Student Reflection: A Tool for Growth and Development
Reflect is what educators do. College professors give value to reflecting on pedagogical practice. Administrators expect us to reflect on our practice in instructional evaluations. Inservice instructors ask us to reflect on what we learned from each training session. As teachers reflecting on ways to enhance our daily instruction, we ask: How did the students respond to the day’s lesson? Were the objectives met? How could we better manage our time? What methods might engage our students? As a middle school teacher, I found myself asking similar questions until I realized: who better to ask than the students themselves? After all, I might believe a lesson was absolutely wonderful—it seemed as though every student was attentive and focused on the classroom activity—but what if I was wrong? What if my students weren’t getting all that I hoped they would from our time together? So, I implemented student reflection as a weekly component of my classroom instruction. Every Friday, students sp...