As a teacher of literature and media studies, much of what I am trying to demonstrate to students is the importance of framing questions. So much depends on what questions you ask (of a text, of an interviewee, of a classmate, of a teacher) and how you ask those questions. So we spend time in my classes working on questions, as well as exploring possible answers. I also am working with students on listening, an under-valued skill in our society. In the Writing & Thinking Workshop, we have an exercise we call a "thought chain," where students are asked to write a short piece in response to a given text, and then have a discussion, but there's a protocol that must be followed: you have to first summarize the previous speaker's comment, before adding your own. It is hard to do, but excellent practice for real-life class discussions. I often tell students that a good class discussion is like a collaborative sculpture we're building in the middle of the table, where each person's contribution is essential to the whole. But you have to listen to what people are saying in order to know where and how to add your own piece to the sculpture. If students come away from my classes with a better sense of how to have a thoughtful, respectful conversation, even about controversial, difficult issues, I feel I am doing my job well.
My teaching style
