My teaching style

I think of teaching as giving students the opportunity to read, think, and write about texts that are worth their time and attention, offering them context on these works, and guiding a conversation. It is also a chance for me to read or re-read things that I admire and talk about them with young people who are often as interested in and passionate about books and ideas as I am. I tend to teach surveys of one kind or another, and to ask students to read a book a week in most of them. Since I have a lot of nervous energy and enthusiasm, I usually don't sit down much in class. I'm afraid I'm also a bit of a ham, so I don't hesitate to perform some when the spirit moves me. My favorite classes--at Simon's Rock, more common than any teacher has a right to expect--often begin with my asking a general question ("So what did you think?" or "What impressed you most?" or "How does this relate to . . .?"); which leads to a wide-ranging discussion that almost always both fills more than the time we have available and includes student insights that make me see things I hadn’t thought of before. I also believe in setting high expectations, which our students almost always meet or exceed.