TxDHH Learning Bites
January 15, 2018 Reflective Practices
Learning Bites Purpose
The TxDHH Learning Bites addresses a topic relevant to deaf educators by providing resources in various sized bites! Whether you have 1, 5, or 15 minutes, or you choose to dig much deeper, you will find resources to help make an impact on you and your students.
For more information, check out our Video!
Why this topic?
Improving your teaching practice does require a lot of reflection and self-assessment. It is also an ongoing process that lasts forever. It is through reflecting upon what and how we teach that we come to put our hands on our weaknesses and expose our shortcomings. Reflection is the core pillar of professional development and encompasses a wide variety of activities from reading the literature to networking and peer teaching.
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
Implementing reflective practices can make the difference between a mediocre, satisfactory, and masterful teacher!
How will this work?
If you prefer a topic other than the weekly topic, we have included Mental Health Musings, Terp Topics, and Learning Tech Bytes for you to consider.
When you complete your PD, follow the directions at the bottom of the Learning Bites Smore to apply for your Continuing Professional Education credits.
Just a Minute PD
Do you like awesome graphics?
The Reflective Teacher: Taking a Long Look
"It took me some time to realize that reflection is vital to my growth as an educator. I also needed to learn what real reflection looked like. It's so much more than thinking that I did a good job or changing one essay question."
Are You Still a Reflective Practitioner? How to Get the Most Out of this Ever More Vital Habit
5 "Q.U.I.C.K." Steps of Reflective Practice
"Reflecting on one's performance daily is an attribute of a high-performance individual. Reflection is a powerful process in improving one's performance, and like any skill, can be developed and mastered."
A Taxonomy of Reflection: Critical Thinking For Students, Teachers, and Principals
Teachers and Change: The Role of Reflective Practice
"This paper argues that the most powerful, durable and effective agents of educational change are not the policy makers, the curriculum developers or even the education authorities themselves; they are the teachers. It further contends that the quality of the educational changes that teachers have the skills and opportunities to effect will only be as reliable and proficient as the teachers’ individual capacities for reflective practice and the development of self knowledge."
Sellars, M. (2012). Teachers and change: The role of reflective practice. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 55, 461-469. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.525
Becoming a Reflective Teacher
"Just as successful athletes must identify strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and engage in focused practice to meet their goals, so must teachers. Learn how to combine a model of effective instruction with goal setting, focused practice, focused feedback, and observations to improve your instructional practices. Included are 280 strategies related to the 41 elements of effective teaching shown to enhance student achievement."
To purchase or for more information, click HERE.
Mental Health Musings
"Our call to courage is to protect our wild heart against constant evaluation, especially our own." ~Brene Brown
Wikipedia defines self-fulfilling prophecy as "a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior."
What are we doing as educators to make sure that all those around us are reflecting the positive in us, rather than us reflecting the negative we think they see?
Finding Resources
They even have an entire section called "The Reflection Room."
Reflective Practice in Action!
Blogging. You know you want to! But how? The websites below can help you get started as you reflect on your craft and share your wisdom with others who love to learn!
What does this look like in action for me?
For any learning experience, our learning is equal to our effort. In order for us to grow from our learning, we need to take the time to pause and reflect. How does our new learning fit in to what we already know and do?
Each of you reading this has a different role, with different responsibilities. Think about what you learned today through the lens of your particular role, as well as your personal and professional learning needs. This is an important part of the learning process!
Take the time to think about a new idea you learned, a new approach you want to try, or a new skill you have acquired. Consider how to put your new insights, skills, and abilities to work! That's where the real learning happens.
Texas Deaf/Hard of Hearing Services
Anne Darr, ESC Region 11 DHH Services
Twyla Loftin, Texas DHH Services
Danielle Battle, Sensory Impairment Services Birth to Three
Miriam Ackerman, DHH Services Technician
Email: txdhh@esc11.net
Website: TexasDeafEd.org
Location: 1451 South Cherry Lane, White Settlement, TX, United States
Phone: (817) 740-7547
Facebook: www.facebook.com/txdhh/
Twitter: @TxDHH