25Aug 2017 by Christine Crutchfield 1 Comment

Back to School ~ A Professor’s 10 Hacks to Help Students Survive and Thrive at Semester Start

The fall is fast upon us, and it’s time once again - for back to school and the start of a new academic year. For those of you making the leap to college, it can be a scary time. Many colleges are much larger than the campuses you're used to. You'll be surrounded by people you haven’t known for the last 4+ years and aren’t sure what will be expected of you in terms of homework. Or maybe you’ve been out of school for awhile and are nervous about going back. Even if it isn’t your first semester, there are still many unknowns that can cause anxiety. As someone who’s been teaching college classes for 15 years, I’d love to share some wisdom from a teacher’s perspective to help start…

19Jul 2017 by Christine Crutchfield 26 Comments

Teaching ~ The Importance of Growth Mindset

Teaching

This morning, my sister sent me photos of my twin nephews on their first day of 5th grade. They just moved into a different school district with year-round school, and it's got me thinking. In the midst of all the summertime fun, we're now halfway through July and the coming semester is looming. Last summer, I took a professional development course that introduced the theory of “growth mindset,” and it blew me away. It was an idea that I always believed to be true, though I’d never spent the time to study or put it into words. Another way that it’s been expressed is “The Power of Yet,” as in a student or child hasn’t quite grasped it… YET. Inherently, we all know because we’ve been taught that “practice makes…

14Jun 2017 by Christine Crutchfield 12 Comments

Wednesday Wisdom – Gratitude

Living, Teaching, Traveling, Writing

Phew! This blogging thing bends my brain and captivates my attention in ways I’m not used to! My goal is to share thoughtful, quality posts consistently on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday basis, and though I am working hard to do so, I can’t seem to keep my days straight. It’s like being in my classroom in Connecticut on M/W/F and continually telling my students I’ll see them on T/Th (which I frequently do) when I teach in Massachusetts on those days. But so far I just haven’t quite gotten it down. So, we’ll consider yesterday a bonus post (hooray!), and today we’ll do something light and fun. I’ve been feeling really lucky to be working full time this summer on something I’m passionate about, so I want to take a moment to…

21Mar 2017 by Christine Crutchfield 1 Comment

So, you don’t like poetry?

Teaching, Writing

Next month, April, is National Poetry Month, but today is World Poetry Day. As someone who earned my MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry, this is one of my favorite times of the year. I LOVE poetry. Unfortunately, not everyone does. I see it on the faces of my Comp and Lit students when we move from the fiction section to the poetry section of class. There's often a fear or a nervousness in their eyes, an apprehension. It is my job to try and change that look, if not to one of adoration like I feel, at least to one of respect and hopefully a little understanding. What I want them to learn is this: Poetry is for everyone. As Pamela Spiro Wagner says in her poem…