Phil Christman’s wife watches him go through this cycle every year. There’s no real way to stop a determined rich kid from cheating their way through a writing class

Phil Christman's teaching year used to follow a predictable emotional arc.

In September , he was excited about meeting a new crop of first-year writing students.

In October , predictably, he'd crash a little bit, but by late November he'd be back on track.

Christman: The intensity of teaching brings a certain amnesia with it, like marathoning and childbirth.

Lee is a problem, but a problem of a sort that I’m familiar with.

It’s a student like Wendy who makes me panic: I asked Wendy if I could read the paper she turned in, and when I opened the document, I was surprised to see the topic: critical pedagogy.

Wendy wasn't sure what to make of the question: "To what extent is schooling hindering students’ cognitive ability to think critically?".