In this article, the author presents an approach to gaining awareness and deeper understanding of the practice of teaching through focusing on the lived classroom experience. The process is self-inquiry through engagement with Johns’ (2010) six dialogical movements, which results in gaining valuable insights into practice. The study highlighted some of the emotional aspects of the experiences of teaching and learning, and considered the importance of a teacher focusing on subjective response in order to gain awareness of self in practice. As a result of this narrative and guided reflection process, the author became more aware of the range of life experiences and abilities of the students, and he sought to arrange future sessions that were more encouraging and that attended to different needs more effectively.