Reflective Practice

Proficiency Indicator (from DESE):

"Regularly reflects on the effectiveness of lessons, units, and interactions with students, both individually and with colleagues, and uses insights gained to improve practice and student learning."

Reflecting on practice is something that is important for everyone not just teachers. Whether it's for a hobby, a skill, or a job, being able to think about how something went and what changes you would make for the future is an essential skill for improving over time. In the classroom, teachers need to be able to get a sense of how a lesson went and fix things that went poorly or suboptimally. 

For me, this was a non-stop process. Because I gave the same lesson up to 4 times in a single day, I got many chances to think about what went well or didn't and change things for the next period. Then, I would continue to iterate on this lesson, and by the time last period came around, the lesson was taught better than the previous 3 classes. 

However, reflecting doesn't end there. After each period, I would discuss with my mentor teacher about how lessons or individual interactions went. Especially when my mentor teacher was not in the room, the students would try to test me and see how I would react. I used each of these moments as learning opportunities. Whether I thought I handled something well or poorly, I learned how the students reacted to me which informs if something I did was good or could be improved.

I am by no means a reflecting expert, but as a very self conscious person, I am constantly thinking about how the students are perceiving my teaching and how I can do better for the future. I also found that writing down notes or journals helped with the reflective process.

The artifact I chose to demonstrate my proficiency in reflective practice is my weekly journal. For the over 2 months of my practicum experience, I wrote weekly journals candidly talking about how each day or week went for me. It is clear from the journal the growth I have undergone from the beginning of the practicum and I will continue this reflection and growth as I move into my role as the primary teacher of my own classroom.