This past week I introduced a new lesson into a classroom full of students. While most of the students understood the exercise I was introducing there were several questions. While many of these could be answered by simply clarifying something there were a couple that I hadn’t previously thought about before introducing the exercise. They caught me off guard. Today I’m going to talk about why that is NOT a bad thing. In fact, it’s a very good thing. Some teachers really don’t like hearing that something they are doing or presenting or requiring is unclear — I love it. … Continue reading →

At the end of each semester students are typically asked to fill out some form of evaluation of the instructor and the course itself. This is an important part of being a student (in my estimation) as it is a chance for students to anonymously (and hopefully honestly) critique their instructors and classes. This past semester I impressed this truth onto my students before their evaluations. No, I didn’t try to sway them to evaluate me favorably. I told them that this is what keeps teachers you like teaching and what makes bad classes tolerable and good classes great. They … Continue reading →

It’s that time of year again in academia. The year is wrapping up and finals are around the corner. The students are getting excited about a longer break and a period of time without homework or assigned readings. Some of them have even decided to take a look at their grades that have been available to them twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week since the beginning of the semester. Some of them have also, upon recommendation, decided to look at that pesky syllabus I drone on about frequently. I can hear it all around me: the end … Continue reading →

In the short time before classes begin I have begun my now semi-annual tradition of recalibrating and revising the syllabus for the course that I will teach in the coming semester. While the core components of the course remain the same each time the course is taught it seems that the way those core components are disseminated and recollected changes ever so slightly. The reason for these changes has very little to do with me and everything to do with the students. During each semester I am evaluated as an instructor at least twice. The first time is typically an … Continue reading →