Reflecting on your learning each week

Now is the time to take a moment to reflect on what you’ve learnt this week. In this step we explain how you can use the reflection grid to capture your professional development through this course and identify where you will go next.

Trying to take in new ideas and embed them into your practice is not easy. But we would stress the importance of critical reflection if you want to translate these ideas into practise, and also if you want to be effective in making changes in what you do. We recommend that you keep a personal record of all your work on the course, as a resource for refreshing your memory and continuing to refine your practice in the future.

Exactly how and where you do this is up to you. It could be a private ‘digital scrapbook’ file. If you have a blog or other online space where you share ideas, you may choose to put selected work there (always respecting the privacy and confidentiality of others, of course).

Using the reflection grid

Each of the cells has a particular name and function. Include problems and successes you’ve had this week, outstanding questions and any ‘eureka moments’ where things have fallen into place in your practice or understanding of managing behaviour.

• Download a Word template
• Copy a Google Doc template

On some occasions we will prompt you to use the reflection grid, but feel free to use it whenever you want. We hope you find it a useful tool to help you in your learning journey – so that when you go online and you start to talk with others, you’ve got ideas to share.

Reflection grid

Take a look at your reflection grid for this week. This week Paul introduced the foundation of behaviour management as your ability to control yourself. You’ve looked at the impact of adult behaviour and considered what it is like to be taught by you. Your classroom task this week was to change two ways you interact with your students.

Fill in this week’s reflection grid now if you haven’t already done so. Use the comments below to share your thoughts on this week.

Q&A opportunities

• Q&A with STEM Learning (step 3.1) – post before 11 May 2012.
• Q&A with Tom Bennett (step 5.1) – post before 29 May 2020.

Complete the week

Just like other steps, make sure you Mark as Complete using the button bottom right to help you keep track of your progress.

Supporting course

Earlier this week we looked at the amygdala and how this is connected to our emotional processing and engagement. The Science of Learning is our complementary course that looks at how we learn, with the processes of engagement, building knowledge and consolidating understanding explored drawing upon educational neuroscience.