Self-reflection is essential for everyone, students and teachers alike. Becoming the teacher you want to be is a process.
Set aside time for regular self-reflection.
Try to incorporate reflection into your day-to-day routine. Because teachers are often very busy it’s easy to get distracted trying to finish your to-do list as soon as possible, but when do you step back and look at what is truly important?
You can start by writing a journal. Examine what is working in your actual teaching strategy and what isn’t. Schedule a regular time to step back and look at the big picture.
It can be on Friday afternoons as gives you the ability to review the whole week for example. But you know yourself best, your best time to reflect may be at lunch once a week or before school when you are active and ready to start the day.
Here are some questions to induce reflection:
Lesson objectives:
- Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?
- Did all the students understand what was being taught?
- What problems did I have?
Materials
- Did the tasks keep the students engaged in the lesson?
- What material did we use to work the lesson, were there any resources missing?
Students
- Were students on task?
- With which part of the lesson did the students seem more/less engaged?
Teacher
- How effective was the overall lesson?
- How can I do it better next time?
- Did I meet all the objectives?
- How did I deal with any problems that came up during the lesson?
Have you self-reflected on your lessons this week? If so, what did you find out?