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Personal Reflection/Anecdote

in much the same way as we did in the K–12 setting. Our university students sit in small groups, we
utilize shoulder partners, and we use cooperative learning strategies as often as possible. Discussion and
reflection act as cornerstones to our courses.
One surprise was using Kahoot (https://kahoot.com), a competitive digital quiz resource that
we both had used often in our younger classrooms. The university students loved it. Their energy
and engagement nearly matched that of their elementary counterparts as they competed for answers
to content questions amid taunts, laughter, and learning. As we were chatting about how surprising
these college students were, we realized that both of us had assumed that they would be “too cool for
school” and would not like to
participate. Thinking back to this
revelation, Nance said, “They
ended up enjoying the activities
that I presented in class. The
instructional strategies that
benefited my 5th graders are
still effective with the education
majors. I think that was a good
surprise, because that is how I
prefer to teach.” This has been a
benefit to university students in
multiple ways: (a) they have more
engaging courses, and (b) they
have more experience using the
instructional strategies, which we
hope gives them the confidence to
use the approaches in their own
classrooms. Brandon and Lucy on the Journey © by Linda Tracy, CT;
Pastel, Spring 2022 Art Gallery
The Ways We Continue to
Show We Care

A natural sense of camaraderie has always existed between us, so many pedagogically similar
practices and critiques of current scripted-curriculum practices cemented our friendship and overall
academic partnership. One day we were both sitting in Nance’s office describing “the good old times”
in our elementary classrooms, and, as we were reflecting on the current semester, we naturally found
that maybe these moments of connection and relationships hadn’t left entirely. Those moments of care,
whimsy, and love are still present. We understood the classroom highs and lows, and we had worked
in partnership with students and families over many years. We had both developed a strong ethic of
care and considered ourselves well connected to the needs of our students. This idea of conscious care
(Noddings, 2012) was embedded in our philosophy of teaching. We relied on our instincts to provide
support for what our intermediate students had needed—and what our college students need now.
Although the students we advise and instruct are now a decade older, the same student problems also
persist. What we didn’t anticipate occurring was that the same issues—family, bereavement, sickness,
and mental health—would follow us into our higher education work. We both initially thought that,
because we were working with young adults, these students would be able to cope in a healthy way
with the “normal” adult issues that occur. However, what we noticed, and continue to notice, is that
our students struggle to balance their responsibilities. Our elementary and middle school students had

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