Math Year 2- Post Five

Welcome Everyone!


                This week, one of the things that came to my attention was the importance of daily reflection. Reflection is an important task that is essential to improving yourself as an educator, however, reflection is not only beneficial to the teacher, but also to students. Both parties must be actively engaging in self-reflection on a daily basis, ideally. 
                This week is not the first time I have been introduced to the importance and benefits of reflection, however, what did stand out to me in particular, was the added benefit of discussing/ sharing the conclusions of your reflection activity with others. In the past I often times made the mistake of thinking that self-reflection was, from start to finish and beyond, a completely autonomous task. What would happen is that you engage in self-reflection, figure out what you did right and what you did wrong (or not necessarily wrong, but could have done better), and afterwards make the necessary adjustment to improve yourself for next time. The idea of having to share your conclusions with others never really occurred to me, but in education I think this is exactly what needs to happen. I think it is especially important that students feel a level of comfort with their teachers that they are ready and willing to share anything and everything with them. 
                If students are taught how to get in the habit of self-reflection and sharing, then the life of both the student and teacher can become exponentially better. From the perspective of the student, if you can get in the habit of self-reflection you then put yourself in a situation where you can eventually grow up to be an adult that is an independent learner, no longer requiring the teacher to always be there giving you feedback and instruction, since you will have the ability to assess the situation on your own (or in collaboration with peers). I remember when I was in high school sometimes we would be given the task of handing our work to those sitting next to us for peer-evaluation prior to handing in our work to the teacher, and this activity would not have been as successful if it had not been for us having had experience reflecting and discussing. From the perspective of the teacher it can help in many ways, the most obvious of which (to me, anyway) is in planning for future lessons. If students are actively engaged in reflection, then they will be able to report back to the teacher what part of the lesson they understood well, and what parts of the lesson they still have trouble with. In this case, the teacher will have a considerable amount of pressure lifted off their shoulders when it comes to gauging where their students stand, in terms of comprehension, because the students themselves are communicating with you what level they are at. This helps the teacher plan lessons that incorporate modifications, accommodations, differentiated instruction, as well as universal design that will be advantageous to the whole class, and all these adjustments might not have been made to the same degree of excellence had it not been for students sharing information with their teachers.
                Another important benefit that can come with discussion with one’s students is finding out what they are interested in. Once a teacher knows what their students are interested in, then they can try to make class more interesting and engaging to students. This is especially pertinent when it comes to trying to help students discover potential careers options. If you know there are student who enjoys art, and geometry then maybe introducing them to a career like architecture might have them on the edge of their seats wanting to learn more.