As much as receiving thank you notes from both parents and students as well as appreciation from peers demonstrates one’s good teaching abilities, to be an exceptional and prominent teacher, one needs to go an extra mile and employ one salient principle referred to as reflective monitoring and evaluation. Any teacher or educator understands that reflective practices such as monitoring and evaluation are methods used to aid individuals to contemplate individual experiences and actions to engage in the process of learning and development continuously. However, a competent educator will realize that there is more to teaching rather than merely reflecting on his or her experiences. To this end, a competent educator will ensure that his or her performance is monitored and progress evaluated against certain criteria. As such, the educator will be better placed in identifying his or her areas of weaknesses and strengths thus adjusting their teaching accordingly.
Among other competencies and skills required in education, reflective monitoring and evaluation are desirable because it is so easy to fall prey to one’s ego regarding success in teaching. As such, subjecting oneself to reflective monitoring and evaluation techniques is a fundamental way to portray intelligence to not only one’s peers but also students. One of the methods involves maintaining a reflective journal for documenting ideas, observations, visions, objectives, and observations regarding the teaching practice. The documentation can be on paper as in a physical journal or through a computer. Through the reflective or learning journal, the educator can focus and develop his thoughts and ideas. Also, the educator remains aware of his or her actions, objectives, and strategies based on the journal entries made every day. One can also use diagrams and charts in journal entries to elaborate on related teaching techniques and objectives that coincide or rather to present a chronological strategy that ends up in the evaluation of his or her progress. Monitored progress through the journal boosts the educator’s confidence in advancing his conceptual and analytical skills. Ultimately, this technique aids the educator to create links between professional and personal experiences to education concepts and theories.
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In evaluating progress, the educator should continuously seek feedback from students regarding whether they understand what they are taught, especially those students who require more attention such as the ESL or CLD students. Asking for feedback boosts confidence in the students, and they are able to understand that just like them, the teacher faces failure, success, concerns, and frustrations. This is important as it bridges the gap between the teacher and the student. However, asking for feedback requires the educator to be patient in listening to the students and subsequently applauding successes and celebrating failures with emphasis that they lead to opportunities to further learning. To avoid bias during self-assessment and evaluation, a third party such as a mentor, supervisor or peer groups who give honest opinions and suggestions regarding the progress should be used. The educator should use the feedback provided by the third party to plan for future lessons
An additional technique in reflective monitoring and evaluation is the use of video recording. Experts have ideologized this method as the best technique since it gives an unbiased perspective of the success or failure of the educator’s teaching from both the educator’s and students’ points of view. During evaluation through viewing the footage, it is easy to spot an errant behavior or character during teaching that the educator could otherwise miss during instruction or while making journal entries. The internet can as well serve as a significant tool in solving the weaknesses during the reflective evaluation process. Through social media and blogs, the educator can interact with other educators and inquire about better strategies for improving teaching pertinent to his or her weaknesses. Overall, reflective monitoring and evaluation aim to promote how an educator teaches. To this end, one should not hesitate to adopt different techniques in teaching before the next teaching lesson.
