Education

Reflective practice questions

Teachers can use the following reflective practice questions when reflecting on their teaching practice.

Useful questions for reflective practice:

What is happening? What can I do to re-engage students in this lesson?
Why am I reacting in this way?
How can I reword the instructions?
What worked in this lesson? How do I know?
Why did things happen that way?
What were my intentions when I did that?
What triggered such a response from me?
What would I do the same or differently if I could reteach this lesson? Why?
What root cause might be prompting or perpetuating this student behaviour?
What do I believe about how students learn?
How does this belief influence my instruction?
What data do I need to make an informed decision about this problem?
Is this the most efficient way to accomplish this task?
Where did I succeed as a teacher in the past?
What is my top teaching goal for the coming year?
What can I do to make my teaching more fun while adding to my students' learning and enjoyment?
What can I do to be more proactive in my professional development?
What do I need to resolve in order to move forward more optimistically and with a fresh mind?
What types of students do I need to spend more time focusing on?
Which lessons or units am I only continuing to perform out of habit or laziness?
Are there any aspects of the profession that I am ignoring due to lack of knowledge or fear of change (for example technology)?
How can I increase valuable parental involvement?
Have I done enough to foster a productive relationship with my supervisor?
Do I still enjoy teaching? If not, what can I do to increase my enjoyment in my chosen profession?
Do I bring additional stress upon myself? If so, how can I decrease or eliminate it?
How have my beliefs about learning and pedagogy changed?
What minor and/or major changes can I make to my academic program in order to directly increase my students' learning?