Reflecting on your day
(@smeer 16/05/24)
There is never enough time to reflect on your day, until maybe you get home and have a rant to a partner, cat or a blank wall. Teachers and other school staff are not alone in this as it affects almost everyone in environments where decisions need making and demands are high, especially affecting education, healthcare, emergency services staff and managers across most industries
And yet, stepping back and looking at what has happened can not only help you to relax, support your own development and inform your future practice, it can also provide insights into wider working practices within your organisation and support any future educational or leadership studying you participate in in the future.
Two Minutes on Two Things
All it takes is scribbling down two things that have happened during your day, taking no more than two minutes to write about each.
Write down one positive thing. It might be something a student has said, done or achieved (possibly through your influence). It might be a compliment you receive from a peer or parent. Some days it can feel quite hard to do this (we all have days like that), but it might be something as simple as finding a good parking space or seeing the first daisy of the year. Find a "it made me smile" moment.
Write down one challenge. Unruly student? Projector won't connect to the PC? The class just don't understand a concept you're trying to explain? Budget crisis? Staff sickness? It sometimes feels like you just have challenges, but pick one that you have the most ability to influence in future.
You can now quickly add a couple of keywords to each Thing e.g. Admin / Student / Parent / IT / Resources / Explanation and make sure you date the entries.
Where to record your reflections?
In terms of format - you can do this in any way that you feel comfortable and is quick to do. Many of my Social Work, Nursing and Education students used a separate (day to page) diary, but a notebook, notes app, online portfolio (like PebblePad) or diary app work for others.
In terms of location - this is anywhere you can grab 5 mins. Last cuppa of the day? On public transport? In the car, just before you set off home? Whilst tea is cooking?
What to do with my reflections?
This is much easier to do if you have an academic assignment which requires reflection on practice, but you can set aside 15+ minutes per week or fortnight or month and just have a flick through what you've previous written. You don't need to be particularly analytical about this - find some entries and consider how you might react differently to change the outcome.
How will you make a challenging experience more positive?
How will you share or expand upon a positive experience to allow others to also experience it?
As an academic assignment - you can start to trace a journey of learning and experience that shows you have learned from your previous experiences.
