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In-service program documentation
Participants' final reflections (D8.2)
Directions for final reflection

As we have advocated for students, it seems very important to culminate our year's work by reflecting on the significance of the inquiry we have engaged in over the past year. You have already been asked to reflect on much of the experience in order to help us adjust and refine the institute and materials. What we feel is important now is to consider your own classroom and your own learning and growth with respect to (a) instructional design; (b) everyday teaching practices; (c) understanding of students' learning; (d) understanding of student disabilities. A process that was extremely helpful for us at the end of our first year in schools was to reread the journals and reflections done during the previous year and then to focus on the question:

In what ways will my own learning over the past year inform my practice next year?

Such a written reflection should be a productive way to bring to closure our time together and continue a look toward the future for each of you.

The following questions that might help you to further focus your thinking:

• What surprised you most about teaching the units? About the mathematics you were able to address? About what the students could or could not do? About the effects of specific activities? About your own reactions to certain events or activities?
• What AHA experiences did you have during the year?
• What unexpected/unplanned benefits resulted from your teaching and/or planning of the units? What unexpected/unplanned drawbacks resulted?
• What unexpected/unplanned benefits resulted from the documentation of the units? What unexpected/unplanned drawbacks resulted?
• In what ways do you think you actually did change in instructional practices and/or philosophy?
• What were the most significant student learnings this year? How do you know? What else could they learn from the units if some things were changed?
• What do your students believe is significant mathematics? How do they feel about themselves as mathematics students? as mathematicians? Has your teaching affected their thinking on these issues?
• Did certain students do better than others during the units? Which ones and why?
• What classroom experiences during the year were crucial to your understanding of learning disabilities?
• Do you feel that the inquiry approach to teaching mathematics is good for students? What specific instructional ideas will you continue? Why do you think each is valuable for all students? Can you point to any of the instructional ideas that are particularly valuable for learning disabled students? Are there any parts of the inquiry approach that concern you? For all students? For learning disabled students in particular?

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