In the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program, reflection is a key strategy that supports students in developing metacognitive skills, improving academic habits, and setting personal goals. Teachers can use a variety of reflection tools to help students think critically about their learning. Here are several reflection options:

1. Learning Logs / Reflective Journals

• Description: Students write regularly about what they learned, how they learned it, and what challenges they faced.

• AVID Connection: Supports WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, Reading), especially Writing and Inquiry.

2. One-Pagers

• Description: Students summarize a concept, lesson, or unit creatively on a single page using images, quotes, and reflections.

• Use: Great for end-of-unit synthesis or Socratic Seminar prep.

3. 3-2-1 Reflection

• Format:

  • 3 things learned

  • 2 connections or insights

  • 1 question or area of confusion

• Benefit: Simple, structured, and effective for quick reflection.

4. Goal-Setting and Self-Evaluation Forms

• Tools: Weekly or monthly forms where students set academic or personal goals and reflect on progress.

• AVID Focus: Ties directly to student agency and organization.

5. Socratic Seminar Debrief

• Method: After a seminar, students reflect on their participation and insights gained.

• Tool: Use sentence stems like “One thing I contributed…” or “A new idea I heard…”

6. Cornell Notes Reflection

• Strategy: Have students reflect in the summary section or add a “Reflection” box.

• Prompt Ideas: “How can I apply this information?” or “What was most challenging?”

7. Exit Tickets with Reflective Prompts

• Sample Prompts:

  • “What was your ‘aha’ moment today?”

  • “How did today’s lesson connect to your goals?”

  • “What strategies helped you most?”

8. Flipgrid or Video Reflections

• Format: Students record short video reflections.

• Benefit: Great for student voice and English learners.

9. Reflection Rubrics

• Purpose: Help students assess their own habits (e.g., organization, collaboration, effort).

• Tip: Include WICOR-focused categories.

AVID April Tip: Collaborative Structures

What are Collaborative Structures? Collaborative Structures are strategies designed to support collaboration in which students effectively share information amongst peers by working in various group configurations to engage with subject matter.

Why is this a critical component in AVID? To support the skill of being able to work productively in a group towards a common goal, teachers need to strategically plan and implement the regular use of collaborative structures and activities that teach students how to focus on a task, how to have authentic conversations with active listening and turn-taking, how to reach consensus, and how to be accountable to each other.

Students’ skills in collaboration can be deepened and refined by utilizing different resources. Check out a few ideas below and click on the links to learn how to use them in your classroom.

• Carousel Brainstorm: For building background knowledge, reviewing material, or generating opinions

• Four Corners: For evaluating ideas and products, checking for comprehension, building expressive capacity and accountability, and building cohesion and community amongst classmates

• Numbered Heads Together: For engaging in discourse about a topic/question, then sharing a summary of the discussion/answer with the class

Young academic language learners benefit from structured routines that encourage them to reflect on their learning. Exit tickets provide a simple and powerful way to help students summarize new knowledge, assess their understanding, and develop academic language. They also give us valuable real-time feedback to guide instruction.

Why use them?

• Helps students name what they learned

• Encourages self-assessment and communication

• Gives us quick insights into student understanding

Easy ways to make them work:

• Model a think-aloud

• Let kids draw or write without worrying about spelling

• Use sentence frames/word banks

• Try oral partner sharing as a quick check-in

 Resources: 20 Ideas for exit tickets in the classroom 

Academic Language Supports provides teachers with instructional practices and delivery strategies that intentionally support all students, especially English language learners, as academic language learners. These tools allow students to build academic language and literacy while providing access to rigorous content for all students.

Here are some tools you can use in your classroom!

• Sentence Frames help students see what an answer might look like and use the new content vocabulary in a meaningful way.  

• Text Interaction Strategies are designed to promote active reading

• Think-Pair-Share is a great quick activity for students to process thoughts and/or a check for understanding.

Why is note-taking important at the elementary level? Here are a few reasons:

• Improves active learning

• Improves comprehension

• Improves memory retention

• Improves organizational skills

• Improves writing development

• Improves focus and attention

Variations on Note-taking

When students turn and talk, they’re not only sharing ideas; they’re practicing structured communication, collaboration, and active listening—key AVID skills that make learning stick. It’s an easy way to boost participation and help students process ideas together.

1. Pose a Question – Choose a thought-provoking question that connects to your lesson.

2. Pair & Share – Give clear instructions for who goes first and keep it short. Sentence starters on slides can help!

3. Listen Up – Encourage active listening by having students summarize their partner's point.

4. Share Out – Invite a few pairs to share their ideas with the class for an extra boost of participation! 

Turn & Talk Clipart: Clipart for Slides (Make a Copy à You’ll be able Copy & Paste)