Issue 1, Fall 1990

William A. McEachern, Editor

Have Something Good to Say

To be a successful teacher, you do not need to do extraordinary things. Just do ordinary things very well. The formula is simple: Have something good to say, then say it well.

This is obvious, but success is a study of the obvious. To have something good to say, you must build up an account from which to draw. You become a powerful lecturer when what you say is just the tip of the iceberg of what you know. Gather information -- from journals, textbooks, newspapers, magazines, and newscasts -- ranging from the price of Big Macs in Moscow to the cost of the savings and loan bailout. Your problem is how to digest this information and how to incorporate it into your class presentations.

Economics may be centuries old, but it is new every day. Each new day offers economic evidence that can be used to support or revise evolving economic theory. Bring together the old and the new to have something good to say. You draw lecture material from your reading, from research, from conversations with colleagues, from reflections in the check-out line, from wherever. If you haven't done so already, you should start an "evidence file." When you come across material that could be used to enrich your lectures, place it in your evidence file. When preparing your course, sort this material by topic to be worked into your lectures where appropriate. Some material for your evidence file is provided at the end of this newsletter.

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