Reflections are sneaky. At first they seem so simple and straightforward. The tricky part comes when you try to put words to it. The explanation, description, process becomes more difficult. Only those who truly understand the concept can explain it well.
Video or audio reflection for students can reveal so much. First of all, what kid doesn't want to record him/herself and share it with others? Secondly, it's a lot more interesting and fun than writing an essay. In the process of video reflection, students unknowingly have to organize their thoughts, understand what they are explaining, learn to demonstrate, and figure out how to be concise. Those are all skills they need for life.
The best part of reflections are what we can extrapolate from them. We can immediately tell if the concept was understood. (informal assessment without a worksh**t!) We can spend our time one-on-one with students who need our help while others are engaged preparing for their reflections. We can also "hear" and "see" students' voice and body language. We can hear apathy or passion, surface or complete understanding, shyness or boldness. We can also find growth as we continue the reflection process.
We can also add constructive criticism and teach students how to leave positive feedback. Rubrics can be introduced to guide students to look for key points. As teachers, we can leave our students comments that will give them specific ways to improve or to let them know you'd like to work with them (without announcing it out loud).
What a wonderful way to keep a portfolio for each student to show them how much they've learned throughout the year! They can see not only what they've learned, but how they have become better speakers and more confident in presenting/sharing.
My friend, reflections are of great value for our students. There are so many sites and apps that can be used. Here are just a few:
Flipgrid
Recap
Padlet
Screencastify
Video Notes
Voice Thread
Google Slides
Pear Deck
WeVideo
Google Keep
Explain Everything
Shadow Puppet
Video or audio reflection for students can reveal so much. First of all, what kid doesn't want to record him/herself and share it with others? Secondly, it's a lot more interesting and fun than writing an essay. In the process of video reflection, students unknowingly have to organize their thoughts, understand what they are explaining, learn to demonstrate, and figure out how to be concise. Those are all skills they need for life.
The best part of reflections are what we can extrapolate from them. We can immediately tell if the concept was understood. (informal assessment without a worksh**t!) We can spend our time one-on-one with students who need our help while others are engaged preparing for their reflections. We can also "hear" and "see" students' voice and body language. We can hear apathy or passion, surface or complete understanding, shyness or boldness. We can also find growth as we continue the reflection process.
We can also add constructive criticism and teach students how to leave positive feedback. Rubrics can be introduced to guide students to look for key points. As teachers, we can leave our students comments that will give them specific ways to improve or to let them know you'd like to work with them (without announcing it out loud).
What a wonderful way to keep a portfolio for each student to show them how much they've learned throughout the year! They can see not only what they've learned, but how they have become better speakers and more confident in presenting/sharing.
My friend, reflections are of great value for our students. There are so many sites and apps that can be used. Here are just a few:
Flipgrid
Recap
Padlet
Screencastify
Video Notes
Voice Thread
Google Slides
Pear Deck
WeVideo
Google Keep
Explain Everything
Shadow Puppet
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