Red Flagging Ourselves

I was talking with a colleague today recently after school and we got onto the topic of "red flags". Usually, as teachers, we look for red flags in our students. We think about what the grade-level expectations are and we diligently follow our students' progress.  

But what about finding our own "red flags"?  How do we know when we have become complacent?  How do we know if we are using best practice?  How do we know if our management strategies are efficient?  

I think our best compass is our internal compass. 

I know when I've wandered off the path, so to speak, I can feel it in my gut. And when I think closely about the times when my compass is off is because I know that what I'm doing is not in sync with what I believe teaching should be. 

For example, In the past I've had a slotted time in my day for independent reading for my students. But it wasn't long before I started to get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that this reading time was missing something.  I was giving them 15 minutes of extra time to read for fun, which is good, but I couldn't drop the feeling that I was not taking advantage of this instructional opportunity.  I could just feel it. 

Even though structures are in place to help, our best guide is ourselves. We just have to pay attention.