The Teaching Files

What To Do Now That School Is Out

School is out for many school districts and while everything is still fresh in your mind, it's a good time to do some reflection. What would you want to reflect on now - when you just get out of school and want/need some down time? Well, you can think about your year as a whole. Did you get to effectively teach everything that you needed to teach? If not, why? Did you spend too much time on other lessons because your students just needed more time? Did you not have the resources ready for a lesson so you didn't have everything you needed to teach it? Is there something you can think of now that might help for next year? Or do you just need to put that on a back burner for now? If so, put it somewhere you can find it later in the summer so you can work on it. 

 The same concept applies to individual lessons - were there lessons that were winners? If so, why? What did you do in those lessons that were your best lessons. Maybe you'll begin to see a pattern if you are looking at several lessons. Then ask yourself if you had lessons that were not up to par. If so, why? And importantly, what would you do to change those lessons. Can you identify strategies you used in effective lessons which weren't in these lessons (or for some reason didn't work as well)? Make notes so that when you are ready to think about changing those lessons, you'll remember exactly what needs to be changed and maybe even you'll think now about some strategies you can use! 

 Reflection is a very effective strategy that can help you teach more effectively. There have been many studies that show it improves instruction. Actually, studies show that reflecting can make the difference between an ok teacher and a master teacher. And it also helps teachers from getting burned out. So think now and promise yourself that next year you'll reflect after each lesson!

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