Jessica Rapisarda

Starting is scary. No matter how often I write, the white chasm of a blank page still fills me with fear. The freshmen in my college composition classes often share that same dread. The divide between teacher and student is rarely as great as we think.

It is with that kind of universal experience in mind that I created this website. Students get bored. So do teachers. Teachers get excited. So do students. Yet we often seem pitted against one another, as though our needs and interests are at cross-purposes. What if, I wondered, I could find ways to get educators and students on the same team? Education is not, after all, a zero-sum game, in which teachers “win” only if students feel lost and miserable (or in which students “win” only if teachers feel utterly defeated).

I will use this space to share teaching techniques and lesson plans that take into consideration the educator’s need to convey meaning, provoke thought, and strengthen skills, as well as the student’s need to understand concepts, ask questions, and apply skills.

Head to my Blog to peruse teaching materials and to read my latest posts. If you would like evidence of my own attempts to brave the dreaded blank page, check out my Writing.