The end of the school year is often a frenzy of activities and we all can’t wait for the summer to begin. We make a huge energetic push to get the kids and ourselves to the finish line so and the lure of sleeping in a little later and the summer adventure we have planned are naturally on the forefronts of our minds. But are we missing out if we don’t make time for some reflection on our year? Time flies and the school year ramps up and we think, “what was that system improvement I wanted to make?,” or “I know I wanted to tweak this unit but I can’t remember what I wanted to do and now I don’t have time to do it,” or “I really was never able to reach that student and I really need to do better for kids but how?” We often don’t have the opportunity to innovate or iterate because as soon as the year starts up again, the madness begins and we start our race to the finish line once again.

Taking the time to do a written reflection at the end of the school year is a powerful ritual that can go a long way to moving the needle for teachers and principals but also for the students we serve. Teachers who engage in reflection rituals often end up sharing this reflective practice with students. Same goes for school and district leaders. Self knowledge of accomplishments and areas for improvement helps our brains and the systems we create grow. Reflective mindsets are more open to collaborative inquiry and can more easily adapt and be responsive to challenges and changes and interrupt the status quo that continues to marginalize way too many students and families. The more reflective rituals are honored, the more they take root and flourish.

Here is a process for reflection that helps us be systems thinkers as we “go wide” to assess our current reality and lift that which we want to celebrate and replicate and that which we need to tweak or stop doing altogether.

An After Action Review is a high level set of reflective prompts that foster reflection in a short period of time.

Try this set of prompts:

1. Based on your goals for the year, what was supposed to happen?
2. What actually happened?
3. What do you think accounts for the difference?
4. Think of student who you had great success with. What actions did you take do you attribute to this success? What other factors in the system were at play?
5. Now think of a student who you did not reach. What actions did you take do you attribute to this challenge? What other factors in the system were at play?
6. What will you do with what you have learned from this reflection? Write out a list to act on.

What are some of the ways you reflect? Feel free to leave a comment.

And after some purposeful reflection…go to the beach! For real. Recharge those batteries. You so deserve it and in case not enough people said it – THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR KDIS EVERYDAY!