Open Forum

Take Time for Year End Reflection

Congratulations on coming to the end of another school year!  Bravo!  

I encourage you to take time, while the year is still fresh in your mind to reflect upon those things that went well, things you might want to change and include any items you want to consider for the following year.   I like to make lists.   At the end of each year, once my mind was clear and I finally felt relaxed, I would always take time to write down my reflections from the school year.  This usually took place following festival :)

After a few years I purchased a journal specifically for my year end reflections.  It's always good to "look back" at some ideas I had or some curriculum that I wanted to revisit.   Make a list:   Things that worked well, things that need work, things that didn't work and things I would like to try.   These items were all over the board.  Curriculum, plays, process, collaboration, inspiration, social, professional, and more.  

As I would begin my preparations for the new year (about 3 weeks before going back for inservice), I would get this list out and work through how to change, implement, discard, draft and organize my thoughts into action.   These were always helpful goals.   The school year is always so busy, so try to take time at your leisure to work through some new ideas and to leave those behind that maybe didn't quite work. 

Here's to celebrating YOU this summer!  Have a great time!