Reflections

The end of the school year is always full of mixed emotions for me. Sure, I'm happy for the summer vacation, and I'm always eager for the "brain break" to gear up and plan for the next school year (not to mention that HONEYMOON my husband and I get to go on), but it's also a time to reflect on the past year and review what has been accomplished, and what I can do better! :)

Lucy is looking forward to Shark Week this summer.

In my school, the end of the school year is filled with yearbook signing assemblies, our final Team Raffle, locker clean out, textbook check in, etc. It's very chaotic, and finding time to sit down and reflect with your kids is a challenge. Here are some of the "reflection" activities I do with my kiddos.

First, I send home a parent survey. The survey details questions about how the parents feel I was as a teacher, asking them to give me feedback for next year. Sure, some teachers may think of this as a "risk," but asking my parents for feedback has always been very helpful and constructive. Parents are as big of a part as the learning process as we let them, and it's important to let them know that their opinion matters.

My students also fill out a survey. They rank their favorite units and activities, and list suggestions for the next school year. I love the responses they come up with!

Finally, my kids fill out a "Science Memories" sheet. The sheet is filled with sentence starters such as "Mrs. Tackett, you really made me laugh when..." "I'll never forget the time..." "My favorite day was..." I keep these memories sheets in binders, and they are fun to look back on when I need a smile on those rough teaching days.

My kids also are able to film themselves talking about their favorite memories for an end-of-the-year video that is shown at our Snaps Celebration-which I will talk more about in a future post!

What do you do for reflection activities in your classroom?