It has been a successful and interesting start to the year. Coming back to school in person was a bit surreal.
We made it through, now what?
As we did in the past, it is time for us to reflect on how things went in the first quarter, what activities were successful with this year’s group and what things need to be modified.
Reflection is a powerful tool. And during this period of “Post Online Learning,” it is even more essential to take a moment to reflect on all that has happened during this chaotic or sometimes stressful time. Reflection helps us sift through all the emotions we experienced during these moments and identify, label, and sort these experiences.
For @teachingpython, it is a time to evaluate our new group of students and adjust our activities. During our reflection, we use Rolfe et al’s Reflective Framework to look back on our process and goals.
There are a series of supporting questions under each label to help capture details and guide our thinking.
Miro has a great template of this Reflection Protocol, and it works well when working with collaborators.
What? Describe the events
- What didn’t work well?
- What could be improved?
- What was the experience for the teacher?
- What was the experience for the students?
- What were the reactions to learning?
So What? How did this affect your learners?
- What worked well?
- What did not work well?
- What outcomes did we want to achieve?
- What outcomes were not accomplished?
- What connections did students draw from the experiences?
Now What? What possible changes can you make
- What adjustments could we make?
- What new activities can we add to change outcomes?
- What things will we do differently next quarter?
Reflection does not have to be as structured as this, however, the protocol really helps to set a precedence on our thinking. Once you get in the habit of going through the questions, the process flows naturally.
What things are you doing that need reflection? Whether it is the end of the quarter or just an end of a unit. Give it a try!