First Post

You can only teach as effectively as you think. That is, if you want to help students think deeply about a topic or subject, you must be able to think deeply about the material you are working with. I definitely feel that I can achieve more in the areas of thinking and teaching. Thus, my mission.

A little bit of context here. I have been teaching for over a decade, and I feel like if I continue to approach the job the same way that I have year in and year out, then nothing will change. If I do not change anything, then I will be sitting here next summer similarly feeling like I need to create better assignments and activities that get students to think deeper about the topics we are studying.

So my biggest theme is that for students to think deeply, they need a teacher who is able to think deeply.

Do I approach my classes with a desire to think deeply about the content? What is deep thinking? What is shallow thinking? What do each of these look like?

This blog will be a place where I will record my thoughts and the thoughts of others. I plan on focusing on the courses I teach, as well as newsworthy topics.

What are some examples of the type of thinking I'd like to emulate? If I had to point to examples of deep thinking, I would point to Russ Robert's Econtalk podcasts, books like Howard Zinn's A People's History of the US, and columnists like Nicholas Kristoff.

I know that reading is intimately connected with what I am trying to do. I need to feed my mind by reading a variety of materials and couple that with writing about the ideas I am exposed to. By constructing my own ideas and questions and making a variety of cognitive connections, I will further develop as a thinker and, it is hoped, as a teacher.