• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

June 12, 2019 Confessions of a Teacher

How to Use This Year’s Reflections for Next School Year

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Sadie Hewitt

Sadie is an international educator with an M.Ed in TESOL currently working in Mexico. She is passionate about social emotional learning, literacy, and teaching her students to be good people.
  • I Can't Get Ahold of My Students: Tools for Maintaining Relationships with Students During Distance Learning - May 5, 2020
  • Opinion: Why Teachers Shouldn't Write Curriculum - October 2, 2019
  • 5 Tips for Navigating the International School Job Fair - September 3, 2019
  • Three Changes to Make to Your Teacher Language This School Year - August 27, 2019
  • 5 Things Teachers Don't Want to Hear During Summer - July 1, 2019
  • Why We Need LGBTQ+ Inclusive Classrooms - June 17, 2019
  • How to Use This Year’s Reflections for Next School Year - June 12, 2019
  • What Teacher Choice in PD Should Look Like - May 21, 2019
  • A Delusional Parent Tried to Sue Me - May 17, 2019
  • Discussing LGBTQIA+ issues in the classroom isn’t pushing a “gay agenda” - April 12, 2019

The end of the year for a teacher is especially difficult: everyone is tired, the kids are off the rails, there are a plethora of special events going on, and grades are due. Many of us are holding onto our sanity like a life raft. The last thing many people want to think about is the start of a whole new year, but if we spend a moment to reflect on our year, it could be a gold mine for the next year.

Using Your Reflections

We have spent all year reflecting, and we are already doing it now in our heads. We have said, “Oh, that lesson worked well,” or “Wow, I clung to that classroom procedure, but it didn’t work for this group.” Instead of pushing all of those reflections away and racing out the door towards our much-needed break, we should take a moment to write those down. These reflections can improve our craft for next year.

How to Mine Reflections for Next Year

Start by writing down everything you would do the same next year. Be proud of the lessons that went well. On my list I have:  social issues unit, read alouds, and morning meeting.

Next, write down what could have gone better, or practices you ditched because they didn’t work for you. This can be anything from classroom procedures to lesson or methodology choices. I recently decided to give up my long-standing “water bottle station,” which I had previously adopted for a class that continuously spilled water all over the place. This year, I realized that my students never spilled water on their work areas. I was also tired of telling kids to put their water where it belonged. So next year, I’m ditching it.

I’m also realizing the way I set up my small groups didn’t work as well as it could have, so I need to take a closer look at that for next year. All observations that you can write down will help you craft the classroom you want in August.

Once you have all of your reflections both positive and negative, divide them into categories like “curriculum,” “classroom management,” “relationships,” “conferencing,” or “procedures.”

You Can’t Do It All

A big mistake I am usually guilty of is trying to do it all. When you’re looking at your list, remember that all of the things you ideally want to change or improve may not be possible all at once. Stick to a few important ones and make them your year-long improvement goals. If you want to work on parent relationships, stick with that and make it your focus.

Ultimately, what it all comes down to is your new group of students. Even if you know already who they will be, you don’t know what the dynamic will be until they are there and working with you every day. How your classroom environment turns out will depend on your students and their needs. Every group is different, so remember that you’ll need to match your goals with your students.

Once you finish your reflections list (it can be rough; it doesn’t have to be an essay), put it away and don’t dwell on it until just before school starts again. Revisit it with fresh eyes to see if you still feel strongly about what you wrote. Because as we all know, there isn’t anything like being teacher tired and the chaos of the end of the year may have clouded how you really feel. 

Reflection

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

The Politics and Pedagogy of Immigration Policy Taking the Anxiety Out of Student Placement in Special Education Self-Care Is Priority One for This Teacher Preparing Students For Teacher Absences
« Summer Break: #TERSchoolFreeSummer Challenge
Summer Self-Care Tips for Educators »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • A Q&A with Baltimore Teachers Union President, Diamonté Brown
  • 6 Reasons to Use Read-Alouds Daily
  • The Secret Ingredients of Lesson Planning
  • The Exhaustion of Black Educators on Another "Day After"

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.