Mirror Mirror On the Wall

“Mirror, mirror on the wall.  What did I learn after all?”

Reflection is a vital piece of the learning puzzle.  Unless we examine what we learned and how we learned it, we don’t know what worked well and what needs to be tweaked.  The end of the year is a natural time to look back and assess the effectiveness of the school year .  However, instead of us being the only ones to make these decisions, we can involve students in the process.  The results can be rewarding and insightful.

Many times students can’t recall what they learned during the year and or how they learned it.  Making a list together of major units of study helps to jog their memories.  As you make the list, point out how you taught those topics.  Then go further and have your students evaluate how well these methods worked for them.  For instance, if you are looking at a unit on multiplication and talking about learning to multiply one digit by one digit, you might remind your class that they began by using blocks and building arrays, moved to graph paper and pencil, wrote story problems involving arrays, and played games with the multiplication facts.  Ask your students, “Which method of learning worked best for you?  Why did you choose that one?  How did it help you more than another way?”

If you want a broader reflection, try using these questions.  Again, you can hold large group discussion, or you can divide your students into small groups to discuss their answers or make it a writing assignment.  Questions like these may help your students get started.

1. What is the most important thing you learned this year?  Why do you think so?
2. What was the hardest thing you learned this year?  What made it so hard to learn?  What helped you learn it?
3. Here are some ways we learned this year.  (Field trips, independent projects, small group work, homework, students teaching students, class discussions, class lectures, reading, writing)  Which ways were your favorite?  Why?
4. What did you find out about yourself as a learner this year?
5. Name something you are proud of that you accomplished this year.  Tell why you’re proud of it.
6. Tell about a time someone in this class did something nice for you or a time you did something nice for someone else.
7. Name five words that describe you now.  Then name five words you hope will describe you in 5 years.  You may use some of the same words.
8. What is something I (your teacher) could have done to make this year even better for you?

When we reflect on our learning or have our students do so, it encourages us to continue on our journey to become lifelong learners.  Have your students reflect on their year, and let us know what they said that surprised, touched, or excited you!