Entrance Slip 2023-09-14

Overall, I agree with Grant and Zeichner that reflective teaching is of paramount importance for teachers. When I was working under an LOP, I constantly self-evaluated myself. At the end of each day, I would look for what went well, terribly, and what can be improved. 

For example, one of the games I have used as a teacher for review is Jeopardy. The first time we played the game, students in teams of 5 would discuss the question and then send a representative to answer it. During the game, no matter how much I encouraged collaboration, students would sent their strongest member to solve all the problems. This certainly did not help student learning, especially for the students who were weaker at math. That night, I spent time reflecting on how the game could be improved. I thought to myself, “how do I get every student in every team involved, learning, and helping each other?” Then it dawned on me. The next time we played Jeopardy, I had the students broken up into teams and number themselves 1 through 5. I gave students more amount of time to answer the questions, but there was a twist. When time was up, I would call a random number between 1 and 5, and the student with the corresponding number had to answer the question on the board with full working. This enhanced the collaborative learning experience, as stronger students needed to help weaker students understand the thought process and steps behind each question.

Although this is an old article, I feel like it still applies to teachers today. Throughout my 1.5 years of teaching, I found that collaborating with and observing other teachers was extremely helpful in my self-evaluation. Being able see how other teachers taught allowed me to take the things I liked and mold my own teaching style. Teaching is a life-long learning process, and there is always something new to learn from our fellow teachers, peers, and students as well. Lastly, one of the things Grant and Zeichner mentioned that I never thought of was keeping a teaching journal. The good thing about keeping a teaching journal is that we can always look back, identify areas of improvement/growth, record ideas, provide insights, and even increase self-awareness and observational skills in the classroom. Teaching journals can also serve as a means that helps with critical thinking and problem solving in the classroom. Moving forward, I will consider keeping a teaching journal for better reflective practice.