The assignment made sense when you wrote it. Then the questions begin: how long should it be, what counts as evidence, and what exactly are students supposed to argue? The submissions arrive, and you realize several students…
Read articleYou spent hours preparing the syllabus. A week later, a student asks a question answered on the second page. It's tempting to reply with three familiar words: read the syllabus. Sometimes students do need to look more carefully…
Read articleA student asks what happens if an assignment is late. You know the answer you intended, but the syllabus says something slightly different. Now a routine question has become a problem of consistency. The handbook emphasizes the…
Read articleYou get a new course assignment and open a blank document. Part of you wants to build something wonderful from scratch. Another part is quietly counting how many weeks remain before students arrive. The handbook offers a…
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A student asks, 'Can I use AI to help with this assignment?' You know what you intended, but the syllabus doesn't quite say it. Another student has already made a different assumption. That's a hard place to begin a fair…
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You've got a slide deck, a room full of students, and fifty minutes. Halfway through, you notice that you're explaining the material clearly enough to yourself, but you're not sure what students are taking from it. That…
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You ask a question, wait, and hear the same two students answer again. The rest of the room is quiet. Are they following, confused, or just reluctant to speak? It's hard to tell from the front. Active learning gives you another…
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You've studied your subject for years. Now you're facing a room of students, and knowing the material suddenly feels different from helping other people learn it. That gap can be unsettling. Your first semester doesn't require a…
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The room is quiet, students are taking their seats, and you're suddenly very aware of the first sentence you're about to say. The first day can feel unusually loaded, even when you've taught the course before. You don't have to…
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You can explain a difficult concept to a room full of students, yet the sentence 'My teaching philosophy is...' leaves you staring at a blank page. It's an awkward assignment. You're being asked to describe something you do…
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