No matter how busy your schedule, you can renew and refresh your professional growth by using these reflection breaks! Strongly believing that educators should always reflect on their day's work, teacher and writer Thomas S. C. Farrell designed this new book with busy teachers in mind. The 80 reflection breaks featured can be used as individual discussion starters or as part of a comprehensive professional growth plan that is perfect for teachers at all levels. Farrell makes focusing on reflective practice easy by allowing readers to browse through the complete selection of reflective breaks in the table of contents to find their areas of interest and concern. Each reflection break is set within a context of theory, practice, and strategies in the following areas: Spicing up "routine teaching" and reflection after each class Conducting action research and creating a portfolio Reflecting individually or in groups and setting up guidelines for group reflection Communicating and reflecting effectively and devoting enough time to reflection Reflective Practice in Action has a versatile format, inviting educators to reflect on their past actions in the classroom, and offering practical suggestions to improve and energize their professional growth, teaching methods, and classroom strategies.
Thomas S. C. Farrell is a professor in applied linguistics at Brock University, Canada. He has been involved with ESL and applied linguistics for the past 27 years and has written extensively on topics such as reflective practice, language teacher development, and language teacher education. His recent books include Reflective Practice in Action (2004, Corwin Press), Reflecting on Classroom Communication in Asia (2004, Longman), and Professional Development for Language Teachers (2005, Cambridge University Press, coauthored with Jack Richards).
Preface Acknowledgements About the Author 1. Introduction to Reflective Practice 2. Why Reflect? 3. Preparing Teachers for Reflective Practice 4. Getting Started with Reflective Practice 5. Providing Opportunities for Reflective Practice 6. Group Discussion to Aid Reflective Practice 7. Classroom Observation to Aid Reflective Practice 8. Journal Writing to Aid Reflective Practice 9. Creating a Teaching Portfolio to Aid Reflective Practice 10. Generating Topics for Reflection Bibliography Index
"This is an excellent resource that helps seasoned and student teachers alike to reflect individually or as a group at their own paces and at the levels they choose." -- The English Connection
