The KNIGHTLYnews is an online forum where FWS instructors and other teachers of writing can swap and share ideas for best classroom practice. Weekly posts are designed to help teachers develop lesson plans and writing assignments, and respond to classroom challenges by introducing new teaching tools and sharing emerging pedagogical ideas. Posts also direct readers to program and campus resources that support teaching and learning, and provide opportunities for peer collaboration and mentorship. #teachlikeabear
Dear colleagues,
No words of mine could adequately address the individual or cumulative impact of unsettling events over the past several days—election results, alleged crimes and unmitigated tragedies on and off campus. We rarely know much about our students’ networks of friends and affiliations, so it is hard to judge how these events will affect them, either directly or as a part of a general atmosphere of stress and distress.
What we do know is that, for students in their first daunting semester of college, their First-Year Writing Seminar is their most intimate class, where they may feel most able to sit with and process their responses together. You will know best how—or even whether—to address your group, but even brief, unforced acknowledgments can be meaningful: an expression of condolence; a moment of silence; an affirmation that help-seeking is a sign of strength not weakness; an opportunity to write out and, if they wish, to share their responses. Even small gestures can help students to know that Cornell is a caring community.
Please know that the intellectual and emotional labor of your teaching is acknowledged and valued.
Sincerely yours,
David Faulkner (he/him/his)
Walter C. Teagle Director of First-Year Writing Seminars John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines Cornell University
