rpc 6- action plan. one road ends, then next begins

If you have visited OtC recently you have no doubt seen a number of blog challenges relating to reflective practice. If you have missed them, please take a minute and have a look. Here are the first, second, third, fourth and fifth challenges.

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Next, if you, good reader, would permit me to recommend a few of the bloggers who have generated so much discovery and learning through their various blog posts and comments during this challenge. Some truly fantastic educators have weighed in and I feel quite honored indeed to have been able to play a small role in the broad and deep discussions they have produced.

Anne Hendler, Hana Ticha, David Harbinson, Rose Bard, Ann Loseva, Mathew Noble, Kevin Stein, Roseli Serra, Kate (sorry not sure of your last name)…

And an extra special thank you and shout out to Josette LeBlanc and Zhenya Polosatova for providing challenges 4 and 5 in addition to all your other fantastic additions to the groups conversation.

What a phenomenal group we have here!

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Now, as we proceed to the final challenge it is time to think SMART.

SMART plans are a critical component to the ELC. It is with our actions plans that we take what we have learned through our reflective process and attempt to apply lessons learned in our next experience. And then the ELC process starts anew!

So, let’s talk SMART. This is an acronym for

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time frame (also could be time bound)

Wikipedia provides a more detailed run down of the SMART criteria here.

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A format you may find helpful when working to formulate your action plan goes something like…

Next time ___________________

I will ______________________

So that _____________________

There are any number of ways to develop SMART action plans so please don’t feel limited to this example.

Developing action plans help us solidify the thoughts and ideas generated by the ELC. They also give us something firm, something tangible with which to approach future experiences in the classroom and elsewhere.

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And with that we come to an end of our journey. I say “an end” because reflective practice never truly ends. The learning never stops!

I’d, once again, like to thank everyone who participated through blog posts and comments. Reflective practice asks a lot of us. It dives deep into our beliefs and who we are. In doing so, it requires courage and trust to open up. Thank you all for showing such courage. It has been a monumentally enlightening experience.

The reflective challenges may end here on OTC, but we’d like to keep our momentum rolling. If you’re interested in reflection, learning and growth please feel free to join us for future discovery at the Reflective Practice Peer Learning Network (#RPPLN).

By for now!