I-Search Paper Reflection

Andrea Edbauer
June 29, 2019

What is it and under what conditions was it created?

This assignment was completed as part of the Literacy 705 course in March of 2014. I had the
opportunity to reflect on my journey as a teacher, beginning with my undergraduate studies. I
added updates to the paper on May 5, 2019, as well.

Why did you select it for this section?

This assignment has improved my understanding of what it means to be a reflective
professional. It was a process that provided me with the opportunity to research myself, and
my journey as a teacher up until this point. It forced me to think back, and choose the most
influential and pivotal moments in my career, and how they have shaped me into the teacher
that I am today.

Growth and change?

Writing the I-Search paper helped me understand more about myself as a teacher. It helped me
develop some goals, and areas of improvement, such as supporting students during
independent reading time. This led to me creating an interactive literacy CAFE menu on my
classroom website (which I recently linked in the paper). I also recognized that I needed to work
on allowing my students adequate time to practice new skills (with support, and
independently).

On May 5, 2019, I updated my paper with some new insights on early literacy, which I have
learned from being a stay at home mom. It has been an incredible experience seeing my own
children grow in their literacy and language development. As I reflect on my time with my
children, and how I support them in our household, I can’t help but think about the children
whose parents do not read to them, and/or do not know how to support their literacy and
language development. If I work with early readers in the future, I will use this new insight to
find ways to support families at home.

Sub-areas addressed: ​Learning, Pedagogy