Reflection on the year and student responses

This year I have made it a priority to help my students to become independent thinkers and problem solvers.  I feel that throughout the year I was able to accomplish this through my use of project based learning.  I feel that this focus on independence was reflected in all of the work that the students were able to accomplish this year.  After giving my students the staff survey, I realized that there are some areas in which I can improve.

Results of my student surveys:

When I reflected on the results of my student survey I realized that there were some things that I did very well, and some areas in which I could improve.  I was very pleased to see that all of my students felt comfortable and cared about in the class always, or most of the time.  I was also very please to see that they almost always understood what they were learning, why they were learning it and that they found the things they were learning interesting.  It seems that the area in which I can improve most is giving students more freedom to choose their own ways of doing things in the classroom.  This is something that I could incorporate very easily by allowing students to choose their own way to present their end of unit projects.  I could give them several ideas to choose from and also allow them to present different ideas to add to the list.  I also could allow students to be more vocal in suggesting ideas for lessons and ways to practice the mini lesson topics on their own.

This year I have learned so much about my instructional practices and my students.  My students responded very well to my personality and strategies, but there are areas in which I would like to challenge myself next year.  I am leaving this year feeling accomplished as an educator and I feel that I have grown in my professional practice.