Reflecting on reflection

So, I might have mentioned I'm back in school, getting my master's in teaching. This requires a lot of writing, which is great because I like to write and fancy myself a pretty good writer. Here's the thing that is killing me: reflections. Teaching should be a reflective profession and as a teacher I should be thoughtful in my approach at all times. Seriously, though, I have had to write reflective documents on every. thing. And it is making me crazy.

I get it, I really do; the goal is to make reflection a habitual part of the planning/instruction cycle. The best way to do this is to practice, just like any other new skill, in order to ingrain that idea. Fine. I respect the profession and my instructors enough that I will do pretty much whatever is asked of me in my attempt to become an educator. I worry, though, about the impact of reflection being lost by virtue of it getting watered down as just another thing I have to do on my assignment checklist. I am a reflective, borderline neurotic individual. I beat myself up after anything I do over the hundred ways I could have done better; it's just part of who I am. I want to embrace this reflective practice, but I find myself dreading the most instinctive part of the process.

Maybe I'm just stressed out by end of the quarter workload, who knows. I'm antsy to get on down this road to teacherhood and sometimes I just get impatient with the process. If anybody out there is reading this, let me know how you cope with the hurdles, great or small, on your path to bliss.