Reflecting on Reflection

Three ways my students reflect on their learning:

1) Google Forms

2) Class discussion

3) Face-to-face 

This prompt reminds me to use student reflection more often; the opportunities I give my students to reflect are quite limited. 

Last week at the end of a class, I gave my students address labels and asked them to rate their productivity on a scale of 1-5, then slap the sticker on a yellow paper I had posted by the door. Productivity, however, is not the same as learning. And learning may not be content-related. 

For example, today two of my students asked to use the J-Lab green screen for a project they were working on in another class with another classmate. After I set the boys up with a camera and suggestions for filming, the boy I did not have in class asked to use a lab computer to create a photo-shopped background (turning Kanye West's face into a moonscape). Several class period later, he came to my room to show me his amazing product. 

The point of the assignment the boys were working on was to explain a part of speech. They may or may not have locked in learning about grammar, but the green screen and photoshop learning was top-of-the-line. 

When do we give kids a chance to share (reflect) not only on what we intended for them to learn, but on what they actually learned?

I am writing this post late on Friday night. You, friend, do not even want to hear about the obstacle course I've traversed to make it to this point in the day. When I faced this prompt, I planned to finish the post asap. Yet as I reflected, I found ideas I hadn't yet given the thought they deserved. Is that not the power of reflection? 

My teaching next week will indeed incorporate student reflection.

Day 19: Name three powerful ways students can reflect on their learning, then discuss closely the one you use most often.

Reflection: The best part about this prompt was that it caused me to REFLECT on the power of reflection...and how, unfortunately, I may not give reflection its due in my classroom. Formative assessment is not enough. I must construct opportunities for my students to reflect. I will.