Reflective Essay: A Classroom Failure

Two days after inputting my final grades for the spring 2015 term, I headed to the outskirts of Portland, to attend the Pacific Northwest Great Teaching Seminar (2016). Carefully tucked inside my tote bag was the homework: bring a written summary of a classroom triumph and a classroom failure. The first day triumph workshop was energizing and fun, and we all enjoyed sharing our lessons. The next day, we gathered in one of the estate’s beautiful rooms and sat in a circle. The instructions were not to fix or solve each other’s problem, but to inquire with thoughtful questions, so as to create a clearer picture of what had transpired. It was an amazing and transformative experience, and I was so overwhelmed that I was unable to remember where the facilitators had found this method, but I was able to remember one name: Parker Palmer. …show more content…
The significance of the technique was that it was not a brilliant spot light focused with blinding accuracy on my failure, but rather, it generated a softer light reflected from a prism of authentic minds and souls that helped me examine solutions to the failure internally; the questions generated from that circle of trust were the impetus to listen to and learn from my inner teacher. As I have experienced the ethics class within this doctoral program, I realize that I am still a curious student with a strong inner teacher. Moreover, I desire to lead my adult students to surrender to their innate curiosity, in order to enhance their present lives with new knowledge, and provide them confidence to recognize and listen to their own inner