John, your post deeply resonates with me- it has taken me a long time (in fact, I’m still working on it) to shake off the shoulds from my own two decades of Catholic school.

I feel that I have the strongest growth mindset as it relates to my research- I will often need to learn a new methodology or literature (or sometimes both!) to be able to work on the research questions that I am interested in, and I strive not to let that stop me. Learning new methods is hard and messy and full of mistakes, but incredibly…[Read more]

I taught my first university class in Spring of 2006- since then, my teaching has evolved to be almost unrecognizable from where I started out. This is due naturally to the passage of time and changes in technology, but also to my reflecting on how well teaching the way I was taught (all lecture) was working for my students (not super well!).…[Read more]

Sarah, this openness and honesty with your students is amazing!  I have found in my own experience that letting students know that I know I don’t know everything, and that I will make mistakes during our class, is extremely powerful (I only wish I had learned this earlier in my teaching career, as you have already figured out).

This live session really encouraged me to make a fresh welcome video (and make it separate from my “course tour” video, which I should also make!).  I also want to find a way to use the “intro slideshow” I have students make (maybe in a gamefied way, as Cassandra discussed).  I was also very impressed by James, who shared (what I would have felt w…[Read more]

Hi Cynthia & Gordon!  On my better days, I remember that learning, like Gandalf the Wizard, is never late.  Nor is it early.  It arrives precisely when it is meant to.

I love the framing of failing with style!!!  It reminds me of the meme, “I’m not a hot mess, I’m a spicy disaster.”  The way we see ourselves is important- I try to stress with my students (and myself), we might fail, but that does not mean we are failures!

The sum total of my pedagogical training in graduate school was 2 minutes on orientation day, where one speaker said, “procrastinate your teaching, so it doesn’t take up too much time.”  I’m very glad to see that the TLC at the Graduate Center, and professional development across CUNY, has advanced substantially since 2005 ;o)