Jeff Sandrock

March 2016

Thoughts on Teaching Standard #8: Reflection and Adaptation

A teacher who is not fully in touch with the result and impact of learning activities risks losing students
in the processand teachers who never close that loop may lose more and more students over time. Reflection
is essentialI use several methods of processing what I observe in my students as they navigate the lessons and
challenges I set down for them. The process has been revelatory! I have seen first-hand how what I thought
would be an effective exercise turn wildly sideways. Thankfully, my students accepted my mistake (and
attending apology) with grace, and we re-attacked with a far better version of the exercise. More than fixing
mistakes, I believe reflection needs to be a deliberate process of analysis: find the flaws, fix the ones I can, and
never stop trying to improve my teaching.
My Growth and Experience
I created a worksheet (a Cloze activity, or fill-in-the-blank) as a graduate school sample of an
assessment. The worksheet originally included a word list below. I removed that word list after my professor
rightly pointed out that as an assessment, the word list left too much chance students might guess the correct
answer, giving me a false validation of learning. I removed the word list and the assessment was acceptable. A
few months later, when I presented the same lesson topic in the plate tectonics unit, I used the worksheet as a
learning activity, not an assessment. It was a disasterthe Cloze worksheet was not specific enough to use in a
class where the material had not been fully covered; there was too much of a range of answers and it did not
enforce learning. Most students put words in the blanks that fit grammatically and logically, but were not the
proper geologic terms that applied to the study of plate tectonics.
When I circled back with my students, I told them that they would all get credit for participating, but the
exercise is canned and replaced with a better version. They understood, appreciated something less confusing,
and all performed well on the re-do. By keeping the flawed version of the worksheets, I prevented bad
information from becoming part of their end-of-unit assessment. By replacing the flawed version with one they
could more easily relate to as having right and wrong answers, the ambiguity vanished, replaced with genuine

and effective preparations. My mentor made it clear to me that by owning the mistake, the experience made me
more accessible as a person, and helped students see a flawed, yet caring individual who takes the time to fix his
own mistakes. The moment helped us all in the learning situation.
The reflection process, from my perspective, is intertwined with professional collaboration and seeking
feedback of others. I seek my mentors feedback in all activities, procure his approval on all pre-unit and postunit assessments, and often ask informally how he believes a certain learning activity went. His honesty is a
breath of fresh airhe shows me where I could have done some aspect of the activity a little better, and then
takes the time to explain his perspective. This kind of candid, usable feedback is an indelible part of the
reflection process, because whether I plant myself at the front of the classroom or roam the room for good
proximity the impartial observer sees all aspects of the learning process. A wiser, more experienced educator
observing me leads to much better feedbackhe or she knows what aspects of classroom dynamics should be
paid close attention to, and which can be discounted. My mentor and college supervisor have both helped me to
discover any weak spots in my teaching, and how to address these head-on for continuous improvement.
My final thought on the matter of reflection, self-evaluation, and delivery adaptation is finding a balance
between a systematic approach to introspection, and never resting on the laurels of prior successes. I sometimes
find myself basking in the glow of an excellent performance review, or enjoying a struggling students
newfound successes. In these instances, I have to shake myself back awake and remind myself that the minute I
feel like I am doing everything right, then there is likely something critical I am either missing or letting slide.
That small voice reminds me to stay on task, and never become complacent. My students are worth every
effort, and I have to be the best teacher I can be, every minute of every day. That lofty standard applies to doing
the job and improving how I do it, which only happens by careful, thoughtful reflection.