A good friend and mentor of mine had a phrase he used last year I
loved...he called it M&M's (meaningful, manageable, and sustainable) It has
stayed with me, and I often reflect upon it as I am planning this year. I too was searching for a sticking phrase as
I am working with others this year. As I
was reflecting I started thinking about how can I help others help themselves
to move forward? Then it hit me...reflective & effective.
I have noticed that the best growth is that which grows
from within an organization. How does
that growth develop...it develops through self-reflection. Those who are
reflective usually tend to be effective.
One of my goals this year, as an instructional coach, is to
get others to be reflective. I believe it is a great place to begin, and is SO
powerful.
Some of the ways I have encouraged others to be
reflective are:
- examine your data and have a dialogue
- keep a journal or blog about your experiences and learning -grow your PLN (twitter, Facebook, etc...) and share your experience
- video tape yourself teaching/coaching and reflect independently or with a colleague
- survey or interview students, parents, or colleagues who have a connection with you.
This is not an end all be all list, but is more of a
reflective starting point to begin your journey towards effectiveness.
Reflection is one of the most important ways to improve anything you do. I always found that finding the time after a busy day to sit and reflect was difficult. It made it much easier when I started to ramble in the car with a recorder on, or talked to myself during lunch and recorded it. You can write it down later, but sometimes talking it out, out loud and with yourself, is what makes the ideas really come.
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