Once the school year comes to an end, it’s tempting to rush out the door and never look back. Before you do, these are some reflective questions to close the school year strong.
The first reflective question to close the year strong is-What goals did you meet, not meet or almost meet?
When you ask yourself this question, you can take stock of all your successes and failures throughout the school year.
It will give you a sense of closure. It will also help you to celebrate your accomplishments while giving you some perspective on how to become better.
If you didn’t make goals think about the different areas in your teaching such as parental engagement, instruction, curriculum, classroom organization that you can analyze.
Taking a look at your goals at the end of year will also help you to plan for the next school year even though it’s a few months away.
Second, another reflective question to close the school year strong is- what worked well?
Once you have looked at your goals, then you can think about what worked well to help you meet your goals. Moreover, what did not work well when it came to reaching your goals.
For the practices that worked well, how can you make them even more effective so that you’re able to reach more students.
Third, what are some habits that you need to stop doing so that you can reach your goals or better your teaching?
This can be a hard one because sometimes we’re not aware of our habits that are holding us back.
Some of the things that you might stop doing might include keeping stacks of papers and student work on your desk.
It seems like a simple thing but I’ve realized that having a clean desk when I walked into my classroom every morning made a world of a difference.
Another habit you might want to stop doing is answering emails after your workday is complete. Honestly, email gives me anxiety and I had to set a boundary to give myself some peace of mind.
Fourth, what kind of professional development can I take or books that I can read to help be more successful for the following year?
For this, identify the classes and or books you want to read. Once you’ve given yourself some time to rest; then you can take action to complete those professional development courses and read the books.
Giving yourself time to decompress will better help to know what you need for your professional growth.
Summary-Ask yourself these questions:
- What goals did I meet, not meet or almost meet?
- What worked well?
- What are the things I want to stop doing in my teaching?
- What kind of training or professional development do I want to engage in?