Entrance Slip - Tact in teaching

"However, while interacting with their students and while presenting their lessons, teachers usually do not have the time or inclination to truly reflect on any of such questions."

- One of the theme from last week was that teachers are humans too, and there's only so much a teacher can do. I think it is totally understandable if a teacher, regardless of experience, becomes overwelmed to engage in those deeper thinking and reflective processes. That being said, however, it should still be every teacher's goal to push themselves further and actively think and reflect on the students as well as themselves.

"What makes true reflection in action difficult is that life in classrooms is contingent, dynamic, everchanging: every moment, every second is situation-specific. Moments of teaching are ongoing incidents that require instant actions."

- If the first quote describes or relates more to the personal/emotional state of the teacher as a person, then the this quote relates more to the techniqual or physical challenges, in terms of teaching in a classroom, that a teacher faces on a daily basis. I think in this case, every teacher will become more skilled at making those "in-a-flash" decisions, as Manen describes, with more experience in teaching.

"On the one hand, our actions are sedimented into habituations, routines, kinesthetic memories. We do things in response to the rituals of the situation in which we find ourselves. On the other hand, our actions are sensitive to the contingencies, novelties, and expectancies of our world."

- This phrase applies to much more than just teaching. I really love this comment because it applies to almost every profession in any circumstance. There's so much one can talk about with regard to what he mentions here, but the takehome point for me is that one must acknowledge the fact that our actions and responses are the result of a very complex network of forces, for the lack of a better word. Therefore, it is totally normal when we feel at times we don't know how to make the "right" decision, because perhaps there is never a "right" response. In the case of teaching, I guess it's OK if one doesn't know how to approach something, since so many other factors play a role and are interferring with one's thought process in various aspects.