It is the eve of a brand new school year. Once again I will be requiring my students to reflect on their learning and themselves through the use of a blog. Each year I plan to blog along with them but I end up not doing it due to *insert excuse here*. I could fill that in with dozens of things that I have said over the years. But my hypocrisy is there staring me in the face. I spend so much time convincing them that reflection is maybe the greatest of the IB learner profile traits and yet I am not doing it myself. Well I do, but not in a meaningful way that I can look back on and track my growth. So I am making a new commitment to reflecting on my craft. When I was actively blogging I found it to be a very cathartic experience. I hope to recapture some of that feeling agian as I embark on 20th year in the classroom.
My thoughts about the importance of the IB learner trait of reflection:
It is the most important of the traits because without it you are not a learner. If you do not reflect on what you have done or ways you could have done it differently then how can you possibly improve? It is through reflection that we can measure our growth. Without reflection we just simply exist. Without honest reflection we can't get better. This year I will strive to do this alongside my students.
