The Upcycled How of Becoming A Reflective Teacher Part 1

During our focused planning group session last Wednesday, I found myself rereading Jennifer York-Barr’s section on page 10 of Becoming A Reflective Teacher.  She offers some great tools for teachers to use as they reflect, but I found myself needing more!  Below you will find my upcycled version of her section. Happy reflecting.

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Jennifer York-Barr and her colleagues (2006) created the reflective practice spiral as a way to “embed reflective practices as a cultural norm in schools” (pg.  19).  they argue that reflective practice begins with individuals and spreads to larger communities of practice.  They describe a number of activities for the following: Individual reflection--Journaling, case studies, literature review, portfolio development, and video or audio review of one’s own teaching Reflection with a partner--Interactive journaling, cognitive coaching, considering different possibilities for instructional design, using an inquiry cycle to examine specific events, reading and discussing articles and case studies, and examining student work Reflection in a small group or team-- Action research, study groups, grade- or content-specific meetings to design and review instructional design and assessments, examining student work, examining student data, and reviewing case studies Schoolwide reflection--study groups focusing on specific content areas, instructional strategies, or assessment techniques

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Now, I realize that some of you may be thinking- Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!  Therefore, I have intentionally included the Guiding Documents for Teacher Reflection from The Literacy Room’s March archives to restart and revive those reflective practices!  Additional thought-  Are you up for the 30 Day digital journaling challenge?