How do you have your students reflect? Reflecting on learning is extremely important at any level. Many teachers turn to journal reflection, which is an excellent way of promoting student thought. Here are a few of my favorite reflection tools:
- Penzu – is a free online journal students can use to reflect on their thoughts through text and adding pictures. Their journal can be password protected and shared via email.
- Wikispaces – many of the graduate courses that I have taken in the past have used this platform as a reflection tool. I like the fact that you can reflect and also multimedia to your reflection pages.
- VoiceThread – have students add their thoughts and comment on other student’s thoughts through the power of voice, pictures, and text. The only thing that I don’t like is that there are limits on how many free threads you can make.
- AudioBoo – have students reflect on their learning through the power of voice. They can use AudioBoo to voice their thoughts and reflect on their learning experiences on their PC, SmartPhone, or Smart Device.
- Voice Record Pro App – want a very easy way to record student thoughts on an iPad or iPhone? Try using the Voice Record Pro App. It is easy to use and can be shared via Dropbox, Google Drive, social media, or email.
Why is it important?
When students have strategic ways for reflecting on their learning, they are more likely to be engaged I the learning process (engagement). Why? They are able to see where they have been and where they are going.
To keep students engaged and to make reflection authentic, I would highly recommend using a combination of different types of reflection tools to show what they know, so that students can represent their thoughts in different ways (representation). It is important that the way that students learn is as different as their DNA; therefore, providing students with different options to demonstrate their knowledge (action and expression) helps increase their ability to make meaning and connections with learning.
DECEMBER CONTINUES CLICK FOR A CAUSE!
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