First Reflection Blog...On reflective practise.

Reflecting on teaching today...Time to Reflect?
As the clock ticks , deadlines or timetables loom who hasn't been in the position of just thinking just keep going, nearly there. Bowing down to the norms or procedures expected in your establishment and then having to live with the expected outcomes. Yes I've been there often.
 I think as teachers this can all too often be a reality, the days aren't any longer just more expected within them. I'm sure we all practise rapid reflection somewhere throughout the day as teachers, as we think on our feet constantly. Having 30 eager little minds, engaging, questioning, and assaulting your senses .....if you didn't you 'd be swamped.
However after working collaboratively more with new colleagues I can see the benefit of rewarding  myself (yes I said rewarding because in this 'Time' poor job, it is a reward to get some quality), reflective time with peers to nut out, reflect and question in a bid to get some specific ideas and suggestions to issues. Solutions and reassurances, that only come from having another personality, brain and outlook to help make sense of the community you are working in.
(Boyd & Malis 1983) mention Reflective practise builds an idea of self awareness of your everyday practice and this practise of critical reflection in itself  builds on the expectation of you as a "lifelong Learner" If Dewey(1933) identified and mentioned Reflecting as a specialised form of thinking-Today 80 years later I feel it's even more important and the one thing that will allow us to digest , process and reflect on the knowledge boom we presently live with.
Am I a reflective thinker?
Yes..Well I thought so! However I looked at it previously as ongoing problem solving , evolving my practise to meet the needs of the class at the time. It is only in recent years that I have really reflected more in depth with colleagues, and read to help enlighten situations.
I still go home and mull over events, incidents, pupils at night to 'sleep' on it to try and find solutions retrospectively as mentioned by (van Manen 1990)...
My Journey has hardly begun.