th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerMore than half way through a course you don’t really you have time or the inclination to consider your teaching manifesto—that is, what you believe about teaching and how you realize those beliefs in your practice. But as the demands of the semester start to mount, it can be energizing to read what others believe, [...]
The Learning Question
Posted Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerA neighbor of mine has an 18-year-old friend who started his first year of college at the end of August. Last weekend he came home for the first time. My neighbor asked him what he’d learned so far in college. I complimented my neighbor for asking that question instead of the more common, “How are [...]
‘Pedagogy of Ironic Minimalism’
Posted Thursday, October 1st, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerThis fall marks Robert Nash’s 41st year in the classroom. When asked about retirement plans, he reports telling colleagues that he’ll go when they carry him out in a box and bury him on the main university green.
“So much of what I’ve learned about teaching in the academy over four decades can be summarized in [...]