Learning Outcome #7:
Continue to develop professionally as ethical and reflective practitioners who are committed to ongoing scholarly inquiry
Reflective practice is an essential component of teaching. John Dewey, philosopher and educator, was the first to introduce the idea of professional reflection. As an educator, I must constantly be assessing myself and reflecting on what I am doing in the classroom. When I reflect on the day’s lessons, I am able to better critique what went well and what needs to be adapted or changed in future lessons. Reflection allows me to become a better teacher by considering how I could approach the same topics in different ways in the future to better reach my students.
As a student teacher, reflection was a mandatory part of each lesson. Each day, I chose a few of the following questions to guide my reflections.
As a teacher who is committed to scholarly inquiry and professional development, I am a member of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and was a member of the SUNY Cortland NCTE Student Affiliate while pursuing my graduate degree. I subscribe to the The Council Chronicle, which allows me to stay informed on current issues and trends in education and in English language arts. In 2009, I attended the Discussions About the Teaching of English (D.A.T.E.) Conference, hosted by SUNY Cortland. As a student teacher, I also attended two staff development days; both of these days focused on the new Common Core State Standards, which I have become familiar with.
Reflecting and being committed to ongoing professional development allows me to improve upon many areas of my teaching, including my teaching strategies, management techniques, and objectives. In order to strive to be the best teacher I can be, I will continue to be a reflective practitioner.
As a student teacher, reflection was a mandatory part of each lesson. Each day, I chose a few of the following questions to guide my reflections.
- Did the students learn anything? If so, why? If not, why not?
- Did anything significant occur? If so, what and why?
- Was the objective too narrow or broad for the grade level? If so, how could it be improved?
- Was the strategy used effective? What other strategies might be more effective?
- How well did the lesson elicit the student’s prior knowledge, relevant experiences, and personal interests? How might these important connections be improved?
- How flexible was I in modifying the lesson to accommodate students’ learning needs?
- How well was classroom behavior managed? What proactive techniques might have been more successful? What technique worked best and why? What technique didn’t work and why?
- What connections were made between the instructional strategies and the learning effectiveness? In the future, how can I mend this gap to ensure all students learn a concept in-depth?
- Was the lesson coherent? How might the opening, the actual instruction, the learning application, or the closure be improved to give students a more coherent learning experience?
- How were students inspired to learn the lesson objective? Were they offered intellectual and personal rationales for learning? How might I improve this in the future?
- Did students have adequate opportunity to direct their own learning? If so, how? If not, what could be done?
As a teacher who is committed to scholarly inquiry and professional development, I am a member of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and was a member of the SUNY Cortland NCTE Student Affiliate while pursuing my graduate degree. I subscribe to the The Council Chronicle, which allows me to stay informed on current issues and trends in education and in English language arts. In 2009, I attended the Discussions About the Teaching of English (D.A.T.E.) Conference, hosted by SUNY Cortland. As a student teacher, I also attended two staff development days; both of these days focused on the new Common Core State Standards, which I have become familiar with.
Reflecting and being committed to ongoing professional development allows me to improve upon many areas of my teaching, including my teaching strategies, management techniques, and objectives. In order to strive to be the best teacher I can be, I will continue to be a reflective practitioner.