The role of reflection and self-assessment in teacher evaluation

Video Transcription

Welcome. I'm Trisha Fyfe. And in today's video lesson, we'll cover the lesson titled, The Role of Reflection and Self-assessment in Teacher Evaluation. As we learn about this topic, we will work towards one main learning objective. And I'll answer the following question in this video lesson to guide our learning. What is the role of self-assessment and reflection in improving your teaching?

Let's start off by talking about the role of self-assessment and reflection for you as a teacher. The process of teacher evaluations is extensive. And looking at yourself, your goal, your practices, and your needs, is essential for you as a teacher. Reflecting on yourself as a teacher, and where you are, can assist in creating goals for professional growth, and it can help you develop an adequate professional development plan.

You can use what you learn from self-assessments and self-reflection to help you prepare for conferences, such as pre and post conferences with your evaluator or coach. Be sure to review the components of your own teacher evaluation model, including any professional practice rubric that is included. It's also super helpful to consider using a rating system for yourself at the beginning, middle, and end of the year maybe.

You can use this data to look at your own growth and make comparisons. Your evaluator might also find this information hopeful when conferencing, and developing plans after their observations. Ask peers to give you feedback as well. This could be a great way for you to continue to reflect on your own teaching. Lastly, you can use the data. Ask for support and training for professional development where you need it. You are your own best advocate for yourself.

Various states and professional organizations have templates and resources for us as teachers to utilize when implementing self-reflection. Let's take a look at some examples. Here are four examples of evaluation models. The links are included on the main tutorial page as well under the citations, for your reference. Take some time to copy these down, or be sure to look at them after completing this lesson. They're helpful and informative when you're learning about the importance of self-evaluation.

The Arizona Teacher Evaluation Model, specifically page 24, lists some questions that can be used for self-reflection when preparing for post conferences. The Delaware Teacher Evaluation Model has forms and models that can be looked at as a guide for growth and development as a teacher. An article from ASCD, in February, 2009, titled, How Teachers Learn: Fostering Reflection, reiterates how self evaluation and reflection are so essential to the process of teacher evaluation. And lastly, Kentucky's Department of Education has a website that lists guidelines for self-reflection. It also offers tools and resources that are really helpful to the process of self-reflection. Remember to take a look at all four of these websites.

Now that we've talked about the importance of self-assessment and evaluation for teachers, it's important to discuss how you can use the feedback you are given by others. How can you process this observation feedback? It's important to remember that, yes, you are a teacher, but you are always a student as well. We're not perfect. We don't always have the right tools and answers. When being evaluated, we are evaluated for growth. Are we willing to learn? Do we learn and adapt to better ourselves?

To best do this, we need to be very careful to listen to feedback. Ask questions, and get clarification. Learn how to become better. This will show you that you are in fact, growing as a teacher. If you recognize that you need support in an area, ask for support. Find ways to show that you're working on these areas not only during the observed lessons, but consistently.

You can use feedback that others give you, both peers and evaluators, to guide your own self-reflection. Dig deeper into their observations, ideas, and suggestions. It might be beneficial to ask a peer or a mentor to help you effectively use this feedback. Maybe they can help you make a plan and set goals. Or offer more observation time to ensure that you are on track. Another way to do this is to film yourself, and watch it back. This is a great way to get feedback for self-reflection without the intimidating observation by another peer or coach.

So let's talk a little about what we learned today. We looked at the question, what is the role of self-assessment and reflection in improving your teaching? In today's lesson, we talked about the importance of self-reflection, and how to best use feedback you are given to better yourself, and your ability to reflect on your own practices and growth. We talked about some examples of teacher evaluation models that include tools and resources for self-assessment and reflection. Don't forget to take a look at these resources. Remember the links are in the citation section under this tutorial.

Now that you're more familiar with these concepts, let's reflect. Consider an opportunity that you have had to self-reflect in your teaching. What were the benefits to this process of reflection and self-assessment? Thanks for joining me today in discussing the lesson, the Role of Reflection and Self-assessment in Teacher Evaluation. I hope you found value to this video lesson, and the ideas that we talked about, and you're able to apply these self-reflection and assessment tools to your own teaching. Now it's your turn to apply what you've learned in this video. The additional resources section will be super helpful. This section is designed to help you discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief description so you can easily target the resources that you want.