James M. Lang
Chronicle
Worcester, MA, United States
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Past articles by James:
How to Cope With Presentation Anxiety
Here’s how a professor and experienced public speaker has learned to deal with the academic version of stage fright. → Read More
Give Your Students a Homeric Welcome This Semester
Don’t underestimate the importance and power of hospitality on the first day of class. → Read More
Why Students Hate Group Projects (and How to Change That)
Too many faculty members assign ambitious team projects and then leave the students to their own devices. → Read More
Annotate This: How a Common Academic Practice Can Boost Learning
A new book on annotation offers inspiration for how to better use the technique in teaching. → Read More
The Healing Power of Learning
After a health crisis, an academic finds that learning is not just joyful but restorative. → Read More
Love Means Answering the Mail
Taking time away from the Catholic Worker only made Dorothy Day realize how “love calls us to the things of this world.” → Read More
How to Improve Your Teaching — Fast
A new website for academics offers 20-minute micro courses to help you catch up on teaching innovations. → Read More
They Offered Early Retirement. Here’s Why I Took It at 51.
For many academics, the pandemic has prompted a career reckoning. → Read More
Where Do You Do Your Best Writing?
A look at the connection between place and productivity. → Read More
Why We Need to Rethink Digital Reading
Publishers and some educators have embraced the shift to reading on screens. But is that really what’s best for student learning? → Read More
2 Ways to Fairly Grade Class Participation
A professor who no longer grades participation offers equitable alternatives for those faculty members who do. → Read More
Should We Stop Grading Class Participation?
Why a professor no longer grades students on how much they speak up in class. → Read More
Distracted Minds: How to Fix Your Attention Shortage
It’s not just our students who have trouble paying attention. Sometimes faculty members need help focusing on our work, too. → Read More
Distracted Minds: Your Classroom Can Be a Retreat in Dark Times
Support and sustain your students’ attention, and you contribute not only to their learning but to their well-being, too. → Read More
Distracted Minds: Why You Should Teach Like a Poet
How to use “close reading” of a text, an object, or an idea to focus your students’ attention in class. → Read More
Distracted Minds: The Role of Tempo in Good Teaching
To help students stay attentive in class, think like a conductor, and recognize that students need you to change the pace and the action. → Read More
Distracted Minds: 3 Ways to Get Their Attention in Class
Want the attention of your students? The first and most important step is to pay closer attention to them. → Read More
Kids are getting more screen time than ever during the pandemic, but they'll probably be OK — here's why
Not all screen time is equal, researchers point out, and parents have a few good reasons to be grateful. → Read More
Teaching While Introverted
The college classroom, it turns out, can be the ideal playground for those of us who identify as introverts. → Read More
Why College Professors Hate (and Love) April
A faculty member writes an ode to the academic miseries (and occasional joys) of April. → Read More