Unit Three: Types of Self Reflection and How it can be Utilized
Return to: Unit Two: The Benefits of Self Reflection in the Art Room | Erin's Mini-Course
Learning Objectives
The learner be exposed to a number of ways that self reflection can take place and use the information to create their own reflective activity for their students using the guidelines provided.
Mini-Lecture
Now that we've covered what self reflection is and why it is imperative to create deeper and more meaningful learning experiences, we are going to go into some of the basics of what you can do as a teacher to do so successfully.
First of all, the biggest thing you can do is to make self reflection a normal and scheduled aspect of your daily routine. If you are only doing this every now and again, it won't give you the positive effects we are going for. The best way to make it a regular thing is by selecting a time and place and repeat it in that same manner. This could be a daily, weekly, biweekly or per unit routine, and it really all depends on the time required to do so and by your content.
Another thing you can do is to model what self reflection looks like to your students. Students often struggle to conceptualize what it really means to reflect on ones work, so providing a clear example by reflecting yourself will help set the bar for what you expect from them.
There are several ways you can implement self reflection in your classroom, such as:
- Journals: Students provide a written reflection often on their progress
For tips on Reflective Journaling please read: https://penzu.com/how-to-write-a-reflective-journal
- Interviews: These can be with a peer or with the teacher to dig deeper into successes and failures mid process
For tips on reflective questioning please read: https://www.simplek12.com/learning-theories-strategies/a-list-of-reflective-questions-for-your-students/
- Whole Class Discussions/Critique: Sometimes students can make better reflections on their own work when they are able to compare and contrast to the work of their peers
For tips for a respectful and productive whole class critique please read: https://teaching.temple.edu/sites/tlc/files/resource/pdf/5_Best_Practices_for_Critiques%20[Accessible]_0.pdf
- Self assessment checklists or rubrics: This can be a formative or summative activity to assess completion of the requirements
For tips on how to create a rubric please read: https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-create-a-rubric-4061367
Learning Activities
After having learned about the different types of self reflection practices, start to think about which would fit best within your curriculum. Would journaling provide your students with a chance to reflect on their learning or is it more of a visual project that would benefit from something like a group critique?
Choose one of the types of activities shown above and create a self reflection assignment for a particular class. This could be a journal prompt, a rubric for a particular project, a set of question prompts you can use for a group critique, and so on.
Conclusion
After working your way through this mini course I hope you have a clearer idea of the importance of self reflection for your students and what it can do to increase student engagement and learning.
Return to: Unit Two: The Benefits of Self Reflection in the Art Room | Erin's Mini-Course
