Quit Taking Notes

After an epiphany over the summer, I began my in-person classes this year with an exercise (or an experiment) wherein I aimed to prove to my literature students and theology students that they were better off not taking notes during class. In the last six weeks of school, I have often required students to put their notes away during class and simply read along with me. I have also occasionally required them to put their books aside, as well, and to only listen while I read. Consequently, I have found my students far more invested in class and enjoying remarkable retention of what they read and hear. 

I want to explain to you what I am doing, why it works, why it is classical, and why measuring the diligence of students by note-taking is profoundly counterproductive.

On Monday, October 25th, at 8:00pm EST, I am offering Rethinking Notes, a free webinar. Recordings of this lecture will only be available for current Gibbs Classical students. Registration is now open for Spring 2022 classes including The Divine Comedy for Beginners and Modern Romance: The Cult of Courtly Love in Theory, Literature, and Film. Students registered for Spring 2022 classes will have access to this webinar recording.  

If you would like a link to this free Webinar, sign up for the Gibbs Classical mailing list.

Beatrice Playing Taboo

Last night, in a round of Taboo, Beatrice had to get Camilla to guess the word “bath,” and the clue she gave was, “It’s the resort town in England where everyone goes in Northanger Abbey.” I was impressed. However, five minutes later, she had to get Camilla to guess “sorcery” and this was how she opened her clues…

Beatrice: It’s something forbidden in the Bible.

Camilla: Uh… Killing… Uh…

Beatrice: (aggravated) THINK! THINK, CAMILLA!

Dinner Table Conversations

Camilla: When are we going to finally watch The Man Who Knew Too Much?

Gibbs: Soon. Maybe next week.

Camilla: Who is the man who knows too much?

Gibbs: Jimmy Stewart. There’s also a movie called The Man Who Knew Too Little.

Camilla: And who was that?

Gibbs: Bill Murray. If there was a movie called The Man Who Knew Exactly The Right Amount Given His Place In The World, who would play him?

Camilla: Fred Savage.

What Does It Mean To Wrestle With A Text?

“I have wrestled with great books, but the wrestling didn’t take place while I was reading. Wrestling with a text is rarely a discrete event, but an ambient one. We wrestle with a text during the year which transpires between a first and second read. Our very lives persuade us to view a book differently. We do not know we have been wrestling with a book until we return to it.”

-from What Does It Mean To Wrestle With A Text?, my latest for CiRCE