The Santa Barbara City College Student Success Grant Group 1999-2000, Social Science Division, was of great benefit to me. I am enriched in two general areas as a result of my participation. First, I have drawn closer to fellow faculty members and the college as a whole. Second, I have gained valuable perspective and specific effective techniques to utilize in the classroom. Though I have been an adjunct instructor at City College for many years, I have often felt isolated. I have not had adequate opportunity to share many of my concerns, specifically in terms of my effectiveness as an instructor and feelings about the instruction process. Dialoging with my colleagues was a relief and a revelation to me. I learned that I wasn't alone in my observations (for example, concerning decreased student attention span and its implications for lecturing). I also found that others were adopting stategies similar to what I have been trying (for example, more focused small group interaction). And I became acquainted with additional classroom posssibilities that others had evolved. All of which directly translates to increased student success. Overall, I take away from the group a significant number of specific changes in how I structure my classes and present material well. And I especially graduate with an appreciation of the superb intentions and great expertise of my colleagues, and of the honor of being included as one of them. In sum, I'm a more confident and able teacher for having participated. Thank you!