2.h. The candidate for certification understands reflective practice.

What: Lander observation, pictures of hands-on science experiments and

reflection, reflection from professional development workshop
Who: Teacher Candidate
When: 2014-2015 School Year
Significant Details: I chose these artifacts because they show an
understanding and implementation of reflective practice in my classroom.

Analysis: Reflective practice is an important strategy in every effective

classroom. It is a cyclical process of self-evaluation, in which the teacher
looks at what she is doing and why she is doing it. Several questions that
are helpful in this process are: 1) What am I teaching and how am I teaching
it? 2) Why am I teaching it? 3) How effective is it? 4) Do I need to change
something? 5) How can I do it better? 6) Where can I find resources to
help? All of these questions are helpful when evaluating ones teaching and
methodology.
Several tools that can aid in reflective practice are: peer observation, teacher
diary, videoing lessons, and student feedback. Peer observation may be
very helpful and enlightening. The teacher engaging in reflective practice
may observe another teacher to see what is working for her. Ideas and
strategies may be observed that the teacher may want to try to implement.
Another way that peer observation is useful is to invite a colleague to
observe you and record data. This is scientific data that can be used for
evaluation. It is often helpful to converse and brainstorm with other
colleagues. Another helpful tool is the teacher diary. This is a notebook in
which the teacher can make recordings after she teaches a lesson. It might
include her methods of teaching, what happened during the lesson,
questions, and student reactions. This is also good data to look at when
trying to reflect on teaching. Technology also allows us to video or record
ourselves teaching. This is sometimes an uncomfortable experience.
However, it can provide valuable information regarding our teaching. It may
allow one to recognize patterns or to clearly see why things are working or
not. It is a good tool to use periodically. Lastly, student feedback is also a
helpful tool in reflective practice. Self-evaluation and reflective practice are
essential components to good teaching.

Planning: I would like to continue to engage in reflective practice. I have

used peer observation and videoing lessons, as well as reflecting on
administrative observations. I would like to enhance my reflective teaching

by adding student input and the teacher diary. The teacher diary may have
to be at the end of the day or only contain some lessons.