Assignment:
Guided Response: After reviewing the initial posts, substantively reply to at least three peers. Asking clarifying questions and sharing personal experiences are excellent methods of extending the discussion.
Randall Joseph Partee
To be a reflective practitioner is to in a constant state of knowledge-seeking, to be continually updating your "mental-software," and to do so by reflecting on what experiences one has done previously. Teachers specifically should be reflective as they are continually teaching new generations that are themselves reflective examples of society and culture that need to have guidance from relevant mentors. Teachers should push themselves to be in front of the curve of current events, topical pedagogy, and even pop culture so that they can connect with students and be ready for whatever new trends may arrive both inside and around the profession. Personally, as both a student and a first-year teacher, I believe my reflective practices are extremely continuous and ever-evolving; my schooling has influenced my teaching and vice versa, and the longer I am in the classroom, the more versed I am in what I do, the better my perception of future teacher undertakings and the more equipped I am at handling new initiatives and still embracing the things I have done in the past -especially those items that were most successful.
Being completely honest, I know I am a creature of habit, I fall into routines, and I can easily say that change is something that takes place for me very slowly (if ever), but I know within the classroom being able to adapt on the fly, being able to make kneejerk decisions is crucial to success for students; what works in one class period may very well look completely different in another -and that is okay. Using research to improve myself for my students is first, I can always be better. Just like reading a paper, even on my tenth pass, I find things for revision, I feel that my skills as an educator are the same, not only that, they should be continually revisited and updated for the betterment of all parties. I consider a teacher who has textbooks, those versions update over time because they become outdated - personal skills, while developed and successful, can too go out of date.
Two areas I want to research in my environment is the maintained ability of classroom management; I feel like I earn my students respect by building solid relationships with them, and by that they are more willing to take risk and stay "on task" more often than not, but again, there is always room for improvement. There is a bag of tricks that I believe every teacher develops, and I want to make sure mine is deep enough to last a full school year, and then some. The other area that I want to spend more time on is making sure that my lessons are both fundamentally aligned with standards for success, but also engaging -both by differentiation but also through design. When students look bored, I am not afraid of cutting a lesson short or switching up the how of what we are doing, and just like above, I want to develop that bag of tricks to be as best prepared for these types of curriculum responses, necessary reflective design implementations, and real-time research responses, as possible. My career is something that I do not take lightly; it is not about pay, it is about experience and reward. My goal is to imprint quality education on to my students and make sure that they leave my classroom excited about school, which means I have to be the best. I aim to be the best by always taking personal inventory, being personally reflective, and having a willingness to make changes.
Valerie Hammond
Part A
1. What does it mean to be a reflective practitioner?
2. Why should teachers be reflective?
3. How would you describe yourself in regard to being a reflective practitioner?
Part B:
1. How will you use research to improve your practice in order to facilitate student achievement?
2. What two areas of practice in your educational environment do you think need researching, and why?
Reference
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Boston, MA: Heath
Kirmizi, Ö., & Tosuencuoglu, I. (2019). Becoming Reflective Practitioners: A Case Study of Four Beginning Pre-Service EFL Teachers in Turkey. English Language Teaching, 12(4), 127-138.
Edited by Valerie Hammond on Oct 7 at 7:47pm
Ria Ramnarine
Why Educators Should Conduct Research
Part A:
1. What Does it Mean to Be a Reflective Practitioner?
2. Why should teachers be reflective?
3. How Would I Describe Myself in Regard to Being a Reflective Practitioner
Part B:
An Evaluation of This Question from Barth (as cited in the Phelps, 2008): "How much are you prepared to risk of what is familiar, comfortable, safe, and perhaps working well for you, in the name of better education for others?" (p. 122).
- How Will I Use Research to Improve My Practice in Order to Facilitate Student Achievement
- What Two areas of Practice in My Educational Environment I Think Need Researching and Why
Differentiation & The Implementation of Technology
References
Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to guided reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher Education, 29(2), 137-154.
Minott, M. (2009). The role of reflection in the differentiated instructional process.
College Quarterly, 12(1).