End-of-Year Reflection

Believe it or not, now is the time of the school year when it is hard for some of us to reflect. In talking with my fifth-grade grandson recently, I checked in on what he was thinking about near the end of the school year. I heard things like, “I’m getting out of here. I don’t want to be here anymore.” I had to chuckle. While those comments aren’t universal, they’re certainly familiar this time of year. And yet, even as energy dips and attention turns to summer, spring is one of the most powerful times for reflection.

Not knowing when or how you reflect during the year, I’m going to throw out a few ideas. At the end of each week, are you checking in with yourself? Are you checking in with learners? And if not weekly, when do you intentionally pause to reflect? If weekly reflection hasn’t been consistent, the end of the year is a natural place to begin.

• What worked well this year and why?
• What was challenging and why?
• What might happen next year if …?

If you are reflecting regularly throughout the year and have questions that you find useful, try the same questions (with some additions) at this time of year.

This process doesn’t have to be lengthy; it can be done by yourself or with others, it is just a helpful pause in all the end-of year bustle to set you up for the beginning of next year. I used to make notes in my planning calendar at the end of each day about how the lessons had gone that day. Nothing extensive like a journal, just short notes of what worked, what didn’t, where we needed to go tomorrow, and what I might change in that lesson next time. At the end of the year, I flipped through looking for patterns. Did I often run out of time? Did I have to spend a lot of time reteaching concepts? Need to alter content? Were learners engaged? There were so many questions I could look for.

Recently, I wrote about habits. If reflecting is a habit of yours and it doesn’t happen in the spring, my suggestion would be to add the reflection routine to your spring activities. And if you don’t have a reflection routine that is simple, you may want to try something like the five steps below. These don’t need to be linear. Together they create a simple cycle for reflection.

1. Reflect – What might I revise, rethink or improve?

2. Wonder – What did I notice? What questions did I ask? What problems did I list?

3. Investigate – What should I plan, read or research?

4. Record – What data did I collect and organize?

5. Try – What will I experiment with, model or repeat?

If you’re looking for more questions or even some simple protocols to help make reflection a habit for you, download the Reflective Questions & Tools. Even a few minutes of intentional reflection can give you a stronger start on next year. Feel free to check in with us. We’d love to support your reflection progress! Let us know what you’ll do next year!

Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay