Come with Me

As teachers, we plan and plan and then plan some more. We get to where we really know our kids and we count on our "tried and true" strategies and we teach. But have you ever thought closely about the lesson you just taught or that you taught earlier in the day? And if you do, what do you think about? Do you get the feeling that the lesson really worked? Or that it was OK? Or that for some reason you were not as happy with it as you thought you would be?

Actually thinking about each lesson and asking questions about it is something that many teachers do automatically--especially experienced teachers who want to improve. Questions such as "What worked best in this lesson and why? What didn't work well in this lesson and why? And finally, What will I do the next time I teach this lesson? (The next time you teach this lesson might be later that same day or next year but you'll perhaps want to make notes on your lesson plans so you'll remember). You can also note what was best (or what didn't work as well) by giving direct examples of student behavior such as "students were consistently engaged", or "students did not interact with the material and were off task". Just be sure to tie this back to "What will I do next time" remedies. This process of reflection is what helps us get better. If we never ask those questions, we'll continue to teach the same lesson the same way and we really haven't analyzed whether there are some things that should be examined and perhaps changed.

Strategies like Reflection intrigue me because there have been studies that show it is important to the improvement process. When I taught special education, I did this after every lesson. I didn't know at the time that there was a name for it - I just did it. It was when I taught in Teacher Education programs that I found out the names for some of the things I did and that there were studies behind them to show they were effective strategies!! That is some of what I hope to do in this blog - identify and describe the most effective strategies I can find. Of course, one of the places I'll look is at studies! I'm hoping to share what I find with you - maybe give names to things you already do or help you to find other things you could try. I feel like this has been my life's work - finding what works and under what circumstances it works and with whom it works.l I hope you'll join me along the way.

Because I'm interested in finding out what the experts say, I hope to have some guests post to this blog - maybe an expert in reading, maybe a teacher who has found exciting ways to teach, or maybe an administrator who has found over time what great teachers do and is willing to share that with us. I'm ready to jump in - come with me.