Sharing Literacy: June 2022

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

3 Easy Student Reflection Practices

One goal of education is to develop students into lifelong learners. To be a lifelong learners, we must encourage our students to be reflective.

Each school year, I set one specific goal for myself. For the year 2021-22, that goal was to implement more student reflection.

Here are 3 easy strategies to implement into your classroom to help students reflect on their own learning.

Entrance & Exit Ticket

This particular practice is best used on work days or in the workshop model. When students understand the objectives of the assignment, they must break it down into steps.

To start the class period, provide students with the Entrance & Exit Ticket. For their Entrance, they should write a specific goal: What do they plan to accomplish during this class period?

Before their Exit, students should respond with a brief reflection of their goal: Did they accomplish it? Why or why not? What's next?

Leaving this open-ended allows them to honestly reflect without a graded expectation and also creates minimal prep work.

Glow-Grow-Goal

This is an excellent reflection at the end of a unit and asks students to do a 3-part reflection:

Glow: What are you most proud of in this project? Why?
Grow: In what way did this project challenge you? What skills did you improve?
Goal: Looking to the future, what do you hope to continue to improve or to learn more about?

This particular reflection is beneficial to help students see that the learning isn't done, but acknowledges that there is more possible in the growth of our skills and/or knowledge.

Self-grading

Allowing students to complete their own grading can be intimidating; however, it helps them focus on their skill level. There are a few ways to allow students to self-grade, so choose the option that is most appropriate for your students and the assignment. Research and my own observations have shown me that this is an effective best practice.

One option is to provide students with a checklist. This has them reflect on the process and completion. Here is an excerpt from an essay checklist.

Another option is to provide a rubric with the objectives on a scale with descriptions for the highest and lowest expectations. Here is an example of a self-grade rubric from a blog assignment.

Another option is to give students your a checklist, have them write a self-reflection such as: What did you learn from this project? Consider the skills learned and practiced throughout this unit. After reviewing their checklist and reflection, ask them what score or grade they have earned on this particular assignment.

These 3 easy student reflection practices can encourage your students to monitor their own learning throughout the school year and hopefully carry the practice into their lifelong habits.