Category Archives: Uncategorized

Listen here! Veteran teacher John Whittier-Ferguson shares wit, wisdom, and heart as he looks back on his years in the classroom as he retires. He talks to us about the delights of teaching as well as some thorny pedagogical issues teachers today are facing. Here are links to John’s AI policy, the Joyce course syllabus fromContinue reading “Looking Back and Looking Ahead, with John Whittier-Ferguson”

Listen here! Reading is taking a beating in our culture lately, but it’s a skill our students need in order to thrive in their classes and beyond. Lizzie Hutton, former University of Michigan lecturer and also MFA and PhD alum, now Associate Professor and Director of the Howe Writing Center at Miami University of Ohio,Continue reading “Reading, with Lizzie Hutton”

Listen here! Many of our listeners are graduate student teachers themselves; other listeners teach alongside them or mentor them. In this episode, University of Michigan graduate student teacher Lauren Rudewicz shares her thoughts on what teachers like her bring to the classroom and how faculty can best support graduate student teachers—plus she shares a reallyContinue reading “Graduate Student Teachers, with Lauren Rudewicz”

Listen here! Having difficult conversations with students is an inevitable part of teaching. Kathy Overhulse Smith sheds light on how to make these moments a little easier and do right by your students and yourself when you have to have them. September 2023

Listen here! If you’re feeling any kind of way about teaching and generative AI, and we’re pretty sure you are, you’ll love this episode! Phill Cameron helps hosts Angie and Gina see the light about this amazing new technology and how it can help us teach writing. Here are links to the Time magazine editorialContinue reading “Generative AI, with Phill Cameron”

Listen here! We’re back with another Halloween episode of Behind the Scaffolding featuring stories of teachers who haunt us–in both good and bad ways, and sometimes both simultaneously! Tune in to hear April Conway, Jeremy Chamberlain, Scott Beal, and Kathy Smith share their stories of teachers they just can’t forget, for better or worse! OctoberContinue reading “Teachers Who Haunt Us, Volume 2”

Listen here! Just in time for your late summer syllabus planning, we talk to April Conway about the nuts and bolts, and benefits and drawbacks, of alternative forms of assessment like contract grading and its various permutations. Tune in to hear how April has implemented–and adjusted, over the years–her methods of assessment to better alignContinue reading “Alternative Assessment, with April Conway”

Listen here! Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we checked in with some teachers we love–Laura Clapper, Dana Nichols, Scott Beal, and Naomi Silver–to talk with them about favorite prompts they assign. Have a listen! We think you just might be swept off your feet by some of these prompts! You can read all theContinue reading “Prompts We Love!”

Listen here! For many teachers, this has been the first semester back in the in-person classroom since the pandemic started, and on top of that, it’s the end of the term, a stressful time for everyone! That means it’s prime time to talk about the intersection of feelings and teaching. Scott Beal joins us forContinue reading “Feelings, with Scott Beal”

Listen here! The Covid-19 pandemic has changed so much about life. But in our classrooms–our virtual classrooms, at least–it hasn’t all been bad. We talk to five writing teachers about what silver linings they have discovered about teaching online. Transcript available here! January 2021