One would think that after many many years of teaching, I would leave at the end of my work day (which is usually anywhere between 4pm and a night security telling me that I don't have to go home but I can't stay in my classroom) and not think about work. That is definitely not the case. If anything, I find myself replaying the events of the day and while most days gives me plenty to smile about some days when the insanely hilarious happens it provides me with tear producing laughter. On the flip side, there are those days that leave me asking myself what I could have done better. Not all of the days experiences are positive events. All my experiences whether good or bad provide me with new knowledge that I can utilize to be a better teacher, better person, better educator for students, for myself. It seems that this practice of mine has a name to it that is resonating and trending the field of education. That term is REFLECTION.
According to Jennifer L. Hindman and James H. Stronge,
" Examining your practice is one of the best ways to improve it.
Reflection is about critically examining oneself, and it is a facet of effective teachers".
So as I reflect on reflection, I can honestly say that it has benefited me throughout my career. It has allowed me to improve on those things that my reflections presented to me as needing improvement and repeating those things that worked well and it has allowed me to be a better teacher as well as a better student. In my opinion, teachers should utilize reflection for themselves and utilize it with their students because having students reflect on their own learning is a way to help them improve on it.
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