How Teachers Use Self-Reflection and Self-Evaluation in Education

1. How Teachers Use Self-Reflection and Self-Evaluation in Education

2. Learning and understanding how teachers use self-reflection and self-evaluation in education will help move your career forward if completed effectively. Improved class performance, small ‘thank you’ notes from students and their parents, and the appreciation of your peers and supervisors – these are just some of the things that testify to you being a good teacher. However, to become an exceptional educator, you need to go the extra mile. You need to embrace and model two tools for your students: reflection and self-assessment. This process does coincide with the growth mindset concept that is very important in education and anyone’s life.

3. Understanding Reflection and Self-Evaluation : As a teacher, you know that ‘reflect’ means to ‘contemplate; to think seriously.’ However, reflection goes far beyond this meaning in an educational setting. It’s a critical self-regulation factor that motivates teachers to monitor their performance and evaluates their progress against specific criteria. Through the self-evaluation stage that follows, they can recognize their strengths and identify weaknesses, which, in turn, allows them to formulate strategies for challenging situations. As this is an iterative procedure, teachers will soon begin to recognize improvement. Analyzing this further will enable them to choose more appropriate goals as well as develop reasonable plans. Why You Should Reflect and Evaluate Your Work: It’s easy to become the victim of your ego when someone proposes that you reflect on your current process and evaluate it. After all, you are a capable instructor whom the school chose because of their capabilities, knowledge, and experience.

4. However, proposing self-reflection and self-evaluation isn’t to undermine your skills or demean you. It’s an invitation to reap numerous benefits that will transport you to the ranks of a “rocking with the times” teacher. Self-reflection is one of the most efficient ways to acknowledge that your teaching strategies can be improved. However, instead of having others make snap judgments about your method without having the context to support it, it is you who collects and analyzes all data to ensure that your teaching strategies improve if necessary. There is truth to the trending topic of teachers teaching the value of failing intelligently, which is one of the top 10 education career trends for teachers in 2016 The Process of Self-Reflection: Once you decide whether you plan to reflect on a specific feature of your teaching or a particular problem in your classroom, you can begin collecting information on the feature or problem. From this information, you can get a clearer idea of what you’re up against and take necessary steps, such as the following.

5. A Journal – Having a self-reflective journal is probably the easiest way to keep track of what happened during your lesson. After class, jot down a few notes detailing your reactions, feelings, and any observations you made about your students. Video Recording – A valuable method to facilitate self-reflection, video recording is probably the best as it gives you an unbiased view of how effective your lesson was from both a teacher and student perspective. Student Observation – Students love giving feedback, so provide them with the opportunity to share their opinions. Hand out a survey or questionnaire that allows them to express what they feel about your lesson. Remember to write the questions in a way that enables them to express their thoughts thoroughly. Peer Observation– Have a colleague observe your teaching. As the observation is more casual in nature, you’ll be able to teach naturally, and your observer will be able to provide insight on your instruction. Since your colleague is as busy as you are, create a questionnaire using questions like those below so they can fill it out as they observe.

6. Your Colleagues – Peers will offer valuable advice, especially since they too may have faced the same issue. Even if they didn’t, they’d provide you with a list of tips on how to do things differently. The Web – You can use the Internet (capitalized, I think it’s a proper noun) to locate resources explaining and solving the problems you’re facing. You can also use the World Wide Web to find other teachers on blogs and social networks. By interacting with them, you’ll be able to ask questions and discover interesting answers. How to Effectively Plan Your Self-Evaluation: Merely subjecting yourself, teaching strategies, and instructional techniques for your critical evaluation isn’t enough. After all, you’ll only come up with a checklist that allows you to focus ideas instead of formal structure. For the latter, you need self-evaluation. This more precise method requires more planning since it can help you improve the educational experiences you provide while highlighting the education you’ll need to develop your capabilities and teach well. To plan for your self-evaluation, use the following five steps.

7. Define the Context of What You Will Teach – Describe the objectives of the lesson or course, detailing information about the purpose of the assessment and intended uses. Identify the Stakeholders – Mention those involved (e.g. students, department, instructors, etc.) and list their needs. Recognizing this will allow the assessment process to grow more focused, maximizing the benefits of this procedure. Establish Central Questions – Determine the purpose of the evaluation by devising central questions. These questions will help you determine how the assessment should be conducted. Mention How You Intend to Use the Assessment Results – Determine how you will use the results for each of your central questions. Remember to ensure that users relate directly to the assessment’s purpose. Create an Assessment Plan – In this step, you’ll create a plan which includes an overview of how the research will be implemented to reach the objective.

8. The Bottom Line to Advancing Your Career– Self-reflection and self-evaluation are a necessity for any teacher who wants to become a capable educator and efficiently advance her career. They are also necessary tools if you value your students and want to share your knowledge effectively with them. However, you can only enjoy their benefits by practicing them regularly and acting on their outcomes. So start assessing your teaching skills before your next class so that you can join the ranks of great all-star educators. Let' Candace Alstad - Davies help you - she has help thousands of people over the last 16+ years achieve their job, career and business goals. ContactCandace at: candoco@telus.net orToll-free: 1-877-738-8052 International / Local: (780) 513-0010

9. @Candace_Davies A+ Resumes forTeachers Candace Alstad - Davies