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Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. Today we're going to focus in on the power of student reflection.
And for today's lesson, I have chosen a quote by Confucius, which states, "By three methods we may learn wisdom. First, by reflection, which is the noblest." And that is absolutely the truth.
Now, by the time we're done with our lesson today, you are going to be able to really review the benefits of student reflection as well as identify the best conditions and some activities for that student reflection. Now, when we look at student reflection, it's important to note that reflection, not only for teachers but also for students, can really be an incredibly powerful learning tool. And it's a really important part of competency-based education.
So when we look at student reflection within K12 environments, we really focused in on that in CBE because reflection is a critical component of the learning process. In fact, if we look at a quote by John Dewey, the father of education, we notice that he states, "We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience." And this is so true, right? This reflection is really when all of that learning gets solidified.
Specifically, if we look at the idea of metacognition or the idea of reflection and practice cycle according to Moon in 1999, the cycle looks a little something like this. First of all, it allows students the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning. So when a student reflects, they are encouraged to really understand what it is that he or she doesn't understand, sort of that higher level thinking about thinking. And then from there, the student's able to really determine what the next step should be in order to move through their individual learning process.
Also, students are able to examine, then, their learning process. This is why it's so important that they understand what's going well and then what really needs work. Students, through reflection, are able to determine which learning strategies support their learning.
When we talk about differentiation, we talk about the idea of really honing in on how students learn best. But in order for a student to really understand that, they need to take time to reflect on what learning experiences have gone well for them in the past, what have been more difficult, and then really what are the best ways that they can meet their needs within a particular class. Finally, as students are able to set goals for that future learning as they work in reflection, goal setting is so important because it helps to set the direction for where the student's going to go. And for a student to be able to play a big role in that, to reflect on what it is that they've learned and to set those future goals for themselves, there's a much greater likelihood that those goals are going to be achieved in the future.
So in order for student reflection to work best, you need to see the following characteristics. First and foremost, student reflection should allow students the time to think through the learning. So reflection can not be a quick process. And in fact, for a lot of students, if it's the first time, it's going to be a long process. So you want to make sure that you allot adequate time for students to be able to think through that learning process and then return to the task at hand.
Student reflection should incorporate a facilitator, someone who can really help foster that reflection. It requires coaching and encouragement. Reflection isn't always easy, and it's definitely not always fun, and so sometimes it can be really helpful to have a facilitator who can frame questions that are helpful ways to get the students really thinking and reflecting.
And finally, reflection has to happen within a supportive classroom. There needs to be really a culture of learning and that positive attitude towards learning for students to be able to reflect. Otherwise, it's going to be kind of a dead end if there isn't that environment that really hones that appreciation for learning.
So there are many, many, many different activities that can take place for reflection. As you start to kind of comb through the different ways in which you could incorporate reflection into the classroom, you want to make sure that the activities that you have that encourage reflection have the following qualities. They should be, first and foremost, authentic. You want to make sure that they involve real-life learning situations and that students aren't being asked to reflect on something that's already fairly ethereal. You want to make sure it's as concrete and as authentic as possible.
Additionally, they should include open-ended questions. So these are those essential questions that we've talked about where there is no single right or wrong answer. This allows the reflection to feel much more like the student is driving their own vehicle as they look through their learning as opposed to another test that they have to take.
Finally, reflection activities should require students to really assimilate the new content, what they've just learned, into some previous learning. Students drawing these connections between what they're learning now and what they've learned before and then connecting it to what they'll learn in the future really require organizing those thoughts, but they also really help to solidify that student learning and their own evaluation of that learning process.
As you look through activities for reflection in your classroom that help to meet all of these qualities and have all of these qualities, that's when you're really going to be able to focus in on the deeper learning that's happening in the classroom. And in fact, when we talk about competency-based education and deeper learning, we're really focusing in on that student's ability to reflect on what they've done in the classroom, what the best learning is for them, and how they can move forward to keep that learning pushing towards their goals.
Now that we've reached the end of this lesson, you have been able to review the benefits of that student reflection as well as identify some of the best conditions and a few different activities and elements of activities for student reflection. Now that we've reached the end of the lesson, I want you to reflect just a little bit on some activities that you could incorporate into your classroom that meet those criteria for really effective student reflection. To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure you check out the additional resources section that's associated with this video. This is where you'll be able to find links that are targeted toward helping you discover more ways that you can apply this course material.
(00:00-00:19) Intro
(00:20-00:33) Objectives
(00:34-03:04) Overview of Student Reflection
(03:05-06:18) Student Reflection Elements
(06:19-07:02) Review & Reflection
Reflective Journals
This article from TeacherVision provides examples of reflective learning logs. In addition, the article offers student work examples so that teachers have an understanding of what to look for in a completed reflective journal.
https://www.teachervision.com/writing/letters-and-journals/48544.html