HOW TO WRITE A GOOD REFLECTION

Dewey's definition of reflection as the reconstruction or reorganization of

experience requires a bending back of the mind in order to focus on a past
experience. It is a form of thorough inquiry that asks questions of the
experience in order to better understand it. By examining the past experience in
a considered and focused way, one could learn and grow.
Good reflection has three elements: recollection, analysis and interpretation,
and proposed action. Put another way, reflection involves description, impact,
and intent. Description simply involves recalling your experiences such as class
activities, textbook readings, and school involvement. These experiences
provide the basis for the impact and intent sections. You can write the
description in paragraph form or simply list all the experiences related to the
topic under consideration
The nature of the stimulus to reflect will impact the quality of the reflection.
Surbeck, Han, and Moyer (1991) identified three levels of reflection:
1. Reacting - commenting on feelings towards the learning experience,
such as reacting with a personal concern about an event.
2. Elaborating - comparing reactions with other experiences, such as
referring to a general principle, a theory, or a moral or philosophical
position.
3. Contemplating - focusing on constructive personal insights or on
problems or difficulties, such as focusing on education issues, training
methods, future goals, attitudes, ethical matters, or moral concerns. The
nature of the stimulus or directions initially provided to the learners, as
well as the feedback they receive after the initial reflection, will
determine the extent to which they reach the contemplation level of
reflection.

AN EXAMPLE: Reading, Elaborating, and Contemplating

Description: We had a guest speaker in today who spoke on children's
literature.

Kamla Mungal, July 2011

Analysis Impact: I was inspired by our speaker. Her enthusiasm for children's
literature is exciting. I share that excitement. I love the idea of incorporating
literature and textbooks to give a creative, exciting science curriculum. The
idea of integration sounds easy but I am also aware of the limitations of this
approach. How will the sequence of content be affected? (Add here what the
academic literature says about this)
I think that we, as teachers, must do a better job of introducing students to good
literature. Limiting ourselves to the readers we had as students can be stifling.
As we learned in my language methods class, many of the stories in these basal
readers were chosen or written specifically for their readability, not for the
quality of the writing of the characters. Integrating these good stories into
science (and other areas) will also allow me to cover more subjects (Add here
what the academic literature says about this)
Of course, a problem I might have is finding the money to buy the books.
School funding is tight these days. If I end up in a school where the principal
wants me to use a basal reader I might have a dilemma. Do I do what I believe
right, or do I do what I am told to do? (Add here what the academic literature
says about this)
Intent: I plan to search out quality literature and expose my students to good
writing. My students won't be limited to the prescribed readability levels. I
want them to read books they love. I plan to begin evaluating books on how
well they will work in science an other subjects. If funding is too tight, I'll have
to buy some of my own, or have a popcorn sale, or whatever. I will need to
speak to my principal about my plans, though. He or she may take some
convincing. Bernaford (1993) also alerted us that it might be wise to integrate
in small ways at first. Maybe I can start slowly and use the basal reader but
supplement it with quality literature then begin to move children's literature
into science and other subjects. (Similarly, add here what the literature on the
psychology of the learner or other relevant literature says about this)
You may use this three-part format to produce the reflection. Please use the
technology innovatively:
1. Description. Briefly describe your experiences (teacher and student
behaviours during a lesson, observations of class activities, discussions with the
principal about your project, students performance on evaluations etc). Do this
in a descriptive rather than a judgmental way (merely record events without
editorializing or agreeing or disagreeing).
Kamla Mungal, July 2011

2. Analysis and Impact. What are you bringing to the experience to make sense
of it? Discuss theories and other experiences. Tell what you have learned (or
confirm what you had already believed, or how what you have learned differs
from what you believed). How do you feel about what you learned?
3. Intent. Make a statement about what you intend to do as a result of your
learnings and feelings. BE SPECIFIC! Phrase this in a personal and positive
way ("what I will do is . . ." rather than "what I won't do is . . .").
Adapted from:
1. Guidelines for Writing your Reflections of Course Readings. Taken
from http://www.coe.ilstu.edu/scienceed/ci453/reflect.htm retrieved
January 8, 2009.
2. Surbeck, E., Park Han, E. & Moyer, J. (1991). Assessing Reflective
Responses in Journals. Educational Leadership, March, 25-27.
3. Critical
Reflection.
Taken
from
http://www.nwlink.com/~Donclark/hrd/development/reflection.html
retrieved January 8, 2009

Rubric for Journal Reflections (5 pieces at 7% per piece)

5- 7. Student turned in a reflection using the assigned format or a format that
reflected the components of a professional reflection. Entries were
characterized primarily as very reflective (i.e., reacting, elaborating,
consolidating and contemplating").
3-4 Student turned in a reflection using the assigned format or a format that
reflected the components of a professional reflection.. Entries were
characterized primarily as reflective (i.e., reacting and elaborating).
1-2. Student used the assigned format. Entries were characterized primarily by
description and limited depth of reflection (i.e., reacting").
0. No attempt was made by the student to complete this assignment.

Kamla Mungal, July 2011