Writing Like You Teach

Writing Like You Teach

Can you draw lessons from the way you teach and apply them in your writing? Designed for Learning host Jim Lang thinks so—so much so that he’s written a new book about it called Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience. He shares his insights on the intersection of teaching and writing, offering strategies for educators looking to expand their reach through engaging, accessible prose intended for broader audiences.

Experience the Episode

Presented by Notre Dame Learning

Can you draw lessons from the way you teach and apply them in your writing? Designed for Learning host Jim Lang thinks so—so much so that he’s written a new book about it called Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience.

To learn more, we flipped the script and asked Kristi Rudenga, director of Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, to interview Jim, a professor of the practice at the Kaneb Center, about his latest project.

He shares his insights on the intersection of teaching and writing, offering strategies for educators looking to expand their reach through engaging, accessible prose intended for broader audiences. He also talks about how a life-threatening health situation shaped the creation of Write Like You Teach.

To find the show in your preferred podcast app, click on the “Share” link in the player.

More

Meet the Moderator: Kristi Rudenga

Kristi Rudenga is the director of Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, where she is appointed as a teaching professor. She oversees the Kaneb Center team and is responsible for the center’s strategy, partnerships, and initiatives including the Notre Dame Inclusive Teaching Academy, Kaneb Center Course Design Academy, and Foundational Course Transformation Academy. She also consults with instructors on pedagogical approaches and facilitates seminar series and workshops on teaching and mentoring.

Kristi teaches courses like Food and the Brain, Pedagogy and Practice in the College Classroom, and The Art and Science of Learning. She writes about pedagogy for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and she has served on the Core Committee of the POD Network, the national organization supporting educational development.

Before coming to Notre Dame, she was associate director and science education specialist at the Yale Teaching Center. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Yale University, studying central brain representation of taste and food reward.

Meet the Faculty: James Lang '91

James Lang ’91 is a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence.

The author of several popular books on teaching, including Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It and Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, Jim was previously a professor of English and the director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University. He writes a regular column on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education and co-edits a book series on higher education for the University of Oklahoma Press.

Jim has delivered keynotes or workshops at more than 300 hundred colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. A recipient of a Fulbright Specialist Grant in 2016, he has also consulted with the United Nations on a multiyear project to develop teaching materials in ethics and integrity for high school and college faculty.

Jim is a graduate of Notre Dame with a B.A. in English and philosophy. He holds an M.A. in English from St. Louis University and a Ph.D. in English from Northwestern University.

Key Topics Discussed

  • Jim’s career trajectory as an academic, speaker, and writer of popular books and columns on teaching
  • The inspiration behind Write Like You Teach and how it bridges his passions for teaching and writing
  • Translating classroom teaching practices into impactful writing techniques
  • Three core areas to consider to write like you teach: questions, attention, and evidence
  • Overcoming impostor syndrome when writing for non-academic audiences by recognizing your role as an educator in both classroom and writing contexts
  • Jim’s personal journey of recovery from a heart transplant and stroke, and how it affected his writing process

«Prev Series Description Next»
back to top
Writing Like You Teach
back to top