Reflections on Reflection

Properties that should exist:

• see change in the writer
• see change in opinion
• pure honesty - No conversion stories
• explains the process of change
• references the readings/the experience
• what I want to take from this
• see thinking in the writing/ re-evaluation

My reflection draft doesn't really explain much about how I have changed. I'm not sure how much I have "changed", I think it is more that I have learned tools to use, and will sort them out on the road ahead to match the challenges I face. There are some changes in opinion, again based on the learning experiences and applicability to future classroom use. I think I have been honest and direct, there is one bit of a conversion story in my approach to revisions, but it is more about changing my mind than changing myself. I think I explain the hows and whys of that change and other changes fairly well.

My entire reflection responds to the readings - too much, perhaps. I talk about what I read, what I liked or didn't like about it, and how I can or cannot use it in the future. The same thing is true for activities in class. Each step along the way was evaluated for its potential usefulness in teaching, with a few small tools to pack into my personal writing backpack.

I thought a lot about what we did and what I learned, and I think it shows in my analysis. It really helped to have to blogs to look at again.

As far as what is missing from the list....

I think part of a reflection could be whether or not you feel like the effort was worth it, and how you felt about the process.

Additional input from the class:

Where do we go from here?
What challenges were overcome?
What were the gaps - what was missing?
What further questions do I have?
What was unclear as we did it, but now makes sense?
How would I explain this class to others?
Connections to outside world and other areas of learning?
Meta-thinking?

Additional reflections:

I think my reflection focuses too much on the readings and not as much as it should with the meta-thinking and overview ways of analysis. I think I need to use fewer examples from the reading and more analysis of what was useful and why. I also think I could go into further analysis of where do I go from here.  I could talk about what I felt was missing, and also more about some of the class dynamics and how they affected the class.

The classroom dynamics were really significant, and need to be addressed in the reflection. "The not-obvious elements of the experience."