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Reflections

It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten, or its learning potential lost. It is from the feelings and thoughts emerging from this reflection that generalisations or concepts can be generated. And it is generalisations that allow new situations to be tackled effectively.

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Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning

Reflective thinking exercises help students get the most benefit out of their learning experiences by helping them connect their emotions, feelings, reactions and knowledge to the bigger picture.  Instead of students focusing on only "what happened," we direct them to think about "so what" and "now what."

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Reflections help students:

  • develop a questioning attitude

  • share gaps in their understanding

  • process their learning and apply what they've learned from one situation to other situations

  • measure their progress towards their goals and project commitments

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Reflections help teachers:

  • monitor student and team progress towards goals

  • look for gaps in understanding and opportunities for enrichment

  • provide meaningful and personalized feedback

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Types of reflective thinking:

  • Backward-looking – what happened?

  • Forward-looking – what will I do in the future?

  • Inward-looking – how did I feel about this?

  • Outward-looking – how did the material, people, and I interact?

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Reflections:

  • aren't graded

  • can be worked on individually or in groups

  • can be completed daily or periodically throughout a project

  • should be limited to 1 or 2 questions

  • should take less than 5 minutes to complete

  • should avoid negative wording 

  • should steer away from factual recall questions

Project Kickoff

  1. What skills do you want to work on during this project?

  2. How does this project relate to your life?

  3. What do you think some of the challenges might be?

  4. What excites you most?

  5. What is your biggest question?

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Look for Understanding

  1. What is something that you need clarification on?

  2. What concept are you struggling with?

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Self Reflection

  1. What is something that a classmate said today that made you think differently about a problem?

  2. What is something from today's discussion that you agreed or disagreed with and why?

  3. What did you learn today that will make you a better leader?

  4. What did you learn today that you want to apply in tomorrow's class?

  5. What strategies do you use when you get stuck on a problem?

  6. What have you learned about yourself as a learner this week?

  7. What does great look like?

 

Team Focus

  1. What was your unique contribution to the team today?

  2. How have you been a leader today?

  3. What concept will you focus on mastering, so that you can help your teammates?

  4. What is your team's vision?

  5. What can you do to improve collaboration?

  6. What are you doing to ensure your project is completed on time?

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Project Completion

  1. Was there anything you wish you could have spent more time on?

  2. What did you find the most challenging?

  3. What is something that surprised you?

  4. What are you the most proud of?

  5. If you could have anyone in the world see your project, who would it be and why?

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Share a quote or song lyric that connects to your project

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Unplugged 

Have your students hand exit tickets in as they leave the room

My 
Journal

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Digital

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Digital

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A blog is a website journal that can contain text, videos, pictures, and links

Example: edublogs​

Create a video
journal

Blog

Digital 

Survey

Blog

Social 
Media

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Avatar 106

Multi
Media

Exit Tickets

Post on a wall

photos

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  • Tweet

  • Make an inspiration board on Pinterest

Sample Questions

Reflective Thinking

Methods & Tools

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