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Importance of reflective teaching
What methods of reflection in teaching
Importance of reflective teaching
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As a student at the University of Southern Mississippi, I have learned the importance of reflecting on what I have learned. As a teacher, I believe that all students are teachable and that my teaching has a direct impact on their learning. I know that I will have some successful lessons and some ineffective lessons. Therefore, it is essential that I use reflective teaching. Reflective teaching means that I am constantly collecting, recording, and analyzing my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. A good way of doing this is to create a teacher diary to write in regularly and/or create student surveys. So after student teaching for three weeks in a fifth grade classroom, I asked my students to complete a survey about my teaching skills. I told them that they did not have to write their names on the survey, so that they would be completely honest with their comments. All of the students seemed to agree that my lessons were fun, interesting, and taught in a way that they could understand them. Since I know that 95% of the students will never study for a test at home, I try to repeat the information several times in various ways. I …show more content…
It also exposes the areas in my teaching that need to be improved. After each day or lesson, it is essential to look back and think about what was effective and what was not effective during a lesson. I will use a daily diary or log to write my reflections. I will also ask my students to help me analyze my teaching and lessons through verbal conversations and written surveys. This will not only help me, but it will also get the students involved in making decisions about their learning. One of the best ways to evaluate my teaching is to look at the grades of students’ work and tests. If the majority of the class is failing, then it is time to talk to students, consult with coworkers, and take a different
The intention of this written essay is to demonstrate an understanding of my views on reflection and the issues surrounding reflective practice. It is based on nursing skills that I used during my practice placement, most importantly reflecting on the professional value of privacy and dignity.
The student assessment that I choose for my students to complete in my geometry class was to write in their personal journals. By writing in a personal journal and reflecting on the lesson they learned, I will be “Activating students as the owners of their learning.” (William, 2007) After each lesson, usually at the last 5 to 10 minutes of each class period, I had my students write in their personal journal of what they learned and what information they were not completely sure of. At the end of the class as my students leave, I will hold on to their journal and look through a few of them to see what they understood and what they still need help with in understanding. The students will have three questions they can answer on their journal entries, they are:
William Arthur Ward once said “Teaching is more than imparting knowledge, it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts, it is acquiring understanding.” I have always believed equal opportunities must be given to all students. As teachers we are not just educating our students with knowledge, but also instilling values in them and developing their character. Our minister of education had mentioned four key attributes of a Student-Centric, Values-Driven Education. It is important for us to understand our students so that we could come up with the best strategies to help them learn effectively. Among the four attributes, “Every Student, an Engaged Learner” and “Every Teacher, a Caring Educator” are key characteristics which led me to how I perceive myself as a beginning teacher. I want my students to be cared for and be an engaged learner who is involved in learning in school and as a lifelong learner in life. How am I going to reach this goal? As a beginning teacher, I see myself as a reflective teacher through communicating, learning, observing and understanding my students. In my essay, I will talk about what I mean as a reflective teacher, what are the two major challenges that I may face and its respective
The thesis of Stephen D. Brookfield’s book, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, is that teachers usually have specific assumptions about what effective teaching really means and what it entails. In this regard, teachers embark on imparting knowledge and new skills to their students based on what they assume to be the best approaches as appertains to effective teaching. Additionally, Brookfield (1995, p. 9) goes on to propose that these teachers never really pose to examine the nature of these assumptions, which essentially guide the way they intuitively instruct their students. Some of these assumptions might be well-meaning but they might not necessarily translate to effective teaching. This is especially the case where the students being taught are either specialized or prone to holding their own opinions regarding the effectiveness of their teacher, which then affect the way they respond to a specific teacher’s lessons.
Using Gibb’s reflective cycle is a really useful method of going through all the phases and experiences of an activity or experience one has been part of (Brookes.ac.uk, 2016).
This being my first year of teaching I feel there are so many things that I have learned, and have helped me too become a good teacher. Yet I have so much more to learn, I still believe that students have the ability to learn and as a teacher it is my job to find ways to help them to become the best person they can be. Through being a reflective teacher, using professionalism, respecting diversity and having collaboration and community connecting this can be accomplished. When I am having fun teaching the student will have learning that material, this will help them to be relaxed and engaged in that lesson. I feel it is important to connect what they are learning to things that they have experienced in the real-world.
Along these two weeks we have been prompt to make a recall to our own way of learning and why we became a teacher: Was it because coincidence, due to life circumstances, maybe because family tradition, was it a conscious decision or because someone influenced us? Whatever the answer is, we have to face reality and be conscious that being a teacher does not only means to teach a lesson and asses students learning. It requires playing the different roles a teacher must perform whenever is needed and required by our learners, identify our pupils needs and preferences, respecting their integrity and individuality but influencing and motivating them to improve themselves and become independent.
The intention of reflective practice is to help the teacher/learning coach evolve and develop the quality of their teaching by the continuation of personal development. Although most teachers have done this for years, reflective modelling or methods have formulized a structure which can be followed and adapted to best suit their methods. It is an ongoing process which takes feelings and emotions into consideration and so it will not always have a definitive answer/ending. Since most models of reflection require subjective and objective thinking then there is a willingness to be honest to engage constant self appraisal. It asks that the teacher become flexible analytical and socially aware when addressing their chosen model of reflection.
Also, in the beginning of the lesson I gave the students clear directions of what I expected of the students. I had the students repeat the expectations back to me which was a success since they understood and did what was expected. After the activity, the students were supposed to complete a word sort and then a writing prompt. During the writing and the sort, I did not give clear instructions which affected the students and how they completed the assessment. The next time I teach a lesson, I need to focus more on directions and giving detailed
I believe having positive dispositions are the key to a healthy and fulfilling classroom, and as a future teacher, I know the importance of evaluating my dispositions on a consistent basis. I have reflected upon my strengths and weaknesses as a future educator, and an area of strength for me is in reflection. Reflection will also be an important part of my professional teaching because it will allow me to assess my strengths and identify areas for improvement. Through the practice of self-reflection and evaluation in my studies, I have been able to evolve and grow into an educator. Clinical practice and classroom observations have also helped me develop and fine tune my self-reflection skills. My mentor teachers instilled in me the importance of reflection and how to use it as a tool to benefit not only my students, but also myself as a professional. They have helped me gain an insight into the world of teaching and how to improve as an educator. Another area of strength for me is in my critical thinking skills which I have developed through my studies at Dominican University. Critical thinking allows teachers to analyze and evaluate information in order to solve problems in their instruction. Teachers must be responsive and use questioning as a tool for critical thinking. I have learned about fostering critical thinking skills through problem-based learning and I have developed confidence in my own ability to lead the student towards their learning goals. I like to think of myself as a lifelong learner and I believe a teacher should always be a student so they can enrich their classroom and instructional skills. I have worked hard at Dominican University to become an effective teacher and I believe in the importance of...
For instance, I have learned that just simply reflecting on what I am seeing in the classroom is not enough that I have to comprehend and gain knowledge about the classroom in a more profound and meaningful way, such as relating observations to theories and psychology studies. Also I have learned to reflect more deeply on what is going on around me, not just looking at what is at the surface. I took notes during my observation. I tried to not only write what was happening, but also why it was happening and tried to convey any thoughts or feeling the students, teacher or myself had. Lastly, in my reflection, I improved my reflection skills by asking myself questions, such as, “what would I do,” “how would I do it,” and “how would I react?” Then, I would reflect back on what I had learned throughout the semester to see if I could find the most appropriate
During my own classroom observation it was noted that the level of questioning with the students needed to be improved upon. Reynolds and Muijs (1999) mention one of the main requirements to be an effective teacher is knowledge of the content being taught. Spending more time reviewing the content and preparing a list of questions prior to each lesson would greatly help develop the level of questioning with the
On teaching practices teachers might use several ways to reflect. The following might be the useful tips from colleagues.
This week had the biggest impact on my professional growth. During this week, I learned that meaningful reflection is " the practice or act of analyzing our actions, decisions, or products by focusing on our process of achieving them (York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere & Montie, 2006). There are many benefits of reflecting in the field of education. The most influential is the effect that reflection has on the learning that your students gain. If a teacher meaningfully reflects on their practices they will create lessons to better impact students. According to Carol Ann Tomlinson (2003), “Teacher reflection inevitably attends directly to students ' need for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge.” Each time a teacher reflects on their work, they empower their students to learn more. Students recognize their teacher’s reflection and mimic their behavior. I feel like learning about reflection impacted me most because it showed me that I should reflect on the good and the bad. Everything that I teach should be reflected on. The more that I reflect on my work, I will be closer to becoming an expert teacher. Reflection has the biggest impact on professionalism as a teacher. If I am willing to learn from my strengths and mistakes I will impact my students to strive to the best they
We need to continuously assess and evaluate our students so we can set appropriate goals for each student and individual instructions. Each child learns different, so as a teacher we need to have different styles of teaching for positive reinforcement.