Reflection. A part of me.

Ever since I saw the post on the Student Organization wordpress about the competition on reflection (and the prize that came along with it), I began to think more about reflection and what it means to me.

For 2 years in Wheelock, reflection became the most common word used in our vocabulary. We would always be reflecting on our personal or professional experiences, reflecting on the required texts or even reflecting on the many journals we had to read for our action research. Reflection had become so common that many of us shiver at the thought of writing yet another reflection for an assignment. Just ask any Wheelock graduate or student to describe what Wheelock means to her, reflection will be the first thing she talks about.

It's been 6 months and counting into the job and here I am in the midst of IEP meetings (In ECH, we call them parent-teacher meetings). And I find myself reflecting - reflecting on my experiences, reflecting on my interactions with colleagues, parents and children, reflecting on my teaching methods, reflecting on my knowledge of children with ASD and reflecting on new knowledge and suggestions given by therapists and fellow teachers. I choose to believe that it is Wheelock that built into my system a culture of reflection, a culture to reflect so that I can learn and become better at what I do. Reflection has become a norm, an innate thing to do everyday. It's no longer an assignment that my professor wants me to do. Reflection has become a part of me, a part of who I am. I now know that in order to make a difference - a good difference - in the lives of children and families - I need to constantly reflect and improve.

If thinking about thinking is metacognition, I wonder what is reflecting about reflection?