The Importance of Reflection

Ok, ok. So I had high hopes of coming home each day after work with my head full of new insights into the teaching profession. I would sit in front of my Inspiron 6000 and let my newfound knowledge loose to the world; enriching the lives of all who seek wisdom about the field of mathematics education.

Clearly, that has not happened. Finding time for just about anything other than planning for the next day has been difficult as of late. (See previous blog entry.) But my resolve, at least as far as reflecting often on this first year of teaching, has recently returned.

I am fortunate to work in a school system with a strong professional development program. One of the perks of this program is having a veteran teacher, D, whose current and sole responsibility is to help other teachers by giving them guidance or at least ideas. I've been having classroom-management issues with my fourth block class. And, after expressing my frustrations to D, she volunteered to observe the class.

While I didn't gain much from this observation in the way of suggestions for classroom management, what I did gain was an understanding of the need to step back and view the class as a whole. At one point during the observation, D called me over and asked whether my students were always vigorously engaged in their tasks the way that they were at that moment. Up until then I was thinking about the 4 or 5 off-task remarks I'd just heard. But her comment forced me to step back and look at the class as a whole. What I saw truly amazed me.

My students, almost all of them, were thoroughly engaged in their tasks. Some of the boys in the front of the room had even begun to argue about the mathematics! I was taken aback, to say the least. That moment forced me to remind myself of the importance of reflecting on both the good and the bad in my classroom each day. I've felt discouraged too many times after school when I've only thought about all that went wrong during the day. Thankfully, D's comments during her observation and in her email afterward reminded me of why I love to teach.

Furthermore, D's observation reminded me of the importance of reflecting on my daily teaching. When I truly sit down and think about each day and each lesson, I gain insight that I can always use to improve my teaching. So here comes another resolution...

I resolve to use this online journal at least twice each week to reflect on topics pertaining to my own teaching and to education in general.