I think one of the most commonly missed steps in education, yet one of the most important, is self-reflection. Reflection is something we cannot afford to miss out on. History classes teach us this! Reflection on the part of the student, on the part of the teacher, even as a parent introspection is a crucial step to improving. I know that as a teacher, there are many ways in which I can improve. There are many lessons that need tweeking, timing that needs readjusted, and skills that need honed. Do I believe I can do all of this? Absolutely! But it will take time and reflection to improve.
Evaluations Every teacher uses their observations by administration as a tool for reflection (or at least, they should!). Some times I need a negative comment on my evaluations to light a fire where motivation should have been.
When I receive feedback like this, I know immediately that I need to give the area attention. It does, however, take time to look back and decide how I will make those changes. For example, when I struggled to grade within the 72 hour grading period, I wasn't sure how it was happening. I was focused on finishing all the same types of assignments at once and would then move on to another area. For example, I would grade all dropbox assignments and then move on to the discussions. This is not effective because eventually I would run out of time. With a large class, it was obvious that those assignment categories would simply never be empty. I have to make a new policy for myself. I didn't like to arrange the assignments by the submission date, but I learned that I had to be successful in this area.
In the other area that needed attention, I was finding that I was not recording all communication with students in the Communication Log- not a good idea. I had to go back and transfer all communication from my email at once, which is a waste of time. Most of the time now I create the email in my GAVS email account, save it as a draft, copy and paste it to TheSIS, and then send it from there so that it is available for others to see. I have also come up with some other ways to motivate students by setting up weekly reflections (ta da!!) and scheduling them in advance. Now, I am not only asking students to do what I am doing (reflect) but also collecting information that the students give about the course content- GENIUS! All of that information goes out via TheSIS. This is especially helpful if there are accommodations that require a weekly email; offering it to everyone in the course is just an extra plus!
I'm not always a slacker, though, I promise! Those exceptional evaluations are what I like to use to motivate me in a different way!! Take a look at some positive feedback that I use to reflect:
When I receive this type of rating, it is also important that I reflect so that I take note of what I am doing that is working so that I can can continue in the same manner! Who doesn't want exceptional ratings on their evaluations?!
ePortfolio While the ePortfolio is difficult to keep up with at times, it does provide an excellent way to reflect on my teaching. Parts of ePortfolio are specifically used for Best Practices and Differentiation. Let's take a look at my introspection into these areas. Professional growth is important because I don't know everything about my content area or about teaching and learning. I need growth, as well. When I fill out this section of my ePortfolio, I reflect on what I have done and am able to decide if what I have done is enough or if I need improvement. It is also a good way for me to decipher if I am leaning in one direction and possibly need to explore others. Notice that TOOL is not on this list as completed... I needed to update my ePortfolio to make myself really consider that a priority... and now look! I'm almost done!
Differentiation
I use this area of the ePortfolio to consider forms of differentiation used during the course and to decide if I need to improve. Take a look at things I have been doing:
Best Practices
Looking over my best practices section of my ePortfolio, I realize that either I need to improve my strategies for using best practices, or I need to update my ePortfolio. Either way, I have noted that it needs improvement. You can take a look using this link if you would like! No one is harder on myself than me; I am my biggest fan, but also my strongest critic. There are times when I have to pat myself on the back, but also times when I need to kick myself in the backside and pay attention to areas of neglect. I believe I have demonstrated both extremes above.
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