Personal reflection through writing is a fairly new to me. I had never been the type of person who found enjoyment in writing about my thoughts and experiences. Recently my view has changed, and I have found that I thoroughly enjoy taking the time to record my musings about life. I realized that I already spend time reflecting on many moments of my life, and that writing them down allows me to reference them whenever I like. Memory is useful in recalling details, but only for a short time. Eventually facts begin to get fuzzy and emotions can get forgotten. I have found that in a way, writing my reflections is a chance to “talk it out” and straighten out my thoughts. This is especially critical to growing and assessing where I am in all aspects of life.

The critical reflection that I did for this class was foreign at first, because I had never thought to think so critically about my job. This is not to say that I don’t think about my job; I have merely never considered it as something I should write the finer details about. Usually, when a person writes about their job in a journal, it is due to things like drama or a promotion. The critical reflection that we were asked to do for this class though, was to evaluate the everyday happenings of our positions and companies. Honestly, I was skeptical at first, but I quickly found that I liked it.

These reflections were a great exercise in how to effectively receive feedback. The article Thanks for the Feedback addresses how the way a person receives feedback is vital. Feedback is not easy, and we often take it very personally. I can sometimes have a hard time with feedback; ironically the hardest feedback for me to receive is my own. Yes, I feel that personal, inward reflection is our own form of feedback. The saying goes “we’re our own worst critics”. For me, the critiques I give myself are some of the toughest I receive. This is due to holding myself to such a high standard. The reflections for this class have allowed me to turn my personal feedback into something constructive and useful. The authors of Thanks for the Feedback indicate that if a person can learn how to effectively receive feedback, they will in turn, learn how to effectively give feedback. These reflections helped me improve on both of those things.

As a teacher, I often find several thoughts flying in my brain at once. There is a lot to balance when you are dealing with 5 to 12-year-olds in an after-school setting. The Lego just adds to the chaos! Our reflections forced me to take a few steps back and think about what is going on at any given moment during my time spent with my students. It helped me to pinpoint what I’m excelling at as a teacher and what things I’d really like to improve on. My reflections gave me a chance to ask myself things I used to only think of in passing, before something else was fighting for my attention. Once I had started writing these things down, I started to write goals and track my progress towards them. For example, I asked myself how I could help my students better understand the STEM concepts I teach. I used this as a starting point to brainstorm more ways I could help more students understand. As I was thinking, I realized that I am also a student. So, I started to draw on my experiences as a student and listed ways I liked to learn. I realized that I sometimes I need something explained in several different ways. My students were no different; I used this knowledge to come up with different ways to demonstrate and explain the same concept or idea. This new approach has been helping more students understand and remember the concepts I introduce to them. I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to define and refine this process without this assignment.

The times I spent reflecting on my work helped me finally make the connection between my coursework and my position. The two always felt like compartmentalized sections of my life and that was sometimes tough to balance. It sometimes felt like there was a “working Kaylynn” and a “student Kaylynn”. Of course, this felt silly to me since I am only one Kaylynn. Having the opportunity to marry those two worlds through this course was and still is exciting to me. The critical reflections that were required of me quickly became something I wanted to do, because I knew it was benefitting me in enormous ways. I think it is important to be able to connect the different things I do in life to each other. It is my plan to continue these reflections in some form for this position and future positions. The reflections will allow me to make the connections I desire. They will also push me to continuously make goals and evaluate them. I think this strategy will help keep me from getting complacent in a position, or even help me realize when it is time to move on. I’ve realized that reflection is the easiest way to help pinpoint both what I can work on, but also what my strengths are.

The article from Thanks for the Feedback that we read in class came from this book. I liked what I read so much that I bought the book and I am currently reading it to learn new strategies on recieving feedback effectively.

Reflection 1 - Understanding My Leadership Lens by Kaylynn on Scribd

Reflection 2 - Exploring Hidden Culture by Kaylynn on Scribd

Reflection 3 - Moving Forward by Kaylynn on Scribd

Above are the three reflections that I turned in for this course. There are many more that I have kept for personal record.