Year-End Reflections & Next-Year Goals

A couple of weeks ago, I filled out a survey from my principal in preparation for our end-of-year evaluation meeting. The form included questions about the work I did toward my goals, professional development opportunities I engaged in, and collaborations that led to teacher and student success. I thought it would only take me a few minutes, but I ended up spending almost an hour completing the survey. Going back through my calendar, skimming my coaching log, and reviewing my notes gave me the opportunity to reflect on all the things I did this past year and think about the year as a whole. This deep reflection then naturally gave way to thinking about goals for next year.

Some celebrations from my coaching work around writing this year are:

• Decreased teacher over-scaffolding of writing led to more confident writers
• Increased student choice of writing topics led to higher engagement in writing
• Completed coaching cycles with teachers at various career stages (first year teachers up to a veteran teacher with 40+ years of experience)

Some writing things I worked on as a coach but need to continue:

• Planning end-of-unit writing celebrations with grade-levels to provide students an authentic audience
• Supporting teacher use of on-demand writing as a formative assessment to guide instructional decisions
• Developing teacher knowledge of the writing continuum

Why it matters: The end of the school year is incredibly busy: wrapping up units and projects, grading and report cards, assemblies and field day, last day celebrations and activities, cleaning classrooms, organizing materials, etc. It’s easy to get caught up in the sprint to the last day and then head into summer break without taking time to reflect on the year as a whole.  But reflection is at the heart of teaching, and it would be a lost opportunity not to make time for it in these final days of the school year. Reflection helps us see our strengths and areas we need to grow in, allowing us to set goals for the upcoming year and become more effective educators.

Here are a few questions to get you started as you think back on the year:

• When did I see the most growth in students? What contributed to that growth?
• When were students most engaged? What contributed to the high level of engagement?
• How did I honor my students’ cultures, backgrounds, and experiences?
• When was teaching most enjoyable? How can I replicate that situation?
• When was I frustrated? What could I try differently in a similar situation?
• How am I managing stress and work-life balance?
• What do I want/need to learn more about? What can I do to learn about it?

The bottom line: Reflection helps us to bring our best for our students. Reflective teachers are dedicated to improving their knowledge and skills to better meet the needs of their students. How will you make time for reflection and goal-setting at the end of the school year?