If you work in special education, chances are that you have at least been a witness to a major behavior incident or even been part of a school wide crisis team.  This is the part of our job that no one wants to talk about, but it is extremely important that we do. We shouldn’t shy away from the difficult conversations because they are uncomfortable. I’ve even heard teachers complain about administrators or parents who ask “Is there anything that could’ve been done differently?” And honestly… I hated that too for so so long! I wanted to shout “NO!” because I took it as them questioning my ability to do my job rather than asking me to reflect on the situation for the next time.

Reflection on one’s teaching practices is the hallmark of any good teacher.  It shouldn’t begin and end with lesson plans.  We should be extending this to all areas of our teaching craft because lets face it, the actual teaching method is such a small portion of what we do. When I really started to think about it, I realized that these were not judgmental questions.  How else are we to change our approach if things are not working well unless we incorporate reflection into our process?  In 2018, I began asking myself 4 questions after each event and it has transformed my approach to behavior incidents and the aftermath.