Reflective Practice is a Full Time Job

I am by no means an expert on the art of reflective practice, but I recognize it as something that has enormous value in a classroom environment such as mine. And while I know that there is always room for me to grow and improve, I am making strides to be as reflective a teacher as I can be, both for myself and for my students.

During this past summer, I was fortunate to find myself with a lot of extra time for reflecting, brainstorming, and journaling about my experiences as a preschool teacher. Now that the school year is in full swing, however, I am finding it increasingly difficult to give reflection - particularly reflection through journaling - the time and effort I know it deserves.

I wholeheartedly believe the idea that you make time for what you value. But I am also wholeheartedly aware of the fact that I am human. And sometimes I am tired. And sometimes I've had the kind of day that makes me grumpy toward my practice. And sometimes I would just rather read a novel or hang out with my kid. And sometimes, something has to give.

While I am not giving up on the practice of journaling as a reflection tool, I have also had to make some concessions - sometimes other things take precedence. That being said, I am making every effort to renew the zeal I had for journaling in the first place. In doing so, I am acknowledging that reflective practice is no easy task - it requires commitment. And sometimes to honor that commitment, I have to power through - through the weight of rocky parental relationships, through the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion of working with young children, through the daily grind of paperwork, policies, and procedures - to be really reflective. I owe it to my students - and to myself - to be a teacher who reflects on the elements and interactions that combine to make up our daily lives in the sacred space of our classroom.