Inside: Any education major understands the value of having a reflective teaching practice – I mean, they keep those adorable reflections journals to turn in for a grade. However, full-time teachers will tell you that it’s near impossible to find time for meaningful reflection. And it is… unless you find a rhythm that meshes with what you’ve already got going on! Check out my rhythm, and how I learned to increase the effectiveness of my teaching through a more reflective practice.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall
Recently my husband and I celebrated our anniversary by staying out of town in a lovely hotel. When getting ready for dinner, I noticed they had a two-sided lighted mirror. At that point, I made a decision which still haunts me… I flipped it over to the ultra magnified side.
If you ever want or need to feel old or like your skin is in horrible condition, flip the mirror! Oh, I use good quality facial products, but at that moment, I had to admit that there were definite flaws that could use some help.
We teach kids that mistakes show that we are trying – I even have a cutesy poster on the wall to advertise that! But, as adults and teachers, we act like flaws are either non-existent or entirely unacceptable.
Flaws exist, and they aren’t bad. Identifying them gives you a road map to improvement. Improving requires an honest look at imperfections, and while teachers are often asked to reflect on their pedagogy, they don’t have the time to make it meaningful.
If you student taught in college, the thought of a reflective teaching practice may cause journal entry flashbacks! My supervising professor had us thoughtfully journaling every day. An insightful practice, but highly impractical for an actual teacher. (Shout out to the super teachers who make this happen!)
You don’t need one more to-do, but you do need to think about whether or not your tried and true methods are effective. Flipping the mirror isn’t always lovely, but it helps reveal areas to work on, should lead to growth
Why You Absolutely Need a Reflective Teaching Practice
A reflective teaching practice is one where the teacher pauses, considers the details of their classroom practices and beliefs and how students are doing in relation. After this consideration, they set goals or seek ways to improve their pedagogy.
Without this practice, teachers are throwing their lessons out into space without thought or care about how effective they actually are.
Teachingenglish.org emphasizes the importance by saying, “Reflective teaching is therefore a means of professional development which begins in our classroom.” Another journal suggests that reflection is crucial because without it teachers are trapped in a cycle of creating without testing to see if their invention is effective.
Imagine not looking into a mirror for an entire week. The thought makes me cringe because I know how much of a hot mess I can be by the end of just one day. Spinach caught in between teeth, smeared eye make-up, and my signature move, hair flying in a crazy direction. Not reflecting on your teaching method is like not checking out your smeared lipstick in the mirror.
Instead of waiting for campus provided professional development, that likely doesn’t apply to you, a reflective teaching practice takes matters into your own hands and at the same time makes sure that your methods work.
A Pesky Question
Ready for it?
Who is doing the thinking in your classroom?
When I first heard this question at a literacy conference, my peacock feathers went straight up and I started internally listing how my workshop style and project based methods ensure that all students are doing the thinking. Deep down, however, I knew that there are too many times when I tell students what to see in a text, instead of just asking them to analyze it.
Answering this single question led me to implement small, easy-to-use, changes that have since improved my teaching practices. Reflection should lead to gradual changes.
As with any change, it’s never a good idea to overhaul, but rather implement on solution step at a time. So – here are time-friendly rhythms to incorporate into your teaching routine. PS: I’m providing many suggestions, consider it a menu and only order what you need.
Reflective Teaching Practice Overview:
- Intentional lesson planning
- Utilize formative assessments and student feedback.
- Reflection and notation
- Growth
Detailed View:
Step 1: Intentional Lesson Planning: While lesson planning, ask yourself these questions. Copy & paste them into your lesson planning template!
- Did I begin with the end in mind?
Start with objectives rather than activities. Choose texts and activities around the standards instead of the other way around. - Who is doing the thinking?
Are you creating the questions? Are you asking students to figure out a singular answer rather than encouraging divergent thinking?
Example:- Teacher is thinking: Providing a text with questions on the side, and having the students answer the question.
- Student is thinking: Read a text and write 3 questions and 3 comments on the side.
- How did I differentiate?
How did I intentionally plan for students who already know and students who don’t understand?
If it’s in your power, plan with a PLC. Also, be a contributing member both by asking questions and sharing resources.
Step 2: Utilize formative assessments and student feedback:
- Use exit tickets that directly assess the content you’re teaching.
- To take this a step further, and gauge how aware students are of their own learning, have them drop their exit tickets in a color coded bucket to represent their learning. Green (got it!), yellow (kind of got it), or red (I’m still unsure). Now you can see whether or not they know as much as they think they know. You may be surprised!
- Use short student surveys to find out if students:
- Understood or learned more about the content
- Enjoyed the method
- Have suggestions for improvement
- **Tech savvy teachers may enjoy using Kahoot or Google forms!**
Step 3: Reflection and Notation
Actually READ the exit tickets! Do it while you’re shoveling that salad into your mouth, but for the love – please don’t just have the students write them for no reason.
If they separate their tickets into green, yellow, red buckets, I like to put a quick marker dot to show where they think they are.Then I read the answers and divide them into my own categories of: Green, got it, Yellow, on their way, Red, not at all. This lets you compare/contrast their perception of what they think they know verses what they actually know. A formative assessment that can easily guide your instruction.
I use the following notation process with as many lessons as I can, and it fits my current rhythm. It also supports my mantra this year: Done is better than perfect!
- Getting Practical: However you annotate, keep it in a place that you will see next year.
- For the hard copy person: write on the outside of your manilla folder, or on a sticky note in your planner.
- For the digital person: Write in a different color/font size above the lesson plan or activity.
- Five minute notations: If you take five minutes to address these three areas, you will find areas to improve your practice!
- Areas the students struggled, especially misconceptions.
- What worked and best helped them understand the objective?
- What you would change for next time?
Who is the Fairest of Them All?
When I flipped that mirror and realized that my skin needed some extra TLC, I initially felt discouraged, but I ended up ordering a Charcoal Mask
In the same way, once you’ve taken a whopping five minutes to think about your lessons, do it again… and again… and again, until you establish a rhythm, and then try something new.
Look for those small imperfections – what is continually not working? Once you identify an area of growth, look around for resources that meet your need. I tend to go back my favorite resources to hunt for new ideas.
Also, this is a good time to find professional development to give you fresh ideas. If you show the initiative to ask, sometimes your principal or parent teacher association will fund your attendance to a workshop.
Lastly, reach out to other teachers either online or in your PLC, and ask, “What are you doing to teach ______? Is it working for you?”
Ultimately – Don’t fear flipping the mirror. I’m sure you’ve got a few flaws, but they will lead to growth. Your heart will rejoice with a refreshed perspective, and most importantly, your students will grow in response to your efforts.
And when everything else piles up and gets in the way of true reflection, remember that there’s always summer, and reflecting on the beach is not a bad way to spend an afternoon. 
If you’re looking for ways to grow as a teaching, the following books have facilitated my growth as an educator.