Include an opportunity for face-to-face or digital reflection to guide students along their learning progression and set new goals.
Complete the following on Flipgrid. Flipgrid is a video discussion platform. For this final reflection, please record your responses to the questions below on Flipgrid by clicking the link below. Log in to Flipgrid using your @westgenesee.org Google account. Once you are logged in, you can click the big green + icon to add your video response.
"We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience," said John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. After challenging students to explore, create, and communicate ideas in a HyperDoc, give them an opportunity to reflect on what they've learned, to evaluate their work using rubrics and checklists, and to set new learning goals. Promoting this growth mindset starts by helping them first identify the steps they take when learning something. This could be done as a class discussion or by using a HyperDoc to capture student thinking. However you choose to lead students through the reflection process, though, they must think about two things:
You can personalize a HyperDoc's reflection section to fit your students' individual goals and meet your district's requirements.
In your HyperDoc, link to a Padlet. Padlet is a web tool described as a graffiti wall, online paper, or a digital bulletin board. Teachers can use it to encourage online conversations or quickly collect student thinking.
Create a Padlet. Add your questions to the heading and share the link to the Padlet using a shortened URL or link it directly to another HyperDoc.
Create a list of questions that prompt students to think about their role in the learning process. For best results, we recommend generating reflective questions from one or all three of the following categories:
Content: Ask the student about what he learned. Use a broad, theme-based question.
Personal: Ask about the student's individual learning experience.
Collaborative: Ask about the group learning experience and his interactions with his partner.
At the end of a learning experience, direct students to the Padlet and ask them to record their thinking. Watch the magic unfold as all the thinking in the room is shared in this one live document.
The free word clouds created by Wordle may initially look like just beautiful collections of words on a page, but when you discuss a word cloud with your students, it can lead to deep, complex reflection. Wordle varies the sizes of words based on how many times they're repeated within the document, which makes analyzing why one word is larger than the others a great place to begin a reflection lesson. Depending on what you asked to generate the words, students can look for patterns, share predictions, and make connections to an assignment's content. Using this method of reflection for team building, to review a concept, or to explore a topic provides students with an opportunity to develop higher-level thinking skills.
As you create a question or prompt to generate a set of words around a topic, think about its possible answers and whether or not they would result in a word cloud worthy of rich examination. You can package this portion of your lesson with clear instructions in a HyperDoc.
An easy way to collect words that will populate a Wordle is through a Google Form.
A popular reflection project is "20% Time." This type of comprehensive project offers students a great opportunity to try new things, explore new topics, take risks, practice time management, and pursue their personal passions. Each week, students work on projects of their choosing, pushing toward a goal and researching ideas. As students work, you provide coaching and feedback. Afterward, students jot notes and reflect on their learning process. And though 20% Time projects are open-ended, you'll be surprised by what your students can do when they have a purpose, and audience, and an opportunity to create.
Entire HyperDoc Assignment:
As you design your HyperDoc, think carefully about how you will evaluate your students' learning and how that evaluation process will fit the standards mandated for your classroom. One method you may consider is using rubrics and checklists, which can be embedded into a HyperDoc
Allow students time to record their thinking in the HyperDoc. While your students are reflecting, teachers complete the same exercise and afterward offer students feedback for each student on their individual HyperDoc.
Share the HyperDoc and your students' reflections on the learning process from start to finish with parents and administrators so that they can see student growth.
Building in time to reflect and capture your students' thoughts in this HyperDoc will help them develop a growth mindset, provide concrete documentation of their reflection as a learner, and set new goals. Preparing for parent-teacher conferences? Let students take full ownership and allow them to facilitate a student-led conference using this HyperDoc.
Allow students time to record their thinking in the HyperDoc, which might take multiple class periods. You can give feedback digitally or face-to-face. Also, students can share, read, and reflect with one another.
Use the student work collected in this HyperDoc as a learning assessment. Based on your students' responses, where will you take them next?