Reflection in Learning, Teacher PD and More - Top Posts from 2015

2015 was a great year for “teaching like an artist”! I presented at a few conferences, wrote a lot of posts, finished a book and put it into practice on the job more than ever. I’ve seen many teachers and students inspired by these principles I love to highlight.

Several themes show up on this blog, but reflection took the center stage in 2015. I’m thrilled with that because it's always my goal to give teachers and students something deep and meaningful to ponder when I present to them.

Here are the top posts related to reflection questions for teachers. They are suitable for PD activities, a PLC or as a personal reflection exercise.

• Finding Strength to Do the Real Work of Teaching - These survey results and thoughts became the #1 post of the year!
• 5 Thought Provoking Questions for Teacher PD, PLCs or Reflection - Some questions based on entries from my journal guide
• Note to Myself as a 1st year teacher - A slightly updated version of a post I made a couple years ago

This top post presents reflection activities for students:

Reflection Journal Template and Resources - This is my student reflection journal created in Google Apps. It's suitable for many grades and subjects.

The Way of the Google Drive
I challenged myself to post on one of my blogs every day in the month of October. The goal was to highlight conference sessions I was presenting with two friends in early November. We called it The Way of  the Google Drive. Writing these posts was a great way to focus in on the heart of my message. I am grateful to see others found these top posts to be of interest.

• How I Know We're Doing Something Right - My short list of signs the lesson is working
• Art and Risk - Trying something that "might not work" can make it more exciting.
• Taking the Plunge into Inquiry Based Learning - An interview about one of the most exciting projects I worked on this year
• Student Opinions of Our Inquiry Based Learning Activity - What students learned from that exciting project was the best news of all!
• Doing the Real Work of Art - Some see hard work as a sign something is wrong. Maybe it means you're on the right track.

Like Never Before - I almost forgot I wrote this post way back in February. It highlights the story that grew into The Way of the Google Drive months later.

Two Years of Teaching Like an Artist - A quick look at where I was and what I've learned since the summer of 2013.

My most popular page of the year (not counting the main blog page) has been the one about my Teaching Like an Artist daily journal. Please check it out to see how you can get a free digital copy!