I had a professor in college who returned our graded essays, walked up to the chalkboard, and wrote in huge letters: “SO WHAT?” She threw the piece of chalk down and said, “Ask yourself that every time you turn in a piece of writing.” It’s a lesson I never forgot.

Thus, the most important skill that a teacher can give a student in the 21st century is how to search intelligently on the web, how to find the information you are looking for quickly.

People constantly make the mistake of thinking that their words on the page should be the equivalent of dress-up clothes. Completely different from everyday. A little stiff, a little remote, proper, mannered, a world away from the T-shirt of ordinary talk.