Chris Palmer, retired professor, is a speaker, author, and wildlife film producer, who gives speeches and workshops on a variety of topics, including how to motivate and engage students. He is the author of four other books: Shooting in the Wild (2010), Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker (2015), Now What, Grad? Your Path to Success After College (2015), and Raise Your Kids to Succeed (2017). He has won awards for his teaching at American University.

Chris Palmer’s College Teaching at its Best is a wonderful new book. Wisdom pours out of it like a river. Its brisk and lively chapters urge teachers to keep working to improve themselves in the classroom as they demonstrate concern for their students and demand steadiness and hard work in return. As Palmer says, you’re not teaching if the students aren’t learning. Teachers have to accept responsibility when classes aren’t performing up to their expectations; they have to model the vitality and conscientiousness they expect from their charges. He also dares to take on the question of reforming tenure, a system that in too many cases has become a shelter for classroom mediocrity. I can’t recommend this book too highly and I hope it will catch on widely among faculty members everywhere.

• Preface AcknowledgmentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Realize the importance of professorsChapter 2: Manifest good valuesChapter 3: Create an effective syllabusChapter 4: Establish a philosophy of gradingChapter 5: Harness the power of caringChapter 6: Convey your passion Chapter 7: Promote active learning Chapter 8: Support and encourage quiet students Chapter 9: Make large, lecture-based classes feel smallerChapter 10: Add variety to your classChapter 11: Finish the semester strongChapter 12: Be responsive to students Appendix I: Teaching Workshop Handout, by Chris PalmerAppendix II: Finding a Great Mentor, by John RichardsonAppendix III: Teaching as Performance Art, by Thomas KaufmanAppendix IV: Rethinking Tenure, by Chris PalmerNotesIndexAbout the Author

Chris Palmer, retired professor, is a speaker, author, and wildlife film producer, who gives speeches and workshops on a variety of topics, including how to motivate and engage students. He is the author of four other books: Shooting in the Wild (2010), Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker (2015), Now What, Grad? Your Path to Success After College (2015), and Raise Your Kids to Succeed (2017). He has won awards for his teaching at American University.

Chris Palmer’s College Teaching at its Best is a wonderful new book. Wisdom pours out of it like a river. Its brisk and lively chapters urge teachers to keep working to improve themselves in the classroom as they demonstrate concern for their students and demand steadiness and hard work in return. As Palmer says, you’re not teaching if the students aren’t learning. Teachers have to accept responsibility when classes aren’t performing up to their expectations; they have to model the vitality and conscientiousness they expect from their charges. He also dares to take on the question of reforming tenure, a system that in too many cases has become a shelter for classroom mediocrity. I can’t recommend this book too highly and I hope it will catch on widely among faculty members everywhere.

• Preface AcknowledgmentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Realize the importance of professorsChapter 2: Manifest good valuesChapter 3: Create an effective syllabusChapter 4: Establish a philosophy of gradingChapter 5: Harness the power of caringChapter 6: Convey your passion Chapter 7: Promote active learning Chapter 8: Support and encourage quiet students Chapter 9: Make large, lecture-based classes feel smallerChapter 10: Add variety to your classChapter 11: Finish the semester strongChapter 12: Be responsive to students Appendix I: Teaching Workshop Handout, by Chris PalmerAppendix II: Finding a Great Mentor, by John RichardsonAppendix III: Teaching as Performance Art, by Thomas KaufmanAppendix IV: Rethinking Tenure, by Chris PalmerNotesIndexAbout the Author

Chris Palmer, retired professor, is a speaker, author, and wildlife film producer, who gives speeches and workshops on a variety of topics, including how to motivate and engage students. He is the author of four other books: Shooting in the Wild (2010), Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker (2015), Now What, Grad? Your Path to Success After College (2015), and Raise Your Kids to Succeed (2017). He has won awards for his teaching at American University.

Chris Palmer’s College Teaching at its Best is a wonderful new book. Wisdom pours out of it like a river. Its brisk and lively chapters urge teachers to keep working to improve themselves in the classroom as they demonstrate concern for their students and demand steadiness and hard work in return. As Palmer says, you’re not teaching if the students aren’t learning. Teachers have to accept responsibility when classes aren’t performing up to their expectations; they have to model the vitality and conscientiousness they expect from their charges. He also dares to take on the question of reforming tenure, a system that in too many cases has become a shelter for classroom mediocrity. I can’t recommend this book too highly and I hope it will catch on widely among faculty members everywhere.

• Preface AcknowledgmentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Realize the importance of professorsChapter 2: Manifest good valuesChapter 3: Create an effective syllabusChapter 4: Establish a philosophy of gradingChapter 5: Harness the power of caringChapter 6: Convey your passion Chapter 7: Promote active learning Chapter 8: Support and encourage quiet students Chapter 9: Make large, lecture-based classes feel smallerChapter 10: Add variety to your classChapter 11: Finish the semester strongChapter 12: Be responsive to students Appendix I: Teaching Workshop Handout, by Chris PalmerAppendix II: Finding a Great Mentor, by John RichardsonAppendix III: Teaching as Performance Art, by Thomas KaufmanAppendix IV: Rethinking Tenure, by Chris PalmerNotesIndexAbout the Author