When I began my Cohort 21 journey, I asked myself a question that would reshape my entire approach to teaching:\u00a0How might we engage students in critically reflective practices to help them see their own growth as a work in progress, thereby fostering confidence in navigating academic, athletic, and personal challenges?<\/em><\/p>\n This question emerged from a deep conviction that our students need more than skill development\u2014they need to\u00a0see themselves<\/em>\u00a0as capable, resilient learners. In our arts classroom, where vulnerability and growth are essential, I wanted to create a culture where reflection wasn’t something we did\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0students as a summative exercise, but something we did\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0them, continuously, as a way of understanding their own evolution.<\/p>\n The main phase of my action plan became the Students Teaching Staff events<\/strong>\u2014held a few times throughout the year. Here’s how it works: grade 9\/10 students who have been playing their instrument for just 3-6 months teach a staff member (teacher, administrator, custodian) how to play a woodwind or brass instrument for the first time!<\/p>\n It’s a simple idea, but the impact is profound.<\/p>\n When a student becomes the expert, everything shifts. They suddenly have\u00a0evidence<\/em> of their own growth\u2014tangible proof that they can do something. After each event, we engage in explicit journaling practices where students connect what they noticed about their own progress through what they done with the staff. This isn’t surface-level reflection; it’s critical reflection that asks students to articulate how<\/em>\u00a0they’ve grown and\u00a0why<\/em>\u00a0that matters.<\/p>\n Beyond the events themselves, I implemented a\u00a0course reflection form<\/strong>\u00a0where students wrote about their overall experience in the class and the skills they felt they’d developed. I also redesigned one of our exams to be\u00a0reflection-based<\/strong>, asking students to summarize what they’ve learned about themselves through the course\u2014not just what they’ve learned about music.<\/p>\n To keep the work visible and alive all year, I posted my Cohort question in the classroom so students could leave comments, set goals, and track their thinking over time in relation to the question. This simple practice transformed reflection from something that happens at the end of a unit into something that’s constantly present, constantly evolving.<\/p>\n The results have been meaningful. Students are now able to talk about their growth in more sophisticated ways. Importantly, they’re connecting what they’ve learned in music class to their other subjects and their lives outside of school. They’re setting more meaningful goals for themselves. And perhaps most significantly, they’ve moved from initial resistance to genuine enthusiasm for the events\u2014they\u00a0want<\/em>\u00a0to participate because they’ve internalized the value of what we’re doing.<\/p>\n This year taught me that\u00a0students are far more resilient learners than I initially believed.<\/strong><\/p>\n I entered this work thinking students would constantly need explicit subject knowledge and direct instruction to grow. Instead, I discovered they’re remarkably capable of learning through their peers and from resources they find themselves. This peer learning also helped them develop problem-solving skills\u2014they weren’t just learning music; they were learning how to learn<\/em>.<\/p>\n This realization fundamentally shifted my teaching practice. I’ve become more open to hearing a wide variety of reflective practices from students, rather than imposing a single “right way” to reflect. And in doing so, I’ve deepened my own reflective practices. I’m more intentional about examining my own teaching, my assumptions, and my growth as an educator.<\/p>\n The journey to student buy-in wasn’t immediate. Initially, some students were hesitant about the teaching events. But I learned something crucial:\u00a0consistency matters.<\/strong>\u00a0When students noticed that we kept revisiting reflection throughout the year\u2014that it wasn’t going away\u2014they began to trust the process. Reflection became a cultural norm, not a one-time activity.<\/p>\n One ongoing challenge has been engaging grade-motivated students. These are students who are primarily focused on the outcome (the grade) rather than the process. I’m still learning how to help them shift their focus, but I’m committed to emphasizing the\u00a0process<\/em>\u00a0alongside the end result. Their growth matters, even if it doesn’t show up as an A.<\/p>\n Stephen Brookfield’s\u00a0Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher<\/em><\/strong> was foundational to my thinking. Brookfield makes an important distinction: teachers can either inhibit or encourage critical reflection. He also challenges us to recognize that many reflection exercises we call “effective” are actually meaningless for students. Critical reflection is fundamentally different\u2014it’s engaging, meaningful, and purposeful. This framework helped me design reflection practices that actually matter.<\/p>\n Beyond the research, I created\u00a0event templates and reflective templates<\/strong>\u00a0that are now being used across my school. These practical tools help other educators structure their own reflective practices in ways that are meaningful rather than performative.<\/p>\n Here’s what I’ve come to understand:\u00a0Reflection does not have to be something we focus on once in the classroom when we move toward a summative assessment. It can be something we use to create a long-term reflective and growth “portfolio”\u2014like a journal\u2014that students build throughout the year.<\/strong><\/p>\n But there’s more to it than that. By engaging members outside of the classroom\u2014other teachers, administrators, the broader school community\u2014the reflection and skills branch far beyond the music classroom. When a student teaches a staff member and then reflects on that experience, they’re not just growing as musicians. They’re growing as communicators, as teachers, as confident young people who can see themselves as capable of helping others.<\/p>\n That’s huge.<\/p>\n As I reflect on this year, a new question has emerged:\u00a0How can I encourage students to kickstart their own reflective practices, and use the strategies they’ve learned to notice growth during challenging times?<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the next frontier for me. I want students to internalize these reflective practices so deeply that when they face a difficult moment\u2014whether in music, academics, athletics, or their personal lives\u2014they instinctively turn to reflection as a tool for understanding and growth. I want them to own this practice, not just participate in it because I’ve structured it.<\/p>\n This year has shown me that reflection, when done critically and consistently, is transformative. It’s not just about noticing growth\u2014it’s about building the confidence and resilience our students need to navigate an uncertain world. As I move forward, I’m committed to deepening this work and helping students become their own reflective practitioners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction When I began my Cohort 21 journey, I asked myself a question that would reshape my entire approach to teaching:\u00a0How might we engage students in critically reflective practices to help them see their own growth as a work in progress, thereby fostering confidence in navigating academic, athletic, and personal challenges? This question emerged from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":510,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/510"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/emmachenier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What I Did & Its Impact<\/h2>\n
What I Learned<\/h2>\n
Resources That Shaped My Work<\/h2>\n
My Big Takeaway<\/h2>\n
Lingering Questions & Future Directions<\/h2>\n