End of Term Is a Time for Reflection
The end of term is upon us again and though my students still have to write their final exams (thus the term is not officially over) it is a good time to stop and reflect on the work that was done in the past four months. It is a time to think about what has worked, what hasn't, and to determine what new strategies you can implement next term in order to maintain that dynamic learning environment.
For students it may be a time of realization as well. Exams are coming, final papers are due, and deadlines are looming. Based on the number of searches for the string "writing an essay the night before it is due" which is directing readers to my blog, there is probably a high level of anxiety or regret in the choices that some students have made this term.
The last class of the year is often when I can determine how effective I have been as instructor, guide, and collaborator. If the questions I pose are answered without that look of confusion this is a good sign. If insightful questions are posed by the students themselves because they have been thinking of the bigger concepts or ideas, this is an even better sign.
Then there are those moments when you told, open and honestly, that what has happened in the classroom space and what you have facilitated beyond that architectural environment has made a real difference in a student's life. These are moments of intense gratitude for the opportunity I have been given.
There is an overt tendency to try to quantify pedagogy. To reduce what we do in the classroom, the teaching/learning strategies we use in-class or online, to one representative number. It could be a class average. It could be attrition rates. Every institutions' quantifier is different. Yet, in those moments when you are told you have made a true difference no simple quantifier can express that. I like to think of those moments as fractal moments. They extend beyond an institution, a degree or a job prospect, for there is no way of absolutely knowing how one course or even one lecture will affect or influence a student.
This is the beauty and the innate responsibility of teaching - why it is so important to maintain ethical pedagogical practices. You will never know the true outcome, but if you are lucky you will see your former students off to grad school, or starting their own theatre production company, or hearing their voice on the radio giving you the 5pm news. The maintenance of an open and ethical space for learning requires this end of term reflection and we should all take a moment to be proud of the difference we make.
Happy end of term everyone!
For students it may be a time of realization as well. Exams are coming, final papers are due, and deadlines are looming. Based on the number of searches for the string "writing an essay the night before it is due" which is directing readers to my blog, there is probably a high level of anxiety or regret in the choices that some students have made this term.
The last class of the year is often when I can determine how effective I have been as instructor, guide, and collaborator. If the questions I pose are answered without that look of confusion this is a good sign. If insightful questions are posed by the students themselves because they have been thinking of the bigger concepts or ideas, this is an even better sign.
Then there are those moments when you told, open and honestly, that what has happened in the classroom space and what you have facilitated beyond that architectural environment has made a real difference in a student's life. These are moments of intense gratitude for the opportunity I have been given.
There is an overt tendency to try to quantify pedagogy. To reduce what we do in the classroom, the teaching/learning strategies we use in-class or online, to one representative number. It could be a class average. It could be attrition rates. Every institutions' quantifier is different. Yet, in those moments when you are told you have made a true difference no simple quantifier can express that. I like to think of those moments as fractal moments. They extend beyond an institution, a degree or a job prospect, for there is no way of absolutely knowing how one course or even one lecture will affect or influence a student.
This is the beauty and the innate responsibility of teaching - why it is so important to maintain ethical pedagogical practices. You will never know the true outcome, but if you are lucky you will see your former students off to grad school, or starting their own theatre production company, or hearing their voice on the radio giving you the 5pm news. The maintenance of an open and ethical space for learning requires this end of term reflection and we should all take a moment to be proud of the difference we make.
Happy end of term everyone!
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