“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” –Confusion, Chinese philosopher, teacher, politician 551-479 AD
Ancient philosophers knew the importance of looking
back at life, our experiences, successes and failures in order to give meaning
and relevance to our actions. Socrates once said the unexamined life is not worth living. If a person doesn’t reflect on their values and life they are
living like they are going through the motions, like cogs in a wheel. This becomes extremely valid in today’s
world where we spend the majority of our time jumping from task to task without taking time out to think about what we are doing, or even why.
We become richer people when we are self-aware.
Modern life and its constant
state of motion drives us in the opposite direction of reflection. There is no
time to think, meaning is lost as we continued at a frenzied pace until forced
to stop. When we have experiences we should think about them
and try to find out why they are happening to us, question our personal
actions, what drives them, and then model character in a way that is most
appropriate for us not based on what others think.
It’s hard to look at modern life and see our capacities for reflection,
to make sense of things.
It’s even harder for students. In a culture of testing where students
are given little time to think critically, apply knowledge or reflect on the
outcomes, the relevance to what’s being taught and how it relates to real life
is lost. Ultimately, this leads to
a kind of active apathy where students are going through the motions of
learning, retaining little and leaving the scholastic environment without the
tools they need to succeed, not only in the workforce but in life.
How do we change the culture of motion we have created?
It’s really important as we go through our scholastic
day to think about who has created
the culture we are operating in.
Chances are that you are partially responsible. The good news is since you are
partially responsible you can also partially change it. Clever teachers have found ways to get
students excited about reflecting and you can too. It only takes a few minutes each day. You’ll be giving your students more
than just a boost on learning, you’ll be giving them a boost on life. I’ve shared some of my favorite
classroom reflection techniques below. Feel free to add yours!
1) Digital
blog posts and portfolios are easy to share and easily archived. The digital posts let students look
back at their year and not only see what they have accomplished but how they
have grown as communicators.
2) Audio
Interviews-Students use audio interviews to ask each other questions about
what they’ve learned, “man on the street” style. These can be recorded as voice
memos or videos, shown individually, as a continuous loop or edited with
classroom and other appropriate words and imagery.
3) Video
Testimonial Booth-Students have the opportunity throughout the day to duck
into the video testimonial booth and record their ideas about the projects they
are working on. The testimonial
booth can be as simple at a curtained off area with a video camera on a tripod.
Students relate to the “reality TV” connection this type of reflection makes.
4) Daily Prompts-Prompts are a great way to engage students in any
medium and they work well with the elementary crowd too. Stir up reflection by
asking things like, what did you learn? How do you know you learned it? How
did you feel?
5) Living Class
Heritage-This is a great way for students to easily access and respond to
other students reflection by expressing they felt the same or different about
an activity and why. Whatever method of capturing reflection you chose this is
the critical component that ties everything together teaching students how to
learn, share, to pick and chose which critique to incorporate and to give
valuable input to others.
If you have the reflective stance as a teacher you're going to end
whatever class or project you're doing by pulling it together and asking the
kids what they learned.
