Friday Focus - September 14

cc licensed flickr photo by ianguest

"You will never find time for anything.  If you want time, you must make it." ~Charles Buxton

When I came across this image/quote on another blog, it inspired my thoughts about our time for reflection as educators (interesting how pictures can inspire writing!) 

Reflection is such a key to our professional growth in education.  Last year I gave all of you journals to be used for reflection, with the goal of setting aside a few minutes in each of our meetings to give you the time to reflect/write. I wasn't that great at remembering and still am not (at our last meeting I intended to have you write your goals in your journals, but with everything on our agenda, skipped it).   

So, why haven't I?  Part of it is that I feel like your reflection journals are your personal reflections and worry that some of you may feel uncomfortable journaling in our whole-staff setting.  However, as I think about how many of you have implemented reflection time in your classrooms and the impact it has had on your students I realize that it is the sharing out/discussion that makes it effective for learning.  If it's working for you in your classrooms, then why not try it as a staff?  

I am publicly committing in this Friday Focus post to make a better commitment to time for us to reflect together during our meetings....writing for a few minutes in our reflection journals and then sharing/discussing our thoughts. (I do know that some of you prefer blogging/electronic journaling--that's fine, just bring your laptops).