Reflection Wall

Reflection Wall

1. Ask students to journal about an experience, learning, a belief, a controversial topic.
2. Give students a large strip of chart paper to record an 8- to 12-word summary of their thinking.
3. Divide the group into teams of three to six.
4. Have the teams locate themselves close to a wall and post their reflection strips on the wall.
5. Guide students through the following process:

• One person in the group chooses a statement from the wall and asks whose statement it is, then states that they would like to know more about the statement.
• The person who wrote the statement (the “owner”) expands upon the statement.
• The listener paraphrases and may ask a clarifying question such as:
  • I’m curious about …
  • What might be some reasons ...?
  • What do you mean by ...?
  • Can you be more specific about ...? (You might post the question stems so that students have a guide to follow.)
• The owner responds to the questions and the listener paraphrases that response.
• The owner of the first statement then chooses another statement on the wall and the process repeats until all statements have been discussed.
• After the teams have finished discussing all statements, members should determine an arching theme for their wall.
• Ask for volunteers to share themes with the entire group.