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<\/a>Ah, reflection. It may bring to mind an introspective moment, perhaps gazing into the still waters of a mountain lake and seeing a slightly puzzled person staring back. That’s not the kind of reflection we are talking about here.<\/p>\nReflection in a 21st Century learning sense is a key component of personalized learning.<\/p>\n
Reflection allows students to construct knowledge, make personal connections, and ultimately become self-driven learners. More like a trailside break on a wilderness trek than a lazy lakeside afternoon.<\/p>\n
Looking at the Why, What, How and When of student reflection*<\/h2>\nWhy is reflection so important?<\/h3>\n
Reflection is has a\u00a0well documented association with student outcomes, with deeper reflections related to higher achievement<\/a>. It also leads to positive habits of mind, as argued and beautifully displayed in this post by Jackie Gerstein that connects reflection with the cultivation of a Growth Mindset<\/a>.<\/p>\n The most compelling argument in favor of\u00a0reflection that I’ve come across, however, focuses on its foundation for the holy grail of classroom juju: student engagement.<\/p>\n The REAL Framework<\/a> was developed as part of a massive action research project that leverages student reflection to increase engagement.<\/p>\n The REAL team refer to engagement in two senses, both of which are supported by reflection:<\/p>\n Here is a visual depiction developed by my colleague Susan Hennessey<\/a> (who also turned me on to this powerful framework, thank you Susan!).<\/p>\n The Reflection4Learning<\/a> site provides a ton of great resources on goal setting and strategies for helping students reflect in the context of goals. Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) are largely a space for\u00a0students to express their goals, establish action steps, and reflect on evidence of progress.<\/p>\n Constructivist learning theory identifies reflection as essential for processing\u00a0information and assimilating new ideas into existing schema. It\u00a0allows students to regulate their own learning through self-assessment.<\/p>\n Luckily the REAL team kept it real (sorry) and developed a brilliant taxonomy** of everyday question prompts that combines depth of learning, modes of engagement (intellectual, emotional, behavioral), and focus of thinking (e.g., overcoming barriers, working with others). I extracted the prompts<\/a> from the original research article<\/a> for your convenience.<\/p>\n The reflexive answer is “however the heck they want to!” But let’s be a bit more reflective, shall we?<\/p>\n Research on neuroscience and Universal Design for Learning has taught us that we should allow students multiple means of expression. As noted in our post about using “Candy apps” for serious learning<\/a>, seemingly silly tech tools can act as hooks to engage students in self-assessment and meta-cognition.<\/p>\n Consider allowing students to reflect using:<\/p>\n Students need a repository for all of this self-expression and reflection they are doing. Many educators across Vermont are using Blogger<\/a> for this purpose. It is relatively simple to use and is part of the Google suite of tools so\u00a0it tends to play well with other apps.<\/p>\n As a repository for reflection, students’ blogs are more like private learning journals than typical blogs – they are shared just with teachers and possibly one or more class mates. A huge benefit is that it allows organic organization through the use of labels. Students can put tons of posts and content in there, label as they go along, and then fetch their work later to review or cultivate as part of a PLP \/ e-portfolio. Labels can be added and edited, posts can be revised or ignored, so it creates a low-stakes space for students to capture and connect with their learning.<\/p>\n Periodically, students can do more formal reflections on their progress toward goals and their overall learning.<\/p>\n Students can mine\u00a0the old posts in their blog to identify artifacts that represent growth or to find key learnings that can be revised or re-reflected upon. If they’ve been reflecting on their learning on a regular basis, these more formal goals-oriented reflections will be more accessible and meaningful.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *It should be noted that everything said here about the benefits of reflection for students applies to educators as well.<\/p>\n **If you prefer the classic taxonomy of Bloom (well, the revised version of the classic), see how Peter Pappas applies it to reflection<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/p>\nWhat should students reflect about?<\/h3>\n
Reflection is often linked to goals<\/h4>\n
Reflection should happen on a day-to-day basis<\/h4>\n
Keep it simple<\/h4>\n
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There is a continuum of complexity, from simply recounting what happened during class to inspired conceptual leaps, and different students will scale different heights at different times. Try to give students options on which prompt(s) to respond to. And how to respond, which brings us to…<\/p>\nHow should students reflect?<\/h3>\n
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Where should students reflect?<\/h3>\n
When should students reflect?<\/h3>\n
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All the time! Many teachers already set aside time in every class for students to process their learning, fill out exit tickets, etc. As it becomes part of the routine and fabric of the class, it doesn’t have to be a big deal or take a lot of time. If students are using Blogger, teachers can use a tool like Feedreader<\/a> to manage student blogs and use them as formative assessment. Or ask students to select 1-3 posts each week for teachers to review.<\/p>\nHow are you getting real about student reflection?<\/h2>\n