12/3/2019 How to become a reflective teacher - The complete guide for reflection in teaching - BookWidgets

BOOKWIDGETS TEACHER BLOG

How to become a reflec ve teacher - The

complete guide for reflec on in teaching
by Lucie Renard — Feb 21, 2019

“Self-reflec on is the school of wisdom.” – Baltasar Gracian

If you reflect on yourself, you’ll enter the gates of wisdom. Or the school gate…

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feedback and cri cism and reflect on your own teaching.

“Easier said than done”, I hear youAccept

say. SomeCookies
teachers are masters in self-reflec on,
but not everyone has that same gi . That’s why I want to give you some ps on how
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you can reflect on your teaching.

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In this blog post I listed 10 ways that encourage reflec ve teaching. On top of that, I
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added some teacher self-reflec on examples and reflec on templates you can use in
your classroom.

But first:

What is reflec ve teaching?

Reflec ve teaching means that you take a look at what you do in your classroom, and
think about why you do it. Then, think about whether this works for your students
and for yourself.

Why is reflec on important in teaching? Well, when reflec ng, you’re collec ng
informa on about what goes on in your classroom. When analysing and evalua ng
this new informa on, you can iden fy and explore your own prac ces and underlying
beliefs, which may lead to changes and improvements in your teaching.
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Reflec ve teaching is an example of professional

For more details, development,
see our Privacy Policy. star ng in your own
classroom.
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The process of reflec on comes with a cycle to follow:
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1. Teach

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12/3/2019 How to become a reflective teacher - The complete guide for reflection in teaching - BookWidgets

2. Self-assess the effect of your teaching on learning

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3. Consider new ways of teaching that can improve the quality of learning
4. Try these ideas in prac ce

And of course, repeat the process again: self-reflec on never stops, even if you’re an
old hand that has been on the job forever.

10 Ways to reflect on your teaching

To get a clear view about the state of your teaching, you’ll have to gather informa on
first. There are a few ways to do this, using the reflec on ac vi es below.

1. Use exit slips

An exit slip (a.k.a. exit cket) is a great way to quickly gauge student
understanding
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can start building the next layer.

Of course, an exit cket can also beAccept

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instead of the lesson content.Con nue browsing without cookies

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Ask your students 2 ques ons at the end of the lesson that concern your teaching.
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Here’s an example:

Click to open

Your students' answers will appear in your inbox, along with a nice overview in
BookWidgets (if you’re using this exit slip reflec on example).

If you want to use (or change) this exit slip example, make sure to make a copy of it in
your BookWidgets account (Which you can create for free).

2. Include reflec on in your lesson plan

When building your lessons, you have to create a lesson plan. It’s a
good idea to leave a blank space at the bo om of your lesson plan. This
place can be used to evaluate your own teaching and to reflect on it.

Check out this digital lesson template example with a teacher lesson reflec on area at
the bo om.
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You can use this digital lesson plan template as many mes you want. Here’s how it
works:

Fill out your lesson plan

Download your complete lesson plan (click on the download bu on in the upper
right corner).
Save your completed lesson plan on your computer.

When you’re done, you can just clear the template and start over again. Or, you can
just use this as an example. If you want to make some changes to the template, click
here and make a copy of the template.

3. Use a teacher reflec on survey

Another obvious op on to reflect on your teaching is giving your
students a survey that they can fill out anonymously.

I’ve created one for you here:

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If you want to use (or change) this survey example, make sure to make a copy of it in
your BookWidgets account (which you can create for free). Otherwise, your students'
results will fill up my inbox 😉 .

All the survey results are poured into some great charts and percentages so you get a
nice overview and know what areas of your teaching need some more work.

4. An extra pair of teacher’s eyes

Besides your students giving you some useful input, you can also use an
extra pair of teacher’s eyes. Ask a fellow teacher to follow your class for
an hour or a day.

This teacher is also a professional, and therefore knows what aspects of your teaching
need some a en on. They can give you some useful ps regarding your teaching and
you can return the favor. Of course, some posi ve feedback is always welcome and
the other teacher may learn from you as well by just looking at how you teach your
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5. Use a reflec ve journal
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Keep a notebook within reaching distance so you can write down
comments andCon
observa ons without
nue browsing any me during your lesson (or shortly
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a erwards).

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Notes can include highlights of lectures and assignments that worked well, errors that
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need to be adjusted, and stuff that simply failed and needs to be reworked or cut out
completely.

It’s very easy to look back and to keep these comments in mind for your next lesson.

6. Videotape your teaching

Some mes, it’s handy to just videotape the complete lesson. This way,
you can look back at your teaching yourself. Here, you not only reflect
on your teaching, you also reflect on your body language and classroom
management. The video recording might show you some things you
didn’t no ce when you were teaching.

This is a reflec on on teaching you can’t use all the me. You have to make sure your
students feel comfortable enough with a video camera in the room, even if it’s only
pointed at you.

7. One-minute reflec ons

If you’re not much of a writer, it’s really handy to just record your
reflec on on your smartphone. Every smartphone has a voice-recording
app. Make some me a er each lesson to quickly record what went
great and what went bad during your lesson. Just that. One minute, and
you’re done.

Make sure to label your recordings correctly, so you could s ll use them a erwards. If
you’re not going to use them, there’s no use of reflec ng on your teaching.

8. Reflec on prac ce checklist

Self-reflec on is a process. Below, I wrote down the process that’s most
used to reflect on a teacher’s teaching. Just follow the next steps in this
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This is a reflec on resource for teachers you can use any me. Check the steps if
finished so they will dissolve.
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9. Create a teacher moodboard

When you first start teaching, you have this ideal dream of being the
best teacher there is. Your students will adore you and you will inspire
them. You’ll be that cool teacher, with all the jokes that your students
find hilarious. LOL 🤣

Then, you start your first teaching job and you struggle to achieve that goal of
becoming the perfect teacher. You’re not alone. It’s just a part of the “becoming a
teacher” process. Some mes, you’ll have to take a 🥊 in the face.

Many teachers give up trying to become a be er teacher, but you won’t. To pursue
your dream, you can create a teacher moodboard at the start of your teaching career.
Back when you were s ll dreaming big. It will serve as a reminder to never give up.

A teacher moodboard may include people you look up to, inspiring quotes that give
you perseverance, words that define you and much more. In this modern me, we just
call We
thisuse anonymousBoard.
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Once in a while, you have to look back at this board so it helps you reflect on the
teacher you are now and the teacher you wanted to become in the first place. It’s
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never too late to change old habits and rusty lessons.
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10. Best and worst teacher analyses
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This is a reflec on exercise you can do in a group, with your fellow

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teacher colleagues. Here’s how it goes:

1. Think about your best teacher when you were a student.

2. List the top 5 personal quali es, skills or a tudes which made them so good.
3. Now, think of your worst teacher.
4. List the top 5 personal quali es, skills or a tudes which made them so bad.
5. Get your heads together. As a group, iden fy if any of these “themes” you wrote
down occur several mes.
6. Make a top 5 of the group.

Now you have a list with quali es, skills or a tudes you want to adopt or get out the
way as a teacher yourself.

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20 reflec on ques ons for teachers
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In the reflec on approaches above, you’ll already find some reflec on resources for
teachers. And of course, there’s more.
AcceptI listed some other important ques on prompts
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you can ask yourself when reflec ng on your teaching abili es. The reflec on
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ques ons are divided in different categories:

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Reflec on ques ons to ask with students

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Did this lesson help you understand other lessons be er? Why?
If we learn this lesson again, what can I do differently to help you learn more or
be er?
Why was this ac vity successful or not successful?
What did you like about this lesson?
What did you dislike about this lesson?

Reflec on ques on about assessment and grading

Do my assessments reflect student learning, or just task comple on and
memoriza on skills?
Do all students benefit from this learning method/ac vity? Who does and who
doesn’t? Why?
Why did I choose this method/ac vity to cover this topic?
How can I know my students are learning? Evidence?
What new strategies can I try later on that might benefit a student that I’m
struggling with?

Reflec on ques ons about classroom management

Do I give my student opportuni es to make their own choices?
Do I know my students outside of the classroom? Do I know something about
their personal lives?
Could pre-teaching my expecta ons or developing rules/procedures help solve
the problems I have in my classroom?
Is the rela onship that I have with my students helping/hindering their ability to
learn?
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learning?
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Reflec on ques ons for teachers' professional development
In what ways can I support my colleagues
Accept in their student’s learning?
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In what aspects can I s Con
ll improve my teaching?
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What’s stopping me from improving in these aspects?

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What opportuni es are there to improve myself as a teacher?

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Do my ac ons as a teacher show that I take pride in my work?

So, that’s a whole lot of new informa on! I hope this post about reflec on prac ce in
educa on helps you to be a be er teacher (though I’ve never doubted your
capabili es! 😊)

Now, go rock that classroom!

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Lucie Renard

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