Accomplished Teaching End of Course Reflection

Teacher Leadership Standard 4: Engage in analysis of teaching and collaborative practices

Over the course of this quarter I have learned much about the process of reflective practice as a teacher. I have seen how effective the process can be in collaborative sessions, and I have learned how to practice reflection individually and in progressively larger groups of people. What I missed was my own fault - I misread the date of our second face-to-face meeting in the University Place cohort, so I missed out on an opportunity to reflect with my colleagues about my videotaped lesson and about my students’ work. Through the process of developing and teaching the lesson, however, I learned much about my own practices and was able to apply techniques I learned through the reading of our text, Reflective Practice to Improve Schools: An Action Guide for Educators.

The initial reading assignments introduced me to a formalized reflection. The idea of reflection as a continuous practice appealed to me, partly because I have been reflecting in various forms throughout my career. The book’s authors created a Theory of Action for Reflective Practice, one that starts with a pause, continues with openness, and includes inquiry, thinking, learning, and action. The continuum ends with enhanced student learning (York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, and Montie, p. 9). I have practiced all of these at points, but the coalescing of these elements into one theory has allowed me to focus my reflection on that final goal, enhanced student learning. Only by taking time and being open to change can I begin asking questions, thinking about the answers, learning new material, and applying it to my practice.

This process helped as I approached the videotaped lesson [lesson plan]. My initial conversations with my colleague Alex at our first face-to-face class led me to think I had a promising grasp on my lesson. His questions, however, led me to stay focused on my objectives and not try to fit too much into my instruction. After the lesson, I remembered why watching yourself teach is awkward, but I had to keep an open mind about what I initially thought was a decent lesson. The biggest question I asked myself was whether my students had actually learned anything. Our discussion was centered on a few students; not everybody had an opportunity to contribute, and upon reflection, I was able to come up with some collaborative strategies, such as think-pair-share, that I have since applied to other classroom discussions. [Synthesizing Elements of Accomplished Teaching]

While I missed out on an opportunity to reflect with my colleagues, I would like to have more such chances to do so within the scope of this program. I found the interaction enlightening and valuable. More opportunities for reflection would further help me meet the course objective to practice the fundamentals of reflection.

References

York-Barr, J., Sommers, W. A., Ghere, G. S., and Montie, J. (2006). Reflective Practice to Improve Schools: An Action Guide for Educators. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.