Reflection is part of my work...

I have been blessed with learning from a few very special teachers who served as my mentors, as well as administrators who took the time to help me develop my pedagogy. I will never forget something my mentor teacher at the time and now my good friend, Ingrid, said to me - take the time to look back and reflect on what you learned. To put this into context, I had just had my vice principal come in and watch my lesson as a student teacher for the very first time. I was nervous and flew through my lesson. Needless to say, it was a disaster in my books. As I hung my head a bit after my lesson, Ingrid said that as I continue my path as a teacher, one of the greatest tools at my disposal was reflecting on what I had learned. Maybe it was from a botched lesson, or maybe it was how I handled a difficult situation in class. No matter what it was, to become a great teacher, you can reflect and use these as your own teachable moments.

Today, I read a blog created by George Couros. In his post, he argued that blogging is a great way to reflect and that as teachers, reflecting should be part of our work! His last sentence reads: "If we do not take time to look back, how will we ever be able to move forward?" I am the first one to admit that reflecting is hard. Mainly because we don't take the time to do so. Life gets in the way - courses, family, extra-curricular activities. I often take a few minutes to reflect about my day in my mind. I think about specific things that happened, how it could have been handled differently, things I could do to enhance or improve the situation. The honest truth though is that I quickly forget about it. Yes, maybe I do remember the odd reflection here and there but so many times I've caught myself thinking to myself - gee, I should really take the time to write down my reflections so that I can look back and remind myself of things that I have learned and forgotten!

My commitment here on this blog is to not only share about my journey with integrating technology in the classroom but also to share important reflections and discoveries that I have made after a tough day or maybe an excellent day, or perhaps something I learned from a failed lesson! If you haven't gotten the drift, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!