Tag Archives: teaching

School under the Sea: Reeling, Writhing…

By Robin Bates | Published: August 9, 2017

To welcome teachers and students back to school, here’s a description of education under the sea, as experienced by Lewis Carroll’s Gryphon and Mock Turtle.

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Personal News: A 2018 Retirement

By Robin Bates | Published: January 5, 2017

In June 2018, after 38 years of teaching college, I will retire. I don’t want to go out like Walter Savage Landor’s old man–“the fire is low

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On Forgetting Old Students

By Robin Bates | Published: August 28, 2016

Sometimes as teachers we forget students that we impacted greatly. Thomas Hardy’s Jude learns this when he looks up his old teacher Phillotson.

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Beware Teachers That Satirize Students

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2016

Tom Layman’s “The Students” is a humorous poem but, in the end, mean-spirited. It also lets the teacher off the hook.

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Thoughts on Classroom Attendance

By Robin Bates | Published: January 10, 2016

Tom Wayman’s “Did I Miss Anything” is a sarcastic put down of students who have missed classes. It allows teachers to vent but there are better answers to the question available.

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Reading Novels for Moral Instruction

By Robin Bates | Published: November 7, 2014

“Tom Jones” teaches how to raise adolescents. And how not to.

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Don’t Underestimate Your Students

By Robin Bates | Published: October 29, 2014

Rule #1 for literature teachers should be to listen carefully to your students’ responses. There may be hidden wisdom in even the most unpromising ones.

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The Limitations of Cerebral Teaching

By Robin Bates | Published: October 24, 2014

Teaching literature must be more than just a cerebral affair.

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Teaching Lit Crit as Autobiography

By Robin Bates | Published: December 16, 2013

Literary criticism can be a form of autobiography. Knowing that can improve our teaching.

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