Have You Asked Yourself These Questions Lately?

Highly effective teachers soon realize that no one is a natural teacher. No educator can just rush through the hurly burly of a school day paying cursory attention to what we are expected to accomplish and then expect to be successful. Reflecting on our teaching should be part of every aspect of our professional lives. Such reflection needs to systematic, methodical, and purposeful.

Whether you choose to maintain a journal online, in a computer desktop folder, on paper, or even in an audio version, it is important to be diligent about recording regularly. The questions below can help you use the time that you want to reflect on your teaching practice as efficiently as possible.

1. Are my goals for lessons reasonable and appropriate?
2. Are my students challenged to do their best?
3. Do students learn what they are supposed to master? How can I ensure that they always do this?
4. At what points in a lesson do I have to change strategies or activities? Why? How productive was this flexibility on my part?
5. How can I offer remediation or enrichment activities to the students who need them?
6. What data do I need to collect before moving on to the next unit of study? How can I gather this information?
7. What can I do to improve my skills at collaborating with colleagues?
8. How do I want my students to interact with each other as a whole group?
9. What can I do to help my students collaborate with each other in small groups?
10. How can I integrate technology into my lessons?
11. What problems did I have to manage today? How well did I manage those problems?
12. How well do I listen to my students? What can I do to make sure that I model good listening skills?
13. Which students were off task? What caused them to be off task?
14. When were my students on task? What can I do to guarantee that continues?
15. How did I show that I was enthusiastic about the subject matter?
16. How can I foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and courtesy among my students?
17. How well do I manage my classroom? What can I improve?
18. What should I do to help my students learn to be self-disciplined learners?
19. How can I use my strengths as a teacher to full advantage in my classroom?
20. What are my strengths as a classroom leader?