Monthly Reflection Questions

Reflection is essential for our students’ growth and development as learners.  It helps them to engage in critical thinking about their own learning and progress towards achieving goals. So many times, I have found that my goal setting activities are a great idea in theory but I wasn't always able to help my kids connect the goal setting with the actual work that is involved in achieving their goals.

Using Monthly Reflection sheets have been a great way for my students to take the time to actually think about what they have learned that month, set one goal and come up with specific criteria that will let them know they have achieved their goal. I've created a new template for my monthly reflections after a few years of using the same one. There are things that I want to know about their learning and things that they need to learn in order to really self-assess. 

Here are some additions I made to my reflections:

1. I could use some help with...

Not every student feels confident enough to actually come forward and ask for help. Through building relationships with my students I hope to convey that they can talk to me about anything but sometimes there's still that mental block for some kids to actually ask for help when they need it. Having a section on the reflection where they can write it down makes it more accessible for those students who may not be comfortable with asking. It also makes it okay for other students to realize that they DO need help with something; that they aren't expected to be experts all the time. I don't let my students leave any section blank. 

2. My goal for last month was... and My evidence shows...

This is essential! I don't want my students to set a monthly goal and then never return to it. I love the "My evidence shows" part because, again, it lets them know it's totally okay to not have met the goal. Students who have achieved their goal must also list evidence that shows exactly how they know the goal was met. Beauty! When coming up with their new goal (or sticking with the previous month's) they are also required to list evidence to show how they will meet it. One thing I have learned is that students need intangible things (like goals) to be made super explicit. 

3. I used to... And now I ... 

This section relates to Learning Skills. I want my kids to reflect on their work habits; to remember what they needed to improve and how they have improved this month. In order to foster a growth mindset my students need to know that they can change and they need to see their progress. 

4. Extra-curricular activities and Books I Read 

I use these sections when writing my report card comments. Creating personalized comments for each student can be challenging but I find it easier when I have a record of ways they've been involved in school and titles of books that they've read. This also helps me to stress the importance of reading to the students and parents. 

Student responses to reflection questions have really informed my practice. Through these reflection sheets I have been able to see where my students’ strengths lie and areas where they need my assistance to improve. For example, one of my students "D" told me that she doesn't really use her time wisely because she sometimes talks and doesn't get her work done. D showed self-awareness as she went on to tell me that she can improve by not getting distracted or talking to others.  "S" was proud of her work on fractions. She definitely had some math phobia at the beginning of the year and in March was able to say that she enjoyed it and has improved a lot. 

Click here to check them out and let me know what you think! I hope you'll find them to be an excellent tool to guide student-teacher conferencing and to help you communicate with parents. 

Lauren