Thinkpiece #1 - Reflection
Thinkpiece #1
Reflection by the students is an important piece of blogging. Letting them write their way into their own understandings and letting them discover answers to the questions they need to ask. They need a lot of help with this at the elementary level. The high school students I worked with last year could have used this even more. They have not been asked to do much in this area except at a very superficial level.
So, how do you teach reflection? I think you teach it by modeling it. I want to do a better job of that this year. I need to do more thinking aloud for them, blog more about this piece on the class blog, and develop better questions for them to ponder. I think if I pair them from time to time where they can pass ideas back and forth and talk about how they are learning will help.
Asking students to communicate the results of their thinking is difficult for them, both out loud or writing it. I need to work in times for this. They need the practice to learn to be clear, convincing and even precise. I need to discuss the meanings of the words that go along with reflection.
Hmmm, maybe start with what did you learn this week? How did you learn it? Did it mean anything to you? Why or why not? What would help you understand it better? How might you apply this learning? Can you make a connection to what you learned? Did it make something else you learned come into your mind? Did it clarify anything you had wondered about in the past? Is there anything else you might like to learn about this topic? Supposeyou had to teach this to a younger student? Could you write a description of how you would do this?
Now I am just brainstorming some possible questions. Maybe the students themselves could add to this list, call it something like “our reflection questions” or “reflect specs”.
A reflection is really a strategy for learning. We need to foster more reflection in our classrooms. Let them be creative, off the wall, branch out with their thoughts. Students need to think aboout what they are doing so they can use this information for future decisions.
We need more conversations, both verbally and on blogs. Maybe I could have short prompts that they respond to by picking one of the questions above. I’m throwing out quite a list. Of course, I would not use them all at one time.
I want them to use blogging to help them explore, clarify, and think a little deeper about the ideas and concepts they learn in their classrooms. We might need to use podcasts at the beginning to let them just talk together about what they have learned.
Now I have to work at creating the environment where they feel free to respond openly. They have to honor each other’s thinking and build together.
I know I won’t have time to do this as much as I want but I’m hoping I can model it so the teacher will be interested in continuing it when she can in other moments in the classroom, or better yet, let them blog!
This is a question I have used in the past with kids.
- What was going on inside your head when you were thinking about that?
At first, they look at me like I have lost my mind. They have not been asked such a question before. However, I’ve found that it leads me down a road where I can really assist them in clarifying what is going on inside their heads. I need more questions that I can think about to help them reflect about their learning.
Now I am just letting it flow without trying to make this a polished product. Can you add to the list? What are your thoughts? Have you done this in other areas than blogging in your classrooms? Any suggestions are MOST welcome!
August 9th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
I began blogging last year with my seniors. Because of administration anxiety, I did the posts and the students commented. I felt like that was the richest discourse we had ever had. The coolest thing is that I was getting these responses outside of my classroom. I am very interested in your “reflect specs”. I hope to evolve my blog to one where students have some freedom to post and do more authentic reflecting with less teacher direction. Keep me posted on your ideas.
August 10th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
[…] In short, I wanted to create a community that would instill in my students the understanding that texts are dialogical, that they construct social knowledge, and that texts are never individual in nature but are threads in a complex fabric of social interactions. The role of the student in this space changed from that of an “imitative apprentice to that of critical collaborator†(Clark 1990, 69). In short, there was a strong emphasis on reflection, questioning, and conversation. […]
August 14th, 2006 at 9:16 am
Hi Anne,
The learning of the students you work with will be the richer for your modeling and your questions. I think the questions that help kids make connections will really be of value. I really like: “What was going on inside your head when you were thinking about that?” There’s lots of room in that to describe how they feel about what they are learning. Do you think might boost reflection too?
Best,
Lani
August 16th, 2006 at 4:10 am
When tackling the business of putting together a Critical Essay on a set piece of literature, I always began by putting the students in groups (4/5) to discuss key ideas. In the past, I’d use laminated prompt qhestions, they’d jot ideas on a large sheet of paper. Then they’d move on to another table with another prompt. It was lively, noisy and productive. We ended up with the sheets of (by now very messy) paper tacked to the walls as reminders.
Blogging as a class would be so much better than this, I think. The discussion could be class-wide, everyone would have their chance to contribute, the ideas already expressed would be there for all to see - and pupils could refer to the posts and comments for revision or homework. And I could input at any point - which is harder when you’re doing it orally.
You’ll notice I’m using past tense/conditional verbs here: I’ve not yet had the chance to do this as the school I worked in didn’t have enough PCs for regular use by any one class. I retired before the situation improved - and I’m sure there would be “concerns” from on high if I did such a thing now. So I’ll just have to concentrate on my private tuition, for now!
August 16th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Thanks Lani, for the insightful comment. I agree. I am continually amazed at the thoughtful answers I get from students after they pause for a moment and really THINK about what is going on inside their head. I appreciate you commenting.
August 16th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Christine,
I like this idea. I think I could use Inspiration, Dragster, or Gliffy or another web tool to add to this idea. I really like the idea of laminated prompt questions. I used to use laminated prompts tied to Blooms Taxonomy question words. The kids created Jeopardy games on Inspiration after using the beginning question word prompts. It was a fun way to review learning.
I really like your idea and hope to try it out once my project gets up and going this year. I hope you will consider commenting to some of the kids.
Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. I plan to show some of these comments to the students to get their thoughts! Maybe even some of those from on high
That would be interesting, too! 
:-)
August 16th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Happy to comment - tho’ I feel you’re way ahead of me in the techno stakes!
August 17th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Thanks, Christine. Techno stakes come way after the pedagogy! I just keep trying to explore possibilities. So glad you will be joining us. I’ll let you know when we are up and running!
January 4th, 2007 at 6:19 am
[…] Like Ewan, I frequently read examples in my RSS feeds and on my blog comments where social software has improved the learner experience. Note this most recent comment from Brandi. I felt like that was the richest discourse we had ever had. […]