Does It Make Sense to Spend One’s Life Teaching?
All teachers should ask: Are we doing something meaningful with our lives by teaching? If not, we can find some other work to do. If so, we can remind ourselves of why.
Author Archives: Paul T. Corrigan
When Students Don’t Answer a Question, What Does the Awkward Silence Mean?
That awkward silence when teachers ask a question and no one answers can feel both negative and homogeneous. But is it? My perspective shifted when I asked my students about it and they gave me varied, reasonable answers for why they didn’t respond.
Why Don’t Students Spend More Time Trying to Learn?
Many students spend too little time on learning. We should help those who need it learn how to manage their time and set priorities. We should also help, but in different ways, those whose difficult life situations put “time management” out of the question.
Responding to Student Writing/Writers
Students write. We comment. Nancy Sommers can help us do so more thoughtfully and skillfully. Her new book continues the work of her landmark essay on responding to student writing. Her new rule? When we comment, we should focus on the students, not just the writing, and we should only try to “teach one lesson” at a time.
Beyond the Lecturing Debate
We often hear only the pro- and anti- positions in debates about lecturing. I want to advocate a more nuanced perspective: There is no such thing as lecturing. There are many different things that get lumped together under that one term.
Research on Teaching Offers No Blueprints, Only Maps
If anyone tells you exactly how to teach based on research, they’re misusing the research. The research does not offer blueprints for how to teach, detailed instructions on what to do and how to do it. But it does offer maps. Using these maps requires certain skills.
Teaching & Learning in Higher Ed. 