The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching

I am very excited to share the news that I'm working on a new book! I'm joining Annette Vee, associate professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, and Marc Watkins, assistant director of academic innovation at the University of Mississippi, in writing The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, coming in 2026 from W. W. Norton & Company.

Our goal is to equip instructors with practical strategies for teaching effectively in the age of generative AI. AI-aware teaching means understanding the affordances and limitations of AI, as well as the ways that students and instructors use AI, and then using that knowledge to design courses that meet learning objectives. While not every course needs to integrate AI, its influence on our educational environments means we must take AI into account in order to help students learn. The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching will provide advice and examples for instructors to help them navigate this landscape and decide what role, if any, AI should play in their courses.

You may know my co-author Marc Watkins from his appearance on the Intentional Teaching podcast (currently the second-most downloaded episode of the show!) or his popular newsletter on AI and education, Rhetorica. You may know my other co-author Annette Vee from her book Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming Is Changing Writing or her newsletter, Computation & Writing, or her other newsletter, AI & How We Teach Writing, which she writes for Norton. I am thrilled to be working with Annette and Marc on this book. Both bring a deep knowledge of pedagogy, expertise in generative AI, and a lively writing style to the project. I am already enjoying our writing collaboration.

I'm also honored to writing for Norton which, as they say, "publishes books that educate, inspire, and endure." The new book is partially inspired by The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching by Isis Artze-Vega, Flower Darby, Bryan Dewsbury, and Mays Imad. It's a book I consult regularly, full of useful insights and great advice. We plan for the new book to similarly practical, and I know the team at Norton will help us get there. It's a very smart team headed up by our editors Erica Wnek and Betsy Twitchell, and they're taking a hands-on approach to the work in a way that's very helpful.

You can read a little more about the book on the Norton website for the project. While you're there, you can also sign up for email updates about the book. I'll keep you posted here in my newsletter, too, of course!

Alternative Grading Institute

In other news, I'm part of a team putting on the Center for Grading Reform's inaugural Alternative Grading Institute on December 17 and 18, 2025. The institute is an intensive, hands-on, online experience where faculty learn core concepts of alternative grading and build a course-ready grading scheme.

• Day 1 will focus on aligning grading to your pedagogical values and context and on comparing standards-based, specifications, and collaborative grading.
• Day 2 will be a guided sprint in your chosen approach with structured feedback from facilitators and peers.

And what facilitators! The team consists of Emily Pitts Donahoe, Drew Lewis, Lindsay Masland, and my University of Virginia colleagues Michael Palmer and Adriana Streifer. It's an altgading all-star squad! We've been busy planning, and we're exited to share that the institute is taking applications through October 15, 2025. We're taking applications and not registrations because we're limiting capacity to better support individualized feedback. The participation fee will be $200 or pay what you can.

For more details on the Alternative Grading Institute, please see the institute's website. Thanks to the Center for Grading Reform for hosting this effort, and thanks to my amazing teammates for all the energy, insights, and expertise they're bringing to the work!

Thanks for reading!

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