Now the next step is to develop this practice in ways that matter. For example, today I had students complete the assessment pictured below. I was disappointed with the responses related to the "pleased or not pleased" question as I found that students weren't specific enough and got caught up with whether they got a top score or not rather than what they learned and how they could have taken the assessment better. I spoke to them a bit about the struggle that many students, particularly girls, demonstrate with regard to perfectionism and I noted that can be a problem, and I told them that it's best to meet each task twofold by thinking first about what they did well and second about what they might do better next time.
With this in mind, for the next test reflection, I plan to add a a sentence something like this:
"In this assessment/project/problem, I was pleased with my effort and ability to ___________________, and I also feel that next time, I would like to __________________ to improve my learning/presentation/performance/_______."
I want to guide students' ability to reflect as a very important way to begin to develop, understand, and relay their "story" of self and learning. I am also moved to do this as I heard recently a discussion that pointed out that its the child's "story" that matters when it comes to gaining opportunities, self confidence, and success.
I am open to your thoughts about this as I grow this effort with colleagues.
