Has your thinking/attitude toward your classroom teaching changed as a result of your participation in Reflective Teaching Project? 

Yes- it has encouraged me to think about my teaching from a wider perspective and step out of the day-to-day grind of the classroom.

Yes!  My thinking/attitude toward classroom teaching has definitely changed due to my participation in this project.  Through the insights, experiences and suggestions of my colleagues, I have had the valuable opportunity to gain new perspectives and interpretations regarding classroom issues. I found it especially valuable to hear about the experiences we share as instructors and how to deal with/resolve those issues.  An important lesson I learned was getting beyond my teacher-centeredness and focusing more on my students’ feelings and feedback.  I came to the project thinking I was quite sensitive to students’ needs and perspectives, but I now realize I still need to work on this essential area.

I think I’m more “in the moment” as I teach—not constantly thinking about the next activity I want to do and “rushing” through material, but focusing on the present. I’m more able to see things from my students’ points of view and find that I’m more patient with them and more aware of their individual needs. I enjoyed participating. I learned a lot. I grew professionally. I advance in my humanity.

Yes. I step out of the teacher role and more into role as observer to consider materials, students’ backgrounds, instruction, classroom, time of class, etc., on influencing learner outcomes.

Yes, having the others in the group share their experiences got me thinking about why I do what I do and gave me ideas on how to improve.

After having listened to other teachers and after having been a focus teacher for a session, I would say that we are often our own worst critic. I’m feeling more confident about my teaching. On the other hand, I am now thinking more about clear goals for my lesson, more frequent clarification of student goals, and that some issues are beyond my control, ie, budget, scheduling…

Yes. Well, I’ve tried a lot of new things as a result, and I’ve considered problems from new points of view—materials, group potential, ways to motivate the class, ideas for feedback, field trips, etc.—many ideas!

I am more attentive to the needs of the students, even when unspoken.  I’m also more aware of the differences in preparation and abilities among them.  And I try to approach these with tolerance and offering personal expectations of them.

I certainly believe it has.  I was most impressed by the fact that the view I brought before the group was one I believed could not be changed.  After the process I was offered so many intelligent actions and I felt opened to a world of possibilities. If that one issue could be transferred, so could many others. 

I particularly liked the practice of looking at the social and personal contexts in which the issues presented themselves. This helped to give me some distance from which to view the issue and to not personalize everything.

Yes, I have gained useful insight and positive suggestions regarding my attitude to teaching and the classroom techniques that I use. I found that we teachers share common concerns and can offer each other useful commentary.

I’ve enjoyed the frankness.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know these colleagues better.

Getting to know teachers I wouldn’t otherwise see much.

Seeing the interaction of people I had strong impressions of, interacting in new ways. The format is supportive.

People can reveal ways in which they don’t fit the status quo or “prevailing culture” at our campus (not least of all) the chance to leave my students in someone else’s capable hands! While I do something good for myself

Basically I think the activity is going well. I trust the people in the group

I’m very impressed that teachers whom I know to be excellent are there—still looking for improvement

 When I’m in the classroom I had often felt that I was all alone and isolated from my fellow teachers. I now realize that sharing our problems with fellow teachers is extremely rewarding. I feel supported and nurtured by the fellowship with renewed enthusiasm for teaching.

Definitely—my focus is more student-centered. Before lesson planning an activity, I evaluate the objective to determine if student involvement is the primary focus.

Yes, teachers have been very supportive of each other. We have become patient listeners.

As a result of the reflective teaching project, I’ve felt encouraged with my teaching—that I ‘m generally on the right tract, and that things I once took as personal failures (students disappearing, lessons that don’t work well) happen to other teachers as well.  The group has made me feel less isolated in my classroom— the issues I deal with there are much the same as those my colleagues face.

I’ve found it very helpful to be able to sit down with other teachers and discuss issues we face in the classroom. The carefully laid-out format is conducive to focusing closely on the topics that are presented and often results in practical suggestions that I’ve been able to put into immediate practice with my classes.

Yes, it has.  Previously I thought of theory in terms of teaching in general and I thought of classroom teaching as a collection of techniques or a bag of tricks and I realized that I had put those two things in two, more or less, separate categories in my mind.  Being in this group has giving me a means to connect talking about teaching and reading about teaching with what actually goes on in the classroom. I got a lot out of some of the articles suggested at the beginning of the project, especially “Voices Inside School” by Carol R. Rodgers.  A quote from Dewey in that article “The problem of the pupils is found in the subject matter; the problem of the teachers is what the minds of pupils are doing with the subject matter.

This gave me a way of thinking about I was doing in reading about teaching, what was going on in my classroom in terms of what was going through the students’ minds and a way to connect the two.  This way of thinking about what students are doing mentally with the material also seems to be relevant to our latest hot topic of ‘learning outcomes.’

I’ve really slowed down to monitor my responses. I’m trying to incorporate the personalities of my group mates in my approach. One group member really understands and analyzes interpersonal communication, which is an area where I could certainly develop.  I try to channel her viewpoint now in teaching. I’ve learned to focus my energies on understanding and resolving an issue rather than allowing the issue and my feelings toward it to become the be-all-and-end all.

I’ve always thought that the teaching profession can evolve to becoming too authoritative and too stuck in methods and techniques that have worked.  Participation in the group has made me more conscious of students’ needs through asking them if they liked an exercise or if the class activities helped them to understand.  The group has also encouraged taking risks in trying new methods and new materials.

I am more focused on student learning and less on my teaching. I try to remember to ask my students at least once daily, “what did you learn?”  As I teach, I am more aware of students’ expressions. I am less likely to try to “get thru” the material and more likely to be “present” with my students. I see learning as a “journey” I go on with my students and less as a sedentary experience. Teaching is more exciting. I am learning to see (at least a little bit) through my students eyes.  I am beginning to see myself as a learner.  “What did I learn today about my students, about myself, about learning English?”

I am understanding collegiality in a profound way. Hearing the common experiences of my fellow teachers opens the possibility of building community together. I am less in a rush in the classroom. I enjoy the “journey” of learning more.  I am more patient with my students and with myself. I am becoming a better listener. I see the need my students have for more practice in pairs and groups. I am more comfortable with student silence as well as my silence. There is learning happening, when students are silent

Yes, I feel that I have become more conscious of what I do in the classroom.  Also, I realize that teaching is extremely complicated and that there are many factors which go into successful learning/teaching.

My classroom teaching has become more intuitive rather than analytical. Participation in this group has reminded me of the need to better analyze and think about solving particular classroom problems, i.e. the need to introduce more group work or how to deal with problem students or multi level classes in spite of time or class size constraints, plus assessment or dealing with individuals. More awareness was often the issue and devising (?) solutions was dominant. This has helped me to recognize that there may be problem to be solved or a helpful addition to be applied. To readjust and remind myself of problems or new notions I learned long ago, preparing to be an ESL teacher. Since many of the issues dealt with small student problem areas, this has affected how I better handle student problems more thoughtfully as well as relate to and help individuals within a group.

Participating in this group has given me a chance to revisit, share and reflect upon classroom teaching practices and problems that I have experienced throughout the years.  I don’t think my thinking about classroom teaching has changed, but the various sessions and issues brought up have brought to my awareness the complexities of teaching and learning, the ongoing feedback from students we must respond to and change our teaching to meet the student needs. I’ve gotten more ideas of possible classroom practices and approaches to problems.  I have been stimulated to reflect more on my teaching and not take for granted my students and ‘easy’ (tried and true) ways of conducting classes and dealing with students.  I feel these reflective teaching meetings have been a taster, a sampler just a brief touch of much deeper teaching and learning issues for teachers.  Hopefully my teaching will change, get better as I apply a conscious awareness and reflection to teaching and learning and conscientiously make needed changes and improvements.

I’ve relearned that teachers, my colleagues are a rich resource for ideas and solving problems re: teaching. We need more time for sharing. For me, learning how to teach, about the dance between teacher and student is an on-going process. I need to always be aware of stepping back, observing my teaching, myself, my students and their learning.  Participating in this project has helped to remind me of the importance of this process in order to be an effective teacher, and always learning fr4om my students—always questioning and evaluating (trying to do so objectively) problems—what goes well, what works and doesn’t work in the classroom, why, and then based on that, do something different or better.

I think I’ve been able to step back more and try to look at my teaching and students’ learning. E.g. they’re doing pair-work—they’re “engaged”—but are they learning? Asking this question and becoming aware of the looking beyond—“the students are busy and engaged” to critically ask are they learning? And why? What?  These issues were raised in the readings and discussions and have been useful and influential in my classroom teaching.

I have been paying closer attention to what is happening in the classroom while it is happening.  If an activity isn’t working, I try it a different way on the spot instead of telling myself I will do it differently “next time.”  My teaching style has loosened up in the sense that I’m responding more to what the students appear to be learning than to how much of the book I need to cover. I am using an introductory grammar book in my Level 3 class, but I have noticed that my students can’t pronounce a lot of the simple vocabulary, so I spend at least half of the lesson on speaking and listening activities that encourage them to recognize and use the new vocabulary.

Yes, I am much more aware of striving to stay in the present moment as I teach. Rather than setting my students to a task, and then stressing out as I figure out how to make sure the next task goes well, I relinquish some control, and try to stay engaged with the students.

I feel the process reaffirms what works or doesn’t work for me and why.  If a lesson bombs, I’m more apt to get feedback form another RTP participant.

I have a more complete perspective of what's going on. In the past, I used to focus on the tasks and how students were approaching them. Now I'm fascinated by the teacher-student and student-student dimensions. I'm also able to examine affective issues more productively.

My participation has reinforced my belief in a bottom-up model of staff development. Issues must be generated and brought to the group by teachers. It's best to start looking for answers with your experienced colleagues, rather than to seek advice from outsiders who may be dealing with a completely different set of variables and circumstances.

From the moment I contemplated signing up for the Reflective Teaching Project, I began to change. I feel that this has become a habit and feel it will remain with me for the rest of my career. However, I also knew that if the Project was going to work at the deep level I hoped it would, for myself, I would have to change profoundly. I knew that I would have to take many risks that I have always talked myself out of.

I was the “focus teacher” yesterday and I feel elated. The results have been immediate--- the way I taught for my two afternoon classes, the way I approached student papers yesterday evening, the way I answered a teary-eyed pleading student this morning, were all different. The students probably didn’t notice, but I certainly did. I am very hopeful that these small shifts will widen and engender further shifts. I am really excited. I feel very supported in going even further with excellence than I already have. I have needed this encouragement for a long time.

Yes, it’s helped me to slow down and think about learning, focus more on my students and appreciate feedback from students and teachers. It’s helped me to look for the nuances in the teaching environment and appreciate the challenge of learning. It’s helped me be more collegial and more open to sharing my struggles as a teacher.