When you are friends with someone, sometimes you forget how hard they work, and how dedicated and good at their job they are. They are just your friend, and you take them for granted. So is the case with my friend, Adrienne Lentz. Adrienne teaches general education classes- composition, time management, and other critical life-long learning skills to students in the arts (and across departments). As you will hear, she also tutors students, and volunteers at the juvenile detention center. That’s a full plate!
Like any good teacher, Adrienne came to our chat prepared with a list of topics: student learning preferences, developing critical thinking and problem solving skills, professional development for teachers, the needs of students with learning differences, and more.
During our conversation Adrienne mentions many articles, authors, books, and I asked her to send me a list. Below is copy of her follow up email to me.
I’ve been trying to cull a list of articles/books/resources but honestly it’s a bit overwhelming when you consider the amount of information from graduate school and 10 years of subsequent reading, professional development, and additional courses. Here’s how I’ve divided my interests and experience into four categories:
1. The learning process – Adults as students (post secondary education)2. Literacy – Reading and writing and how the two are connected; developing a writing process3. Learning differences/special learning needs (I’m credentialed in working with these students)4. Time Management and organizational skills (how they effect learning) – this is the focus of the private tutoring I do now
So, I put together a list of books, websites, and educators who I’ve come to rely on:
- Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide by Sharan Merriam and Rosemary Caffarella
- The Skillful Teacher by Stephen Brookfield
- Errors & Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing by Mina Shaughnessy
- The Writing Teacher’s Sourcebook editd by Corbett, Myers, & Tate (Peter Elbow, Donald Murray, Mike Rose, and others(
- Strategies for Struggling Writers by James L. Collins
- Purpose and Process: A Reader for Writers by Stephen Reid
- Creative Nonfiction by Philip Gerard
- The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin
- Faculty Focus https://www.facultyfocus.com/
topic/articles/effective- teaching-strategies/ - Chronicle of Higher Ed https://www.chronicle.com/
- National Council of Teachers of English http://www2.ncte.org/
This comprehensive list makes my little Lesson of the Day- on creativity within parameters seem like nothing. We have a great chat, and if you are interested in how people learn, you will like this episode.
Listen here:
Teacher Man
Adrienne Lentz on Teaching Gen Eds in the Arts
