Reflection Is at the Heart of Practice

How will reflection help you to become a master teacher?

I believe reflection will help me become a better teacher. Teaching, observing, writing, reflecting, thinking, and integrating new insights into planning is a cycle. Every week for the past three years, I have included reflections about teaching into my lesson plans. In addition, throughout my career, I have conducted action research, written papers and studied trends while continuing my own education. Sometimes, I examine the small details of a lesson or unit and look for patterns or insights into my teaching. On other occasions, I examine a larger topic such as assessment, balanced literacy or changes in the profession and look for how that impacts my classroom practice. My experiences have made me realize that I will never be a master teacher, but I can always be a better teacher.

What gets in your way of reflecting?

At the present time, the biggest barrier to reflecting is the fact that my principal and other administrators read my reflections each week. Reflection is one of my favorite things to do when I begin my weekly lesson plans. Unfortunately, I have learned that I cannot examine failures or weaknesses. Each week I can only provide a success story, a question or a plan for the future. As a result, I feel as though I am a newspaper reporter who must continually self-edit my thoughts and the stories I pursue.

Another problem I often encounter is the fleeting nature of my reflections. I do not do enough reflection regarding my teaching over a whole year. While weekly reflections are valuable, I also need to look back and reflect over a longer period of time. Finally, my reflections should sometimes be based on quantitative rather than qualitative research.

What will you do to clear the barriers or get around them?

There are a number of ways I can overcome or get around the barriers to reflection. For instance, I have been writing deeper and more critical reflections, saving and printing them on my lesson plans, and then editing them for the lesson plans I email to my principal. Another method for improving my reflections is entering this master's degree program. Already my reflections have been influenced and improved by reading the dialogues of my colleagues in the Hudson Learning Community. I am also reading new articles, books and research on various topics in education. Finally, I look forward to conducting research over a longer period of time than just one week.