Today, students are asking chatbots to write their essays for the same reason that corporations are asking chatbots to do their customer service (because they don't give a shit):
https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/06/unmerchantable-substitute-goods/#customer-disservice
I'm not saying that small writing workshops of the sort that changed my life will work for *everyone*. But I *am* saying that teaching writing in huge lecture halls with assignments optimized for grading works for *no one*.
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@pluralistic This is the side of Dunning-Kruger that people tend to forget: those with the most expertise are highly aware of their weaknesses and limitations.
It's precisely because you *are* a good teacher that you think you aren't.
@pluralistic I really liked a set of university of Chicago writing videos, e.g. one below that clarified for me that I'm 'writing to think' (which no one wants to read) or I am writing for an audience, which allows me to reduce scope to simplify the work to that specific audience's need, so that wiring is not overwhelming for me and also keeps my message in control and not wandering. https://youtu.be/aFwVf5a3pZM?si=8i72Vlg4YzuDtzq3
This is a great lecture by Prof. McEnerney. It's something I discovered years ago, learned, and share with the students and young professionals I mentor (and I am still working on).
Along with this lecture and the rest of the series I love the "How to Speak" lecture by Prof. Patrick Winston of MIT. I was fortunate enough to see Prof. Winston present this live but it is a great presentation on speaking to an audience that pairs well with writing for an audience.
Man, I need something like this. Coming late to the idea of trying to write text, compared to code which to me is a frictionless process, writing essays is a process of overwhelming clutter
I am, however, a *good* teacher. The difference is that a good teacher can teach students who want to learn, whereas a great teacher can inspire students to *want to learn*. I've spent most of my life teaching, here and there, and while I'm not great, I am getting better.
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Last year, I started a new teaching gig: I'm one of Cornell's AD White Visiting Professors, meaning that I visit Cornell (and its NYC campus, Cornell Tech) every year or two for six years and teach, lecture, meet, and run activities.
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When I was in Ithaca in September for my inaugural stint, I had a string of what can only be called "peak experiences," meeting with researchers, teachers, undergrads, grads and community members. I had so many conversations that will stick with me, and today I want to talk about one of them.
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It was a faculty talk. One person at the table had been involved in a research project to investigate students' attitudes to their education. The research concluded that students come to Cornell to learn - because they love knowledge and critical thinking - but they so haunted by the financial consequences of failure (wasting tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars repeating a year or failing out altogether, and then entering the job market debt-burdened and degree-less).
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As a result, they feel pressured not to take intellectual risks, and, at worst, to cheat. They *care* about learning, but they're *afraid* of bad grades, and so chasing grades triumphs over learning.
At that same discussion, I met someone who taught Cornell's version of freshman comp, the "here's how to write at a college level" course that every university offers. I've actually guest-taught some of these, starting in 2005/6, when I had a Fulbright Chair at USC.
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Now, while I'm not a great teacher, I am a pretty good *writing* teacher. I was lucky enough to be mentored by Judith Merril (starting at the age of 9!), who taught me how to participate in a peer-based writing workshop:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/13/better-to-have-loved/#neofuturians
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