Faculty Design Team

PETER ADAMS (English)
Community College of Baltimore County, Baltimore, MDThe main benefit for me from GSCC has been the way I have been forced to reflect on my teaching and to try new approaches.  This semester I am really trying to involve my students in more active learning.

I have always found developmental writing to be the most difficult course I teach, but also the most rewarding.  I think it is so rewarding because succeeding in developmental writing can make such a big difference in my students’ lives. 

ROSEMARY ARCA (English)
Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CAThe GSCC experience has reminded me of the importance of reflection both for students and for the classroom practitioner.  The reflection we do as part of our GSCC Tools and Routines informs  and shapes everything I now do in the classroom.

Students who employ metacognition can “name the parts” of the new processes they learn and thus can replicate them.  Teachers who reflect on classroom outcomes and the assessment of them begin to see the connections between activities and deep learning.

KRISTIN DUCKWORTH (Math)
Community College of Baltimore County, Baltimore, MDGSCC has encouraged me to be more reflective regarding the choices  I make for my classroom and the reasons I have for making these choices.

My belief that dealing with students’ affective issues is paramount in helping them succeed, has been confirmed.

J. ELIZABETH CLARK (English)
LaGuardia Community College, Queens, NYI have been very excited to be a part of the GSCC community to examine my practice more deeply.  The conversations, community, and discussions have been an important part of closely examining my practice of teaching developmental writing.

TERESA DEMONICO (English)
Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OHI always knew that student engagement and persistence were key to their success, and I always worked hard towards this.  However, GSCC raised the bar on both and made me reach for that bar in very strategic ways.

In last quarter’s class, I went after those students, almost relentlessly, who stopped coming to class, and got three of the five to come back — and they ended up passing the class. In that class, 100% of those students who stayed in class successfully passed the class.  It was a sobering reminder.

MICHAEL DUBSON (English)
Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MAThe work I have done for GSCC has forced me to really look at my work as a teacher.  I have had to think about, reflect upon and evaluate the events of a classroom.

I have seen how some things are anomalies, but how other things form much more consistent patterns.  I have had to evaluate my lessons–what I am thinking about, what I want lessons to do, what I want the students to gain from the assignment and how I will measure this.  This has caused me to re-think and reevaluate almost every aspect of my teaching, to regularly re-evaluate and revise my assignments and to always be looking for the creative way to present info to the students and to create a comfortable, enjoyable, yet academically/intellectually serious environment in the classroom.

JASON C. EVANS (English)
Prairie State College, Chicago, ILBesides a few new tricks–a new peer review process, using Jing for mini-lessons or responding to papers–the GSCC process has helped me think more carefully about why I do what I do, and has helped me when responding to others’ work as well.  I’m not sure that my overall teaching style is different, though I think in the long run it will be richer and more nuanced.

YASSER HASSEBO (Math)
LaGuardia Community College, Queens, NYGSCC helped me to organize and vary my teaching methodologies, and showed me the importance of varying the teaching style. I learned to take into account each and every small issue in the classroom. Currently, I do not use any random activity in the classroom.

LORI HIRST (English)
St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, MOParticipating in the GSCC project has caused me to reflect deeply on my teaching, and as result of not only that reflection but also exposure to the pedagogical practices of my colleagues I am assessing student learning more, continuing to ask questions about how best to address the realities of our students’ lives that make it difficult for them to succeed, and refining how I address important issues of content.

I also find it very valuable to be reminded what it is to be a student! I am learning new technologies and am glad to be reminded of the exhilaration and the occasional perplexity as one faces new ideas, ways to think, and modes of expressing and documenting ideas, as well as sharing them with others.  This is exponential professional development!

NANCY HOAGLAND (English)
Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria, VAThe GSCC project has helped me adopt a more systematic and informed approach to teaching. Also, I really enjoy having colleagues who carefully examine my teaching practices and offer informed feedback on ways to improve my class.

For example, in the first semester, I learned to provide video feedback on student writing and have incorporated that in all of my classes.

ERIC KRAUS (Math)
Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OHThe GSCC project has been invaluable for my own learning.  I have had the motivation, support, and purpose that has allowed me examine my teaching pedagogy.

The simple act of reflection and writing about what transpires within my classroom – and the classrooms of my GSCC colleagues – has resulted in a better understanding of which components of my pedagogical style are helping students and those components that may have no impact.  This self-analysis has served to inform my decision making for attempting to improve the next day’s classroom experience.

BRONTE MILLER (Math)
Patrick Henry Community College, Martinsville, VAThe work of GSCC validates the huge role that affective issues play in the success of developmental students.  As a result, I pay as much attention in my pedagogy to the non-academic life of my students as I do to the academic life.

KATRINA NICHOLS (Math)
Delta College, University Center, MIThe GSCC experience has positively affected how I design and teach lessons, assess student learning and communicate with students.

Self reflection and having others review and critique my classroom practice has been the most valuable professional development activity of my career.  I am working to grow my pedagogy to reflect what I have learned and to integrate more contextualization and higher order thinking in my algebra lessons.

ELIZABETH NICOLI-SUCO (Math)
Miami Dade College, Miami, FLBeing part of GSCC has made me more aware of what I am doing in the classroom.  I see myself reflecting quite a lot about the way I present the material.

Because of GSCC, I foster active engagement in the learning process; I have used technology intensely so that students are able to determine the schedule for their online learning and interact with classmates and me much as they do with their peers on social networking sites.

TRISHA O'CONNOR (English)
Delta College, University Center, MIMy commitment to this project has forced me to confront who I am as a teacher. It keeps me constantly questioning, consistently analyzing, forever improving.

So much of the literature speaks of the need for educators to be aware of their practice, to reflect on it as a means of improvement and growth. Although we know this, how many of us actually do it?

ROBIN OZZ (English)
Phoenix College, Phoenix, AZGSCC has reminded me of the importance of teaching strategically, addressing not only the cognitive goals in a targeted manner, but the affective needs of the students as well.

We owe it to our students to provide them with not only access to higher education, but success as well.  Projects such as GSCC work toward that goal.

KATHY PERINO (Math)
Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CAThe formal reflection required in GSCC has made me conscious of my classroom strategies in a very different way.  I find myself more attentive to the “wallflower” students and I am more aware of the level of understanding in ALL of my students.

I’ve been teaching developmental mathematics for 17 years at Foothill College, and I truly enjoy watching students move from fearful to confident with respect to mathematical thinking and college in general.  While they are more challenging in some ways, developmental math students are extra appreciative of my efforts in the classroom.

RICHARD PESCARINO (Math)
St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, MOMy approach is more student-centered [since participating in GSCC].  I focus more on connecting with the students and trying to motivate them, rather than just delivering a clear lesson.

I am also trying to improve my ability to contextualize the material, foster collaborative learning, engage the students using a variety of methods, and push my students to higher order thinking.  I am also learning to assess whether my students are getting what I’m trying to teach them in more concrete ways.

LAVACHE SCANLAN (Math)
Kapi'olani Community College, Honolulu, HIGSCC has shown me how assessment of learning outcomes can inform pedagogical changes. The reflection process in GSCC has been critical to my own learning and transformation.

The GSCC faculty and facilitators are a talented bunch of people and I appreciate every opportunity to learn from them.  I am grateful for the opportunity to work with some of the most talented faculty and staff in higher education and the most amazing students, who often have overcome tremendous obstacles to attend college. I hope to help students overcome the fear and anxiety they have about mathematics so that they can achieve their goals.

TERRY SHAMBLIN (English)
Monroe Community College, Rochester, NYGSCC has reinforced my belief that community and collaboration are the keys to professional growth.  This group of dedicated professionals has enriched me personally and professionally with their scholarship, encouragement, ideas, adaptability, and, most of all, their very cool teaching materials and methods.

Because of GSCC I’m more mindful of my lesson plans and less likely to “wing it.”  At the same time, I’ve learned to trust my instincts and will adapt as necessary.  I’ve deepened my use of reflection/meta-cognition, expanded my technology skills, and improved tremendously in the area of assessment.

KATE SMITH (Math)
Monroe Community College, Rochester, NYI have learned many things that have informed my practice, both from theory and from my GSCC colleagues.  The readings and academic discourse have been phenomenal as well as the opportunity to watch, listen and use colleagues innovations.

I am passionate about providing a way for students (many of whom have been marginalized) to realize their potential as learners.  It is a privilege and an honor to participate in a student’s transformation from a negative self perception/always failed, to a successful, “I can do this” belief.  I am most passionate about students learning how to learn mathematics, realizing and believing in their own intelligence and enjoying their journey to successful student.

REID SUNAHARA (English)
Kapi'olani Community College, Honolulu, HIAlthough I have a background in assessment, I’ve never really formally used it to improve my instruction [prior to GSCC]. Like nearly everyone on “my” campus, I’ve always thought of assessment as existing outside of the classroom.

CHRIS WATSON (Math)
Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MAReflection has always played a key role in my teaching and class activities.  GSCC has provided me with a framework in which to more closely analyze my work.  I have been able to extract several new techniques on specific subjects and learned new approaches from my peers within the grant.

MICHELLE ZOLLARS (English)
Patrick Henry Community College, Martinsville, VAGSCC has made me more deliberate in my pedagogy.  I am more thoughtful in my planning and decision making.  I am also more likely to try something new because of GSCC.

I look around at my community, the one in which I grew up, and I am saddened by the 20% unemployment rate and the attitude that many have toward education. I am passionate about changing that, and I do that through encouraging my students and making sure they know that education empowers them.