Reflective Writing Beth Metcalf Teacher-in-Residence UNCW Watson School of Education

Reflection  A thought process occurring after a teaching situation  In a reflection you must show the assessors HOW you use what you learn from teaching experiences to inform and improve your practice in the future  Do not just describe what you have done

Reflective Thinking  Allows you to make decisions about how you would approach similar situations in the future. Do something the same way Differently Not at all  Overlaps with analysis (WHY?) but not identical.

Analysis Reflection  Asks WHY the elements or events are described as they are  Particular kind of analysis  Always suggests self-analysis  Retrospective consideration of one’s practice in terms of this assessment.

Make Sure  The subject of the analysis is available to the reader. For example if you are reflecting on Betty’s writing sample, provide Betty’s writing sample for the reader to review.  Focus of your writing is not on WHAT you have done but on WHY you would make changes or improvements.  Show how you use what you learn from the teaching situation/students to inform and improve your future practice.

You Need More When Reflecting  Do not just explain what happened.  Do not simply state a conclusion.  Do not simply state that you observed fulfillment of your goals (easy way out)

Interpretation  Assessors need to be aware of specific details about why you interpreted the results of the lesson the way that you did  You need to explain the interpretation you make  Share your sense of WHY it happened that way and then reflect  Your understanding of what should come next

When to Interpret  “When you are asked what student performance suggests about your teaching, you are being asked to analyze and interpret.” Use the evidence of student work to explain and illustrate your practice Use your practice to explain and provide a context for student work.

Ask yourself…  What did my students know before this teaching experience?  What did my students learn because of this teaching experience?  What did I know about my students and their knowledge before this teaching experience?  What did I learn about my students and my practice because of this teaching experience?  What would I do differently?

Critical Components  Honesty  Use concrete evidence to support your statements of what went well/not well and the explanation of why.  Looks to the future Includes ideas about how to improve what is already there Provides a rationale for the new ideas.

Refer Back to Goals or the Original Question When Formally Reflecting  Check alignment to overall learning goals.  Address all goals stated.  Limit goals to significant goals

List of Suggested Reflective Phrases  After observation….  The significance of this activity…  This comment tells me….  It is important for me to realize…  In this situation I should have…  This is significant because…  Because of this activity I was prompted to…  I acknowledge that…  This is an indication of…  I focused on….because…  To promote continued thinking I…  I realized that…  The intent of my question…  In the future…  In retrospect…  I have since concluded…  After this activity I found….to be significant because…