Reflective Practices

Reflective Practice: "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."

How I did this:

I journaled about my week each week of practicum, to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses. It also helped me to recognize things I did that did not go well and that could be an immediate adjustment. For example, at the beginning of my practicum when I first started taking on classes I taught a high-achieving class and an inclusion class. At the end of my first week with both groups, I realized that I moved way too fast and was treating both classes like the students in them were the same when they were not. I was able to come in the next week and fix my pacing and it improved student performance as well as engagement. If I did not reflect on my teaching practice I would not have been able to catch this and I would have been doing a disservice to my students. I also had many conversations with my SP throughout each day to reflect on how things were going.