“ Our recent work as teachers in reflective practice builds on the TBI foundation and carries us forward.”
“ Our recent work as teachers in reflective practice builds on the TBI foundation and carries us forward.”
assessing the quality of student work, evaluating teacher lesson plans, and examining observational data provided by peers who observed classrooms, providing descriptions of the interactions between teacher, students, and the curriculum.
During the 2024-2025 school year, we built on what we learned from this pilot, engaging 12 teachers in a more intensive program. We met weekly after school, digging deeply into the research literature and carrying out cycles of inquiry in which each teacher was trying to answer critical questions about how to enhance learning for every student in their classrooms. We formed“ affinity groups,” increasing our capacity for inquiry by building collaboration between teachers who shared common questions about their classroom practice. At year’ s end, each teacher prepared a summary report of their efforts. In every case, innovations were designed and implemented, data was collected and analyzed, and evidence of improvements in student learning emerged from the ways teachers advanced their practices.
Here are a few examples of the outcomes of our Reflective Practice Group:
• One teacher wanted students to be more self-directed as learners, tackling new challenges through problem-solving strategies that build from prior knowledge and collaboration with peers. The teacher developed a protocol that encouraged productive struggle * and was explicit with students about the ways classroom practices were being restructured. It worked. Students not only developed key competencies and confidence in their own abilities, but the teacher was able to give more time to individualized instruction that advanced each student’ s skills and knowledge.
• Another teacher wanted to help students develop second language skills and knowledge through the motivational pathway of games, while also addressing the different needs of individual students. Quoting the teacher,“ This year I decided to research how students can produce Spanish more independently and spontaneously as a result of implementing strategies for differentiation, especially by incorporating differentiated games.” Success in playing the game required students to engage in fluent dialogue and represented a final assessment of student competencies, but very few students were ready to succeed, and many were at very different levels of understanding. The teacher designed a developmental sequence of activities for practice in the necessary skills and knowledge. This allowed students multiple points of access and a ladder of development that would provide experiences of success, building confidence and competence along the way. The results of this innovation are persuasive, and this teacher will be focusing on more differentiation approaches that address individual needs in the coming year.
• One of the affinity groups focused on the use of informal writing practices as a form of reflective practice that positions learners to think about their own thinking and dig more deeply into their own learning practices and the forms of understanding that matter. As one teacher described her inquiry:“ Through this investigation, I sought to uncover the most effective ways to support students in understanding how to use writing and discussion as tools for exploring the uncharted territories of their minds, helping them construct new ideas and refine them through ongoing reflection and revision.” These focused freewriting practices ensure that every student is meaningfully engaged with the subject area knowledge while building a network of observations
* Meaningful learning asks students to apply skills and knowledge to solving a problem or meeting a challenge that requires effort and persistence. When a student successfully completes such a task, they have built new knowledge and capacities as a result of“ productive struggle.” We use words like struggle to acknowledge that learning is not easy. Whether we are learning to be successful on the basketball court or in the classroom, we must engage effortful and deliberate practice.
Summer 2025 • 17