Reflection in Education

Being an effective educator in the 21st century can be complex and challenging and should include self-evaluation. As an undergrad I remember having to complete a self-evaluation at the end of every lesson. These weren't very formal but I broke down a page into a three column chart using a method that I picked up from a theater professor: (1) What worked? (2) What didn't work? (3) What could be improved?

Like a good student I recorded my ideas as soon as I could. Quickly I learned that this is highly impractical for anyone in the busy profession known as teaching. But I did set aside time at the end of the day to do my homework in case my adviser checked! I continued this practice in my teaching career, keeping a notebook of improvements to make for the next school year. I know myself very well as a learner, and if I don't write things down, I forget about them very quickly!

In addition to writing about it, there are many other ways to assess yourself and reflect, and it can be eye-opening.

Your phone or iPad can be a powerful reflection tool. You could prop it up in your room or use one of the tripods that we have in the Media Center and record a lesson. This could give you an idea about the balance of student and teacher-centered activities, the level of engagement, your tone of voice, your rate of speech, how you varied your questions, who you called on and how. And (possibly the best part) there is no added pressure of a formal observation!

Survey tools, like Google Forms, are easy to distribute and collect responses. Surveying students with the same questions at the end of every marking period could allow you to see trends and growth. You could ask about classroom culture, policies, communication, comfort-level, level of rigor.

Reflection is just as important (if not more important) for students. For students to evaluate themselves as a learner can be just as eye-opening. Students can write a reflection piece after completing a project, or a group assignment using that same What worked? What didn't work? What could be improved? method that I mentioned above. You could video record students with their iPads while giving a presentation to the class that they need to reflect upon as a part of their grade. Or, you could design a reflective survey using Google Forms that could ask students to respond to how they used their time, what they found easy about the assignment and what they found challenging. Both the teacher and the student have the potential to learn from those responses!