It's hard because we want the teacher to get to what we think needs to be changed or fixed. So we tend to lead them down a path that we think is important. 

I think it comes down to time. We don't allow enough time for self reflection. I started sending a "feedback form" to the teachers I observe as a reflection tool. I ask them to complete it before we meet and use that to guide our discussion. I also add action items for myself based off of their needs like looking for PD or ordering additional curriculum materials/resources. 

Pacing is one of those areas that needs to be left up to the classroom teacher's professional discretion because they know their students best. This is one area where a teacher might have to be at a different place with each class and they usually make these decisions thoughtfully in order to get the best gains for the actual students in the room, not some theoretical class thought up by a curriculum developer or instructional support person.Pacing and classroom management are two areas where micromanagement can be very contraindicative. In pacing, if you push a teacher to move along a certain pace to check off a box, there will be students left behind who have no grasp of the concept. With classroom management, micromanaging a teacher may result in undermining their authenticity and that will create a difficult classroom dynamic

This speaks to a level of confidence. Do we have the confidence that teachers are doing this faithfully and do we have the confidence that true reflection is taking place where teachers are willing to take the time and make changes to their practice. In essence, acknowledging that there is a better way than initially planned. 

Sometimes it's hard for supervisors to give up the control over what happening in the classrooms to the teacher. We have a vision of what we want the classroom to look like, but it's the teacher that needs to reflect on the classroom and make the necessary adjustments. 

I feel the biggest problem is time. I was just setting up the coming school year grade level meetings and it started me remembering being a teacher and feeling the weight of too many meetings. And to have a quality conversation that is meaningful and allows time for teacher reflection takes time. I also feel that many times I have fixed idea of what the answer should be and so does the teacher - with time there is the ability to see how the teacher is thinking and then make adjustments to my fix thinking as well. 

I agree with some of the other comments, that some of these teachers have a fixed mindset. They don't really want to reflect on their practice, especially if they are veteran teachers, they are set in their ways. They don't want to necessarily reflect on feedback. So there are people that you give feedback to, and they don't do anything with it. Especially this year there are a lot of people who want to leave the profession and they know when it comes to evaluations and that kind of feedback. They know that people, the administrators have to do it, but they've already decided that they're leaving education, so they don't really care. So yeah, working on a reflection of me if a teachers leaving the profession and starting a new career, they're stepping back to reflect on the practice that they're doing in that path.

Unfortunately, many educators were never taught or encouraged to self reflect. Teacher training programs typically focus the instruction on how to structure and write lesson plans. They do not train the aspiring teachers on how to reflect on their teaching and evaluate themselves. This mindset carries over into the profession and the pattern continues. Teachers are given directives on what they need to teach, lesson plans are created, administration observes the teachers, a formal write up is done, and meeting is held to discuss the write up. The self reflection part is usually left out of the process. 

Because administrators were teachers themselves at one point, they often have strong habits of teaching mind that they look to as the necessary means to success. This commitment to a way of doing things may create an unconscious bias that occludes other pedagogical ways of getting to content and skills. 

I think as support staff, there is the feeling that we need to offer suggestions to improve performance before inquiring with them to see what their reflections are. 

It is not always easy to get them talking. 

Sometimes it's about time and the sense of urgency. The time it takes sometimes to speak with with a newer teacher or a teacher with flawed thinking eats up too much time, where I believe we're able to just have some honest dialogues about what needs to change. And if I'm leading that conversation, I believe we'll get more bang for our buck sometimes.

When a teacher shows that they may possibly need an improvement plan, I begin by having them reflect on whatever issue they may be having and provide some coaching. After several conversations and days of observing the same behaviors (little to no changes) that leads to the improvement plan, as the admin (evaluator) I have to be more direct on and what I expect to see. Usually due to contractual timelines, this process is rushed. 

Because we made it this far (professionally) by taking the initiative and it's difficult to change tactics when it has works so well for us in the past.

I think it is so hard for us to simply let the teachers reflect on their own practice and not guide them in the direction we want because we have been told and instructed some many times that we are supposed to be the ones giving the directions. We are supposed to be guiding the changes that need to be made in the classroom and not simply be a passenger in the car. 

I think overall it's difficult because sometimes we just want to guide them. But it's also important as a reflective leader to allow them to reflect and really think of things that they can do on their own. And sometimes, as administrators, we want to have always the answer for them. But it's not the best practice. It's important just to allow them the opportunity to reflect and make the changes that are necessary.

Reflection is a skill that does not get practiced enough. I do not think it is hard for us to let teachers do the work of reflection but rather some don't want to do it. That is an extra mental load and time that they may not be willing to dedicate to reflection. They may be okay with just coasting by. Some, most certainly not all, do not want to grow. The status quo is okay.