Standard 6. Reflective Practice | |
6.1 | Continually reflect on their practice to extend their knowledge |
6.2 | Continually reflect on their practice to improve their teaching |
6.3 | Continually reflect on their practice to refine their evolving philosophies of education |
6.4 | Stay abreast of developments in the profession and be able to think critically about various teaching practices |
6.5 | Continually strengthen their knowledge of subject matter through reading, studying, and conversing with colleagues |
6.6 | Strive to deepen their understanding of children’s learning and development through classroom-based action research |
6.7 | Be open to change and innovation and continually engage in the process of professional growth |
In order to continually grow as a teacher, reflecting is a critical and valuable aspect of the profession. When a teacher is completely honest and open towards the idea of criticism and changes within her practice of teaching, the teacher has the ability to adapt to new teaching strategies and styles. This allows a teacher to continuously improve hwe teaching rather than being stuck in a way of teaching which may not help all students succeed. Teachers should understand that they are not alone in the journey to education a child. An African proverb states that “it takes a whole village to raise a child” and this is true. By using outside resources such as books, the internet, and other colleagues a teacher can obtain knowledge on how to provide the most effective learning to her students.
I believe that reflecting on practice and being open to change is extremely important within the teaching career. If a teacher who has been teaching for dozens of years is able to reflect upon every lesson they teach and realize what went well and what did not go well, that educator can continue to gain knowledge him or herself as a learner. By understanding the importance of refining upon your own teaching practice, growth is surely to progress. I also believe that always having an underlying need, thirst, and want to continually be on the turn of development within the teaching field allows a teacher to provide the best education she can possible provide to her students.
By using the idea of John Dewey’s outlook upon reflective teaching, experts in the field of education Zeichner and Liston (1996) explain that there are three emotions an individual must be comfortable with in order to become a reflective teacher: open-mindedness (the ability to “listen to more than sides than one…and to recognize the possibility of error”), responsibility (being able to understand how to use “careful consideration of the consequences to which an action leads”), and whole-heartness (teachers must “understand their teaching and the way it impacts their students…[and]see situations from different perspectives”), (pg.10). I believe that in order to reflect positively and effectively a teacher must possess these traits in order to completely acknowledge, accept, and apply change from their reflection upon their process.
Standard 6.1 explains that teachers should be able to reflect on their practice to continue to learn as an educator. When I taught my first lesson during my pre-practicum in Brookline, I was extremely nervous. When it finally came time for me to teach my lesson I still felt uneasy but I knew I was prepared. After the lesson, I wrote down notes of what I would have done differently and what I felt went well which I eventually re-wrote into a self-assessment. Artifact 6.1 is a copy of my lesson plan I taught as well as self-assessment of my lesson. I believe that this self-assessment provided me with valuable reflecting skills I will take with me as I continue my teaching profession. I was able to write out how I felt the lesson went as well as develop new strategies to use for the next time I would teach.
Standard 6.2 explains that a teacher should use their reflections on teaching in order to enhance and change their teaching philosophies. I feel that I have met this standard in two different ways. During the fall of my junior year I was enrolled in Teaching Mathematics. In this class, we were asked to draw our ideal classroom on the first day of the class and on the last day of class. Artifact 6.2 includes pictures of these two classrooms as well as an excerpt in a journal I wrote for the class explaining how my view of how teaching in a classroom should look. Artifact 6.3 is another excerpt from the journal explaining how my idea of classroom discussion changed throughout the semester as well. I believe that through class discussions as well as journals and books read in the class I was able to critique my teaching philosophies before I even entered a classroom of my own.
Within a classroom, a teacher should be aware of how her students learn and use this information to adapt her teaching style to these students. During my practicum, I noticed that my students were very visual learners. Therefore whenever I taught a lesson I attempted to have my students move around the room as well as provided manipulatives for the students to use. Artifact 6.4 is a math lesson plan which I adjusted to be more visual for the students. The students were originally asked to draw shape posters using large triangles, small triangles, and squares on paper as well as on the white board. Instead, I made sure to supply students with shapes they were able to cut out and glue to the posters and I made large shapes for the students to recreate their shapes on the board at the conclusion of the lesson. I feel that my students were extremely engaged in this lesson due to the fact that I adjusted the lesson for the specific students within my classroom.
Being able to take suggestions and actually implement the suggesting into teaching is an important skill to obtain. During a lesson my Wheelock Supervisor observed, she suggested various changes I should made to enhance my lesson (write larger on the board, give students time warnings, speak slower). After implementing her suggestions into my lesson, I noticed how these suggestions improved my lesson due to the result of the students work and behavior. Artifact 6.5 is the lesson plan I used for this lesson as well as a write-up from my Wheelock Supervisor.
I believe that once I have my own classroom I would like to work upon standard 6.2. During my practicum, it was not evident that my supervising practitioner reflected upon her lessons or adjusted her curriculum for the teaching styles of the students within the classroom. This is something I would have liked to discuss with her but the opportunity never arose. Once I am a teacher I will reflect upon each lesson as well as monitor my students during lessons to verify that my teaching is effective. If these goals are not being accomplished, I will be able to look back within my journals in order to improve my teaching to benefit all students within my classroom. In order to do this I intend to use ideas from Your First Year of Teaching and Beyond by Ellen Kronowitz in ways to reflect such as videotaping or recording lessons or asking my students for their opinions.
Part of standard which I have not directly met yet explains how a teacher should stay on-top of new developments and changes within the teaching field. In order to reach this standard, I am planning to subscribe to various teaching magazines (Education Week and websites (National Council of Teachers, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Social Studies, National Science Teachers association, and National Association of Special Education Teachers) so I can always stay ahead of new enhancements within education while strengthen upon my own knowledge.
Works Cited
Kronowitz, E. (1996). Your First Year of Teaching and Beyond (2nd Edition). White Plains,
New York; Longman Publishers.
Zeichner, K. (1996). Reflective Teaching: An Introduction. Mahwah, NJ; L. Erlbaum Associates
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