Building Relationships

That’s not a new finding, and it’s something most instructors already know, but it’s the size of the difference that’s often underestimated. Two recent studies, both asking different research questions and using different methodologies, offer still more evidence that the relationship between teachers and students

Being flexible is one of those ongoing challenges for teachers. There’s the desire to be responsive to student needs—life does happen—but then students have been known to take advantage of teachers and granting the request of one student opens the door and makes it difficult

Faculty are urged to turn classrooms into activity centers where lively discussion serves as an antidote to bored students zoning out of class lectures and zoning into images and words appearing on their screens of various sorts. Eliminating boredom in my classrooms is welcomed, but

For non-traditional students who are working adults or are returning to school years later, the transition to college can be intimidating. Several of my students have expressed how hard it is to learn new concepts. Many feel their minds aren’t as “sharp” as

In 2000, Howe and Strauss identified the next big generation on the rise in colleges and universities and dubbed them the “Millennials.” Born between 1982 and 2002, these folks began arriving on our campuses in large numbers in the early 2000’s and continue to populate

The two professors who developed this assignment created it “to help us engage more directly with students about their writing.” (p. 146) Most teachers who now assign writing emphasize that it’s a process, not something a writer sits down and does all at once.

The worst time for me in a workshop or presentation are those five or 10 minutes before the start time when the faculty participants are arriving. My stomach is in knots. I’m wishing I were at home. I know I haven’t prepared enough. Somebody is

When learning is presented as a story, students are more likely to understand the material as relevant to their lives. I incorporate the person in teaching and learning, making flexible but structured space for students to consider their relationships to ideas, texts, and other people.

As college faculty, we put tremendous pressure on ourselves to talk. We want to cover the course content and thoroughly explain our assignments. We want to sound smart, share what we know, and communicate convincingly about the work of our disciplines. Our students assume we