Reflective Writing

Reflective Writing “We do not learn so much from experience as we do from reflecting on our experience.” – John Dewey PPT provided by Alan Olson and available for use as needed.

Reflective Writing • Reflection can increase a student’s awareness of the learning value they received from an experience. Writing can help increase the chance that a student’s learning is not limited to the past, but rather the experience has value for the student’s future. • “Just as no man lives or dies to himself, so no experience lives and dies to itself. Every experience lives on in further experiences.” - John Dewey

Reflective Writing • In order to think and write well reflectively, a student must carefully consider what she or he has learned during an experience. Reflective writing involves a process of self-assessment that can be meaningful and memorable whether it is associated with classroom projects, portfolio reflections, assessment activities, in journals about field or lab experiences, and much more.

An important decision … • How formal should the student writing be? • I have assignments that I am 100% concerned about the thought and learning the students’ expresses. • I have assignments that I want the students to write as if the product they send to me is a letter going out to parents. • Either way – if the topic is reflective writing, the content I am looking for is not focused on what the student did as much as it is about what the student learned and how the experience has potential to benefit he or she in the future.

Reflective Writing: personal experience as a teacher • Too much direction from the teacher may lead the students to writing what he or she thinks the teacher wants to hear. • Too little direction from the teacher may yield a series of short, writings that state “I did this and this and this.” The writer’s emphasis becomes a reporting of what the student did without valuable comments about what the student actually “learned and will be able to do in the future because of this experience”.

Reflective writing • A student’s reflective writing can be even more meaningful if a teacher can provide timely and descriptive feedback.

Classroom use of reflective writing with one Ability project.

Abilities – Skills - Levels University Abilities Abilities – Skills - Levels

VCSU Course Portfolio Project: VCSU Ability: Collaboration - to work together to reach a common goal. Skill: Positive Interdependence – understands responsibility and acts appropriately to promote the group’s success. Level Four: Self-Assesses Group Contributions Course Ability Project: Collaborative peer teaching lesson involving measurement .

Students in Math 278 will ... • Learn the content presented in the lesson. • Be in contact with the Smartboard. • Create a mathematics game that help fellow classmates have a fun learning experience, that will also be intended for use with students in the future. • Find Websites to help students review content for “today”, as well as to prepare resources as teachers for the future. • Develop sample problems, practice and test questions that give students real-life math application opportunities. • Prepare an electronic copy of a lesson plan, assignment, test, and PowerPoint that will be shared in advance with instructor, and after the lesson with all the students in the class so everyone may benefit from the content of the lesson. • Work collaboratively with peers to Plan a high quality lesson, Implement and make adjustments in a lesson, and create an Evaluation device for a lesson. (PIE + R) • *Reflect on what you have learned so this experience will benefit you in the future.

Reflection(Considerations for writing your reflective statement, due after your group presents their project to class. I need these turned in before I can complete my grading. The bold print is the type of thinking you want to address for your graduation portfolio.) • Part IWhat happened? • Part II What went well? What parts of this lesson would you consider using in the future? • Part III What would you change to help your future students learn? • Part IVWhat did I learn about collaborating with a group? • Part V What did I learn about myself as a member of a group working toward a common goal? • Part VIHow will I be able to collaborate with faculty, students, and others in the future? • Not all three of these examples are strong. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

It is interesting to read student reflections to have a better understanding of what students are learning and finding most meaningful! “Perhaps the greatest of all pedagogical fallacies is the notion that a person learns only the particular thing he is studying at the time.” – John Dewey

It’s nice to hear different ideas to work out problems and work collectively to find the solution we find most valuable. One part of the project that I think I would be able to use in my classroom is the Mr. Gallon. It was a great visual aid for students to see conversions. The lesson we did was directed towards an upper elementary classroom. I would make the problems that we had a little easier for the lower level of students that I wish to teach. I learned that it is difficult to get group members together. We had to use our class time, plus we had to email and organize what all of us needed to do. Finding a time to meet was tough, we did finally get together and everyone chipped in to due their part in the end. I liked the end product, but I learned that it collaboration can involve frustrating moments. Brief snapshots of sentences written by students that are examples of reflective statements from the past…

More examples of reflective thoughts … • I really enjoyed doing this project, and I think I will save this PowerPoint and use it in my future classes. • I learned that when working with a group I like to have creative control over what things will look like or how they will be presented. I need to learn to allow others to be in charge and take responsibility for their parts instead of taking them on myself. • I learned I have to listen to other people. Sometimes it is hard for a group to make a decision because there are so many ideas and thoughts. Working as a group, members not only have to share their information, but also listen to each other. • I think that collaborating with others in the future will be very good for me. I think the more I work with others on projects, the more I will learn. Different people always provide various kinds of information, and I think that is very beneficial in working in a group. I will be able to collaborate with faculty, students, and others in the future by allowing myself to open up to new ideas that people have. I find that if you have an open mind, things usually go more smoothly.

Reflective Writing in: • Class writings: will encourage preservice teachers to understand the value and connection of mathematics in their own lives and promote awareness for children of varying cultural backgrounds to learn the relevance of mathematics and problem solving skills in their lives. Journal writings are assigned to seek student thought and build student-instructor connections. Reflection for improvement is a goal for both teaching and learning. Students write about their experiences and philosophy of math with the goal of learning from previous math experiences as they continue to develop their knowledge base and understanding of the importance of mathematics in their future. • Examples of reflective topics the math class will write on and discuss together in class: • Why do children need to learn mathematics? • Explain your previous experiences, triumphs and disasters in mathematics. • In your experiences, have girls and boys been taught math equally and fairly? • How do you use mathematical skills in your life? • What should an elementary educator know about mathematics and be able to do as a teacher? Example

Reflective Writing in Journals: Topic starter journaling ideas for field experiences: Student Teaching

If the student feels a course project is an example of their best work, the project may be selected by the student for his or her graduation portfolio.

Collaboration–example of a student portfolio slide • In this collaborative project, our group taught a lesson on English/Metric System comparisons. • Our project included: • A Lesson plan • An assignment with practice problems • Use of a PowerPoint • Use of the Smartboard • Use of Related Websites • Ten test questions • A math game • Each member taught at least one portion of the lesson and we each wrote a reflection paper at the end of the experience. • (This is only a sample, the links are not live.) Reflection

Reflective Writing in Portfolios: • General Portfolio Ideas • Portfolio purpose • Portfolio Reflection • Specific Examples • Collaboration Portfolio Reflection • Video • 2nd reflective example

Reflective Writing • To reflect is to look back over what has been done so as to extract the net meanings which are the capital stock for intelligent dealing with further experiences. • Reflection is the heart of intellectual organization and of the disciplined mind. • The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning. – John Dewey

Reflective Writing