“have
teachers reflect on what they do that works. I also suggest this needs to be
shared in open, public spaces…I couple this message with the belief that the
biggest change comes in the role of the teacher.”
I don’t think we spend enough time looking at what works in our
classrooms. We tend to focus on what is wrong or what isn’t working. We tend to
look at the negatives and not the positives. This helps teachers feel depressed
and wonder if it is all worth it. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to
correct things that we could do better or change things that may not be working
but I think we should look at what is working first. Since looking at the
negatives is a habit that we are trained to do at an early age, we think it is
wrong or prideful or boastful to look at the positives.
I think I should look more at the positive things that are going
on in my life and in the classroom. If something is working well, then I should
continue to do it but I can’t do this if I’m not aware of what is going well.
The only way I can do this is to reflect on what I’m doing. I have to make sure
I’m aware of my actions and why I’m doing things.
If students are succeeding, I need to notice what activities are
enabling this success. I need to see what teaching style I’m using and how it
affects different learning styles.
I need to look at how different students work together and which
ones do well together. How are their personalities? How do their learning
styles mesh together?
I need to look at the specific lesson and how I introduce it.
What activities do I use to reinforce the lesson?
What assessments do I use to see if the students master the
skill? What kind of tests do students pass successfully?
At first, teachers may find this reflection difficult but with
practice, it gets easier. But this is necessary in order to teach more
effectively. If we look at teachers who are successful, I bet that we will find
that they make reflecting on their teaching a regular practice.
Do you reflect on your actions? How often? Please share.
2 comments:
Hello, completely agree about reflection. How are you practically doing it? Writing in special journal about lesson plan and then about results? Recording lesson on video and then watching it? Maybe you are logging journal about each student features or what?:)
I like reflecting in a blog post. This can be written or embedding an audio or video clip in the post. I have my students create their own blogs and write reflections in it. Then I have everyone comment on at least 3 blog posts from their classmates. I think the conversation is as important as the reflection.
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