Within this post I will be describing reflection. Reflection is the act of looking over a past experience and then thinking about what you can learn for it. An example of when I recently used reflection was when looking back at the agency visit we completed, regarding the working together module, and considering what I learnt from it.

The example of reflection I gave is one way in which everyone reflects; through going over what went well and what didn’t within an activity. This can be done through bringing up your own experiences related to the situation so it becomes more obvious what was positive and negative, in addition to what needs worked on. Yet, it can be extremely helpful to have others help you to reflect as this brings forth an extra point of view that you may otherwise have been oblivious to.

Regarding reflecting with others, this is useful when working in groups or through working on similar tasks. This can be done through reflecting with groups e.g. children within your class, to see what needs improvement or what was enjoyable. Through doing this, it allows you to better your understanding and learn from the experience which may, in turn, help you bring new inputs into the classroom.

Both of these types of reflection bring forth a new learning experience which should then be implemented within future practice, and then when it is time for reflection again this process will continue. Ultimately bettering the way in which you are within your career. So, there are many reasons why reflection is important and some examples of why are: you learn from mistakes, you are then able to take control of your own learning and then gain new ideas from it.

So, when looking at the final task given within unit two it asked me to reflect upon my understanding of various academic skills of punctuation, spelling, grammar and shaping of text. Once completing the required reading, it gave me an idea of where my strengths and weaknesses were within these areas. I believe that my strengths are in punctuation and the shaping of text whereas my weaknesses are in spelling and grammar. After reflecting on my weaknesses and strengths I now understand how important these skills are for not only my time at university but also for my professional life. Therefore, I will continue to develop these skills by practicing the OLA and using the Study Skills Booklet to revise the areas where I am weaker.