Amanda Brever's Educational Portfolio
Reflective Practitioner
A reflective practitioner constantly evaluates and reevaluates his or her content, objectives, instruction, and assessment. In my own teaching, I take time every day during my planning block and at the end of the school day to write about my experiences and thoughts. I record successful and unsuccessful practices, explore my feelings in regards to subjects and students, and continually question my thought process. As a reflective practitioner, I am continually developing my metacognitive skills and I develop my teaching through studying both my processes and the reasoning behind my chosen processes.
Reflective teaching has been engrained in my development as a teacher from the beginning. During my Foundations course offered during the spring of junior year, we were asked to write a paper that addressed our own fears and preconceptions. In this paper I traced the path I had followed from a young child that had led me to the first stepping stones of becoming a teacher. In this paper I recognize that my family and friends have impacted my beliefs and values. While I have undeniable fears about the uncertainties in teaching, I also recognize that my character will not allow me to surrender to failure. (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standard 2.3)
During actual student teaching I utilized a notebook to compile many of my reflections and my cooperating teacher responded to my entries. One of the journals focuses on the necessity of flexibility. Another explores my concerns over the potentials of frustration and burnout. Lastly, two entries deal with teacher-student rapport. (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 1.1-3, 2.1, 3.7.1-2, and 4.1-2)
In addition, another tool that I have used both for reflection and collaboration is Tapped In. This website allows students and mentors to post questions and responses to one another. In addition, fellow student teachers in the discussion groups can address issues I raise so I can appreciate multiple perspectives. In response to my experience with Tapped In I wrote a reflection that was posted to our technology class wikispace. I addressed the ways in which Tapped In provided support through a collaborative community and the effect that this tool had on my teaching. (This artifact also fulfills NCTE standards 1.2-3, 3.7.1, and 4.3)