A Day of Reflection

As I walked from the kitchen toward the front room, I paused to admire the light and the reflections on the punchbowl.

Today was about reflecting. My final meeting this semester for my every three year evaluation happened at 12:45. The initial meeting was early in March. Since then two colleagues and the Dean of Instruction have visited my classroom to watch me teach and none of these three have ever visited my classroom before.

Even though only two of my classes needed the students to do evaluations, I requested that all four classes be allowed to take the survey and provide comments about their experience in the English composition classes that I teach.

The meeting was positive. The letters each of the three wrote about visiting my classes were thorough and very complimentary. I was relieved. I believe I'm a quality instructor. It is, though, a little unsettling to have visitors sitting in the classroom with me knowing that they are watching every move I make and evaluating every word I say.

My two colleagues, who are younger than I am and newer to teaching, had interesting comments about watching my students and the focus and attention that were evident in the room. My students know that if they fiddle with their phones, they'll be excused. My students are with me for 2-hours and 5-minutes once each week because we are a hybrid class with half the class time being online, so I can't afford to let them waste one moment. I enjoyed hearing what these colleagues said about my students and about me.

I'm glad the evaluation process is over and I'm glad I passed the test. Now the next three years begin with more teaching, living, and reflecting.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol