The Cost of “Call Me Whatever”
Nichole DeWall
March 9, 2026
I sidestepped the question for years.
I sidestepped the question for years.
Two of my past articles for The Teaching Professor describe different types of educational “moments”: teaching moments and critical moments. Although I have been in the classroom for nearly 35 years, I continue to seek out strategies, like these moments, to fine-tune my teaching. In
A hot moment is one of those classroom situations where you can feel the temperature shift. Someone makes a comment that lands wrong. Discussion gets charged. A student reacts—verbally or visibly—and suddenly the room isn’t about the lesson anymore. It’s about safety, power, and whether
Faculty training in higher education often emphasizes verbal participation as the primary indicator of student engagement. In graduate preparation, instructors learn to value quick interaction, frequent discussion, and other visible forms of participation. An “active” classroom commonly means one in which students speak often. Over
When I talk with my students about navigating difficult conversations, I don’t begin with a slide deck or a list of ground rules. I begin with a story.
College classrooms today include students from various backgrounds and experiences. The different experiences of students can create challenges when trying to encourage discussion and participation, especially related to topics of politics, history, identity, and equity. But creating a culture of empathy and respect can support
“Focus on what you can control” is hardly groundbreaking advice. Yet when I read David Gooblar’s version of it this August in One Classroom at a Time: How Better Teaching Can Make College More Equitable (Harvard UP, 2025), it felt newly persuasive: “[Professors] cannot control
When generative AI (GenAI) appeared on the higher education landscape, the general reaction ranged from enthusiasm and curiosity to grave concern around how a technology that was not designed for education would impact our lives as educators and the lives of learners. The uncertainty educators
Why do students come to class? We may hope it’s for the love of learning, because of our inspirational teaching, or because they know it will help them get jobs or live happier lives in the long run. Of course, these are not the common
Facilitating experiential learning is central to my teaching philosophy. As an instructor of application-based coursework, I continually seek ways to help students engage deeply with course material and explore practical avenues for applying it within their field of study. Research has shown that application-based and
