I’ve been teaching for a long time. I design lessons, build assignments, facilitate difficult conversations, and think deeply about how students learn in my Communication classrooms and now in First-Year seminars. And yet—when it comes to sharing my work publicly—I’ve felt stuck.
Not because I don’t have experience or things to share. But because of a persistent, nagging thought: “Who am I to put this out there?” If you’re in higher education, you might recognize this. Really, I guess you might recognize it no matter what your business or profession is. But, in K–12 spaces, there are vibrant communities where educators share lessons, activities, and resources openly (Teachers Pay Teachers, for example). There’s an expectation that good ideas should be shared, adapted, and used.
In higher ed, we often do the opposite. Instead, we:
- Close our classroom doors
- Refine our teaching in isolation
- Share selectively (if at all)
- And when we do share, it’s often through formal channels like journals or books
Don’t get me wrong—those spaces matter. I regularly learn from journals like Communication Teacher, and I know many disciplines have similar publications focused on pedagogy. I read books like Small Teaching and What the Best College Teachers Do. But, I don’t see myself writing a book and publishing in journals is time consuming and time is tight.
But maybe sharing our teaching doesn’t have to be formal, polished, and peer-reviewed to be considered valuable? And maybe many useful, creative, effective teaching ideas never get shared at all because of this mindset. And maybe we don’t have to be “qualified” to share our ideas with others.
Despite years of experience, I still catch myself thinking:
- “This is too simple.”
- “Everyone probably already does this.”
- “This isn’t polished enough.”
So I’m trying something different. Instead of waiting until I have something “impressive” to share, I’m going to start documenting what I’m actually doing in my classes – things that work AND things that don’t work:
- Activities that are engaging
- Discussions that fall flat
- Assignments I’m revising
- Strategies that students enjoy
Not as a polished expert. Not as a journal article. Just as a teacher sharing what’s happening in real time.
If you’re another instructor who has ever thought, “I don’t really have anything to offer,” I want to gently challenge that. You probably do. In fact, the thing you think is “too basic” might be exactly what someone else needs. If you’re doing interesting, thoughtful work in your classroom, I hope you’ll consider sharing it too, even if it is just in the comments here.
We don’t need to wait for permission. We can just start.
So I will see you on Tuesday for my Teaching Tuesday post!
This week, I will be sharing three different formats for class debates that get students researching and talking about tough subjects!
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