Teaching Squares

It seems a strange thing to feel, but teaching can be a lonely endeavour. Sure, you can build a cameraderie with your students centred around the content of your classes, but it may not be so easy to share ideas of teaching with them.

Teaching Squares is a concept created by Anne Wessely of St. Louis Community College. A group of four people who are teaching in different disciplines agree to sit in on each other's classes as a non-participating observer. Each TS member visits one class per week and is visited once by another. After all visits have been completed, the group reconvene to discuss what they discovered about their own teaching.

Feedback Comments

• "It was a great experience for me. Nothing I would change. I'm actually recommending it to friends." Instructor, Hispanic and Italian Studies Department.
• "I have found Teaching Squares to be the most useful program for improving my teaching. This system of confidential observations by instructors from other departments provides a non-threatening environment for reviewing the intangible qualities of teaching. Every time I have participated in teaching squares, I have gained helpful insights." Instructor, Physics Department
• "Thanks again for setting this up. It was a great experience!" Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry.
• "Thanks so much for carrying this on. I think it is a very valuable program, and I'd love to participate in it again." Senior Instructor, Studies in Policy and Practice Program.
• "This was successful and valuable." Assistant Professor, Music Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education.

• "Teaching Squares is a wonderful way to learn from other teaching professionals and to receive feedback about your own techniques in a positive, non-threatening way. My two experiences have given me new tools for my classroom: from a physicist I learned the value of props; from a medical science professor I learned the value of taking a back seat and letting students work their way through a problem on their own. I really appreciated the feedback I received, and I added it to my teaching evaluations for my annual review. I encourage everyone to give Teaching Squares a try. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn from colleagues in unrelated fields."