Abstract
CTL workers involved in the martial arts (I’m sure there are more of us than most would guess!) know the expression “sitting down on your punches.” Trainers will often have to remind fighters who employ a lot of footwork that, to assure their punches have any authority, they will need to plant long enough to feel their weight through their feet and legs as they pivot into their blows. I often have used a version of the expression with beginning teachers: “Sit down on your teaching.” I use the phrase in response to course observations where I have seen sophisticated exercises paraded, so to speak, through class sessions seemingly without any regard as to whether students have joined (or even noticed) the spectacle. To sit down on one’s teaching, the instructor needs to encourage, recognize, and assess their students’ engagement with classroom practices.
