Tip: Reflection > The Cycle

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When the academic year has come to an end, it’s the perfect time to start reflecting on your teaching practice. Reflect on specific lessons, concepts, units, or the school year as a whole. The reflection process refers to the act of thinking deeply and critically about one's thoughts, actions, experiences, and beliefs. It involves introspection and self-evaluation to gain insight, and understanding, and learn from past experiences. 

  1. Teach - Recall a lesson, concept, or event. Try to bring the details and emotions associated with the experience to mind.
  2. What? - Describe the experience objectively. Say what the data is factually. Write down or mentally summarize the facts and details of the experience. Be as specific as possible, focusing on the who, what, when, where, and how of the situation. If you gathered data from surveys, exit tickets, assessment scores, or formal/informal observations, bring that into the spotlight. This step helps you establish a clear understanding of the events. 
  3. So What? - What does that factual data mean? Why does that matter? Why is this important? Explore your thoughts and emotions around the event, and then analyze your thoughts and beliefs. 
  4. Now What? - Why does this data matter? Identify strengths and weaknesses (glows & grows), consider alternative perspectives, and extract lessons and insights. Identify the key lessons, insights, or realizations you have gained from the reflection. What did you learn about yourself, others, or the situation? How can you apply these lessons to future experiences? Extracting valuable insights allows you to grow and make positive changes.
  5. Practice - Do more research, discover new strategies to try, and plan for the next steps. Set goals for improvement and take action. Reflection is most impactful when it leads to action. Develop an action plan based on your goals and commit to implementing the necessary changes. Regularly revisit your reflections and assess your progress.


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