Reflections on Reflection

     When we first consider the action of reflection, we rarely think of this as a systematic action.  Most of us consider reflection as sitting back and just thinking about things.  According to the text, School Leader Internship, reflection is a systematic action that serves four purposes:  a meaning maker, a rigorous way of thinking, a part of a community of learners, and a set of attitudes.  Throughout this internship, I have learned about not only the importance of reflection, but also the benefits of reflection.  I have learned to take a systematic approach to reflecting on each activity I accomplish and see it in a whole new light.  This has proven invaluable throughout this internship experience.  I have no doubt that the time spent reflecting and documenting those reflections has helped me retain information and learn in a way that I have never learned before.  As educators we believe in repetition, in evaluation, in assessment, etc.  However, we sometimes forget about the importance of taking time to sit down and think through our actions and evaluating their effectiveness.  The written reflections also provide a resource to which I can refer when dealing with similar situations.  Taking time to write down my thoughts about a situation or experience will provide important assistance as I deal with many situations.  Being able to look back at my reflections, reminds me of what is important and what I learned from previous experiences.

     The most difficult and time consuming reflections I wrote this year were the individual activity logs.  It took much self-discipline to sit down and reflect on each activity as it was completed.  However, these reflections have also proven to be valuable resources.  As I complete this internship and look back over my logs, I am amazed at what our district has accomplished over the past year.   I have been fortunate to be a part of numerous changes under our new superintendent and he has blessed me with much responsibility in making those changes.  Even those activities that seemed insignificant at the time have contributed greatly to our success this year. The reflection logs gave meaning to each activity and provided opportunities to bridge my experiences, which has led me to accomplish more than I ever expected throughout this program.  For example, Activity #5 of my internship plan was assessing the leadership culture of our district and comparing the leadership styles of the past three superintendents.  I discovered some very important pros and cons to each leadership style and was able to compile a list of “do’s and don’ts” in relation to the superintendent position.  This also required me to take a good hard look at my own leadership style and make adjustments that will help me become a more effective leader.  In Activity #32 of my plan, I developed interpersonal goals for myself.  This required that I take a hard, serious look at myself and find areas for improvement.  As I evaluated my improvement in these areas, I discovered that it was helpful to reflect on my status at least once every two weeks.  Frequent reflection kept me on track and proved very effective in helping me develop those skills.  In a more procedural area, I found my reflections on Activity #6 of the internship plan to be very helpful.  This was the activity in which I developed a plan for our campus and district site-based committees and meetings. Reflecting on this activity was proof of what the text says about reflection being a “part of a community of learners.” (pg. 107)  This activity required me to involve others in the process and the reflection.  Their input was invaluable and fostered a collaborative culture among administrators.

     In regards to reflection activities through my course assignments, I believe it goes without saying that the most effective activity was writing the Internship Competency Reflections.  This activity was an example of what the text refers to as “reflection as a meaning maker” (pg. 107) Taking time to reflect on my internship activities by competency, reinforced the meaning and the concept of each of the superintendent competencies.  This application of real life activities to the competency allowed me to give more meaning to the competencies and therefore, remember them.  Another helpful course activity was the “analyzing two Texas school districts” activity in EDLD 5342.  This activity reinforced the concepts related to school finance.  Analyzing data from real school districts and answering questions about that data was a very effective learning activity.  In EDLD 5387, we completed a reflection activity related to cultural proficient leadership in our district.  This activity required me to analyze our achievement gaps and reflect on ways to close those gaps through the use of professional development, data disaggregation, and evaluation of current programs.  This was an eye-opening experience as it made me realize how little we are doing to help our teachers in the area of professional development. 

     As I look back through the reflections in my blog, one particular activity stands out above the rest.  Creating the job entry plan was a fantastic reflection experience.  This activity required me to reflect upon numerous areas of my internship and apply the knowledge about the superintendency that I have gained over the past year.  Taking time to sit down and plan out by goals and objectives for the first day, first week, first month and first year, made me reflect upon the entry plan I used when beginning my principalship.  I took time to reflect on the things I did when first becoming principal and separating the “good moves” from the “bad moves.”  This was invaluable as I began thinking about how I would begin as a superintendent.  Drawing on my past experiences, interviews with current superintendents and reading through course materials gave me the resources I needed to develop what I believe is an effective plan for entering the superintendent position of any district.

     The assessments throughout this program were helpful in making me realize carefully I need to look at each question and answer choice.  As I took the assessments, I was required to think back and reflect on every aspect of the question.  It wasn’t good enough to just be familiar with the concepts.  I had to be able to apply multiple concepts to a variety of situations.  Taking time to reflect over assessment results not only reinforced concepts, but also developed my test taking skills.

     I have no doubt that I will continue to use reflective practices to improve my leadership skills throughout the remainder of my career.  However, I am unsure as to the best avenue through which to practice reflection.  I believe I will continue to use my blog, but I’m not sure I want all of my reflections to be available on the world wide web.  Journals have proven to be very helpful to me during my principalship, and I am sure I will continue this practice.  Sometimes it helps to just sit down and write out a reflection in a private place where you can express exactly who you feel.  When in a calmer state, I can go back and read over that reflection and take out the helpful reflections and leave the emotions out.  In order for reflections to be effective, they must be backed up by data and facts.

    I also believe I will use reflection as I begin new initiatives and develop my plan of action.  In the same way we used reflection to develop our job entry plan, I can use the process to develop a plan for virtually any project.  There is no question that taking time to systematically plan, review and evaluate through reflection is the key to success for every leader.  Reflective practices have proven extremely beneficial throughout my career and I have no doubt they will continue to be an important part of my future as a superintendent.