Collaborators for “Reading Across the Curriculum”

In a review of How We Read Now published in Recursive, I argued that Naomi S. Baron “provides insight into current reading practices that are rooted in research while delivering practical ideas we can incorporate into our classrooms. It is an idea book for those of us who are not reading specialists to improve our pedagogical practices.” Unfortunately, given space limitations, I was unable to flesh out those specific practices. However, I built on the Recursive review in “Reading Across the Curriculum: Small Teaching Practices Inspired by How We Read Now“ (pp. 16-19) which was published in the the Spring 2022 issue of Practitioner to Practitioner.

A Collaborative Effort

While I am very proud of “my” essays and the assignments “I” developed, these publications are the result of “we”–not individual–efforts. The small teaching practices I share in “Reading Across the Curriculum” were designed for an online course in early American history. As I was developing that course, my work was improved by the thoughtful insights provided by Jason Kane and Rena Yuzon.

The assignments described in “Reading Across the Curriculum” were initially shared with colleagues Josselyn Moore, Jessica Worden-Jones, Kim Lark, and Helen Ditouras who form an informal pod at Schoolcraft College that routinely discusses pedagogy and shares insights and practices with each other. Their influence makes my work better.

After I submitted a book review that didn’t fit their vision, Rebecca Weaver, my editor at Recursive, was clear that a bad fit for Recursive did not mean that my writing did not have merit. She helped me draft a book review that better fit the interests of Recursive readers while simultaneously helping me draft what would become “Reading Across the Curriculum.” Her efforts turned my unpublishable review into two publications.

Deb Daiek, my editor at Practitioner to Practitioner is someone whom I have know for years. Her guidance began more than a decade ago when she planted the seeds that would grow into my position that all faculty should incorporate reading practices into our courses.