We're teachers. That means whether we end the school year battered and bruised, or triumphant and victorious, we generally don't have reporters following us around on the last day of school asking us about the highlights in student learning for the year. Replays of key moments in our classroom game are not usually publicly rebroadcast for analysis by a panel of color commentators.
Our post-game show is a little different. If we want to reflect on the school year, we're going to have to do it on our own. I checked out my schedule for the period immediately following the end of the school year: there's some professional development, a conference, and quite a few bargaining sessions. Other teachers have similar activities.
What's missing from this end of school line-up? Reflection. It really is. There is no time specifically pencilled in at any of my own particular meetings (as far as I know!) for looking back on the school year. That's interesting. I think the reflection is implicit–many of the meetings include check-ins, debriefs, annual reports, and the like–but explicit individual (or group) reflection is not generally an agenda item.
So how will I tell the story of my school year? Well–I don't want to forget about it–each year is remarkable. I've told several of those stories here on this blog, but a few of my stories from school this year are just going to have to remain at school 😉
Some things I learned this year, in no particular order:
1. I like teachers. Pretty much all of them, not kidding. I respect the work they do. Teachers' jobs are almost impossible at times, and they keep plugging along. I enjoy working with other teachers and supporting them when I can. Working with other teachers makes it pleasant to come to school on even the most challenging of days, and in turn, other teachers challenge me to do better work!
2. The students want to learn. All the students. I honestly believe this. I teach all of the sophomores in my school. ALL of them. This means I get a wide range of students in my classes. Sometimes a few of these students try to fake me out, and act like they don't care. Our job as teachers? Find a way to facilitate learning for all these students. It's not an easy job, but we need to do it.
3. Schools are ecosystems. (Thank you to two teachers in New York for this concept!) OK, I'm a biology teacher, so I have to say this ecosystem analogy resonated with me–schools as interacting communities of different types of living beings and their physical environment. It's the idea of looking at schools as ecosystems: the students, the teachers, the administrators, the parents: how they interact with each other and the physical components (curriculum, materials, conditions) of the school as well. This contrasts with an input/output view: students in, and later, better educated students out. If schools are ecosystems, then to improve schools it's going to take an ecological approach–the components, as well as how they interact, need to be considered.
Nothing here is particularly novel or earth-shattering, but they are three lessons I learned this year.
In a recent blog post, Elena Aguilar wrote, "Life is what you make of it. We design our lives, in part, by the stories we tell. So how are you telling the story of this school year?" A worthy challenge, and in looking back at this school year, I'll be thinking about the stories I will tell.
I agree with your point that we need to reflect. It’s so important to evaluate what is working and what needs to be tweaked, reworked, or even scrapped! However, I teach elementary and I don’t know about you but I am exhausted by the last day. The last thing I want to do is sit in another meeting. Perhaps the answer would be to individually write our reflections within say two weeks of our last day of school. Then, I could take them out during the summer if I’m working on curriculum. When we come in before school starts, we could meet corporately with our reflections to improve our upcoming year. Just a thought.
It stands for Multi-tiered Instruction. It’s part of RTI
http://www.rtinetwork.org/essential/tieredinstruction
That’s great, Tom, however, I am going to have to ask one question: What in the world is MTI?
I hear you, Maren. Reflection is HUGE. For everyone. Today we had our year-end MTI meeting. Reflection! I just now finished writing my lesson plans for tomorrow, and my learning target for science is all about reflection. Then I’m catching the red-eye to DC to work with a Lesson Study group that I’ve been facilitating all year. Guess what we’re doing? Reflection!
Interesting post. It would be a good use of time to have a PLC day at the end of school just for looking back on the year and forward to the next.
Todd