ENHANCING REFLECTION.

1. ENHANCING REFLECTION. AVOIDING: “I LEARNED A LOT.” REBECA MASEDA.

2. In couples. Youhavefive minutes… • Tomake a poemwithfourlines, in whichyouhavetoinclude, at least, thesewords: • Brick • Ilusion • Magic • Days • Peculiar

3. Reflect

4. A newgenre: reflections. • Studentreflectionis a fundamental part of portfolios. • Ithelpsstudentslearnaboutthewaytheylearn; itprovidesthemwithstrategiesforbetterlearning; itencouragesthemtomakemeaning of thereasonswhytheylearnwhattheylearn; itmakesthemparticipantsoftheirownlearningprogress. • Italsohelpsustounderstand how ourstudentslearn; whichtools/activitieswegivethemthat are useful; whatdoesnotwork (althoughweweresureitdidwork), etc. • Personal examplefrom my classSpan 310.

5. Whatisreflection?

6. But… how isit done? • Wefinditveryhardtowrite “reflectionpieces” withoutanykind of training orguidance (as wefindhardtowritepoetry, film critics, etc. ifwehavenever done it). • Fromveryearlywehavetomake “reflecting” a part of ourstudents’ habits. Weneedtohelpthembecome familiar withreflectingontheirownlearningexperiences. • Reflectingonsteps. • Theyhavetoreflecttheachievementoftheclass/programoutcomes.

7. Warming-up • We can start (1st years) withsimple chartsand simple promptsthatstimulatereflectiononlearning. • Thelanguageused in thepromptsisbasicandrefersto concrete learningactivities. • Students do not post the charts, theyjust use them as a “starting-point” fortheirreflections. They post theirreflections in a blog in blackboard. Students can look at otherstudents’ interest, strategiesforovercomingproblems, etc.

8. Promptson reasons for learning, target-setting, and personal strengths and weaknesses • Questions: • First day: Why are you studying Spanish? What do you expect to achieve with this class? What do you think is necessary to succeed in this class? • Mid-semester questions: : What is you favorite part in the class? Why? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What does help you understand the concepts taught: explanations, solo activities, group activities, filling the gaps exercises, sentences construction, question-answer, role-play/ free conversation, other. • Final day: did you achieve…? What helped you achieve…? What do you need to review? …

9. Real exampleofbasicreflection (SPAN 101) : • Why do I study Spanish? Just a little history for everyone, the Philippines, my homeland, was colonized by the Spaniards for 300 years, back then, only hijos of privileged families were entitled to study in Spain, although, they were the same ones that sparked the revolution against the Spaniards. So back then, scholars like Jose Rizal and Juan Luna (who are some of our national heroes) wrote their novels and journals in Spanish. Lastly, Don't you guys think that learning other languages is WAY COOL!!  • With this class I wanted to be able to understand or at least grasp the meaning of the writings of the scholars 'without translation'. Especially Dr. Rizal's "Mi Ultimo Adios" that was his farewell letter before he was executed by a firing squad by the Spanish army. I am still far from there, though. • I think being able to speak Spanish on a daily basis or have someone to talk to that can give you feedback on mistakes done would help in learning the language. Of all the activities we did in class, I liked those that allowed us to practice orally... • My strength in learning Spanish is just believing in myself (that I can conquer anything:) I believe I can learn anything and I can be good at it! (Got an A+ in Japanese 101 even though I have no background at all). But, I also encountered some problems. I consider the small similarities in vocabulary of Filipino and Spanish a weakness because it clashes with what I am learning and with what I know. • I think the class should be 2 hrs. (go ahead and raise your eyebrows at me... Hehe!

10. How shouldourprompts be? Mahoney and Schamber offer the following guidelines for developing prompts that promote critical thinking: - Prompts should be grounded in a particular learning objective, outcome or competency. - Prompts should be worded as open statements or questions requiring more than a "yes" or "no" response. - Prompts can be worded to elicit reflection in cognitive, affective, and/or behavioral terms, depending on the purpose of that reflection. - Prompts can be used to probe reasons and motivations for actions, to identify steps or a series of actions involved in a process. - Prompts can be used to identify and probe strengths and weaknesses, benefits or drawbacks, etc.

11. Onreflectingaboutlearning • Studentsgetusedtowriteabout: • “My general aimsandreflections”: I amlearningthis (language) because…. I wantto be ableto… • Settinggoalsandthinkingaboutlearning: How welldid I achieve…, my nexttarget… • How I solve (communication) problems: Problem:… Solution:… • Methods I use tolearn: What do I do andwhyithelps me..

12. Getting more sophisticated • As studentsprogress, “guidancequestions” can becomelessguided. Note: thequestionshavetoreflecttheachievementoftheclassoutcomes. • Studentswill use detailedoutcomes as guidancefortheirreflection. Professors can discusswithstudentstheirreflectionpoints. • Am I (outcomepoints)? How can yourproveit? How hardisit? How can youhelpyourselftoachieve…? Whatstrategieshaveyoudeveloped? … • Forcertainquestions, studentscouldhave a diary (entriesforeverylesson) wherethey record …. • Example: Outcome: Student is able to satisfy the speaking requirements of a broad variety of everyday, school, and work situations. Can discuss concrete topics relating to particular interests and special fields of competence. There is emerging evidence of ability to support opinions, explain in detail, and hypothesize.

13. My significant intercultural experiences: Span 432: SpanishCivilization • Reflectionpiecescould: 1) not be gradedbuttakenintoaccount. 2) be partofclassassignments. (forsomerubricson how to “grade” reflectionpieces, gotothereadingsfortoday). • Exampleofessaywriting: ReportonmeetingsandexperienceswithSpanish culture in yourownlandorabroadthathavecontributedtobroadeningyour intercultural understandingofSpanishlanguage. Give a fewrelevantexamples. • Thinkabout: surprises, misunderstandings, differences, andwhatwasinteresting, difficult, enriching… • Aboutencountersandcontactswithspeakersofanotherlanguage in everydaysituations, whilestudying, working, and in yourspare time. • Aboutfilms, booksand media. • AboutthehistoryandintellectuallifeofSpanish culture. • WhathaveyoulearnedaboutSpanish culture that has makeanimpactonyou? How havetheseexperiencesinfluencedyourattitudetoward culture andlanguage?

14. Summary • Reflectionpieces are a fundamental partofEportfolios (Folio thinking). • They are valuable forstudentsandfaculty (andothers). • Weshouldstartprogressivelyteachingstudents how to do (write, video tape…) reflectionpieces by: • 1) providingguidance/promptsofsome short (charts, rubrics, questions…). • 2) Discussingreflectionwithstudents. • 3) offeringthepossibilityof peer-viewing, anddiscussion. • They are consideredpartof a classorportfolio, butthey can also be partoftheclassassignments. • Final reflection: giventheopportunitystudents, in general, are more criticalwiththemselvesthanyou! Ifyouwantthemtolearnaboutlearning, do nottellthemwhatiswrongwiththewaytheyperform. First, letthemtellyouwhattheythinkiswrong. 90% ofthe time, they KNOW.