Maximize student reflection during remote teaching and learning

Increased demands on teachers call for high-impact practices that empower and engage students in all new ways. In FreshGrade Connect, the world’s most powerful portfolio is built for meaningful student reflection no matter if you’re teaching remotely, in the class, or both.

Student reflection on their learning experiences is referred to by some educational researchers as the “meta high-impact practice” (Eynon & Gambino, 2017), the “one High Impact Practice to rule them all.” (Hubert, Pickavance, & Hyberger, 2015)

In a time when teachers are stretched thin with navigating new routines and practices in uncertain times—fully remote, in-class, or in a hybrid situation—there may be even more power in designing lessons that use reflection, not simply as an academic learning tool, but also as a transformative exercise that can fundamentally change the way students think about their own learning, their motivation, the biases, and more.

Incorporating metacognition practices may also give students a real-time outlet to express their process and reduce stress and frustration—especially if they’re feeling less connected.

FreshGrade Connect has built student-centered portfolios with reflection in-mind. One way to reinforce a reflective practice is to use a daily post (words or video) that prompts students to think about their own thinking and processes. Here are 5 examples:

1. Write the strategies and skills you use for each assignment. 

2. Before you begin an assignment, write a comment about your mindset. After you’re done, note how your mood impacted your work.

3. What are the steps you’ll take when you get stuck?

4. What are the strengths you will bring to your assignment today. What do you need to improve?  

5. How can your learning environment be improved to help you be successful?

In FreshGrade Connect, students can comment right in each activity and parents can engage, too.

.

.

Sources:

• https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/support/integrative-learning/high-impact-practices-hips-or-engaged-learning-practices

• https://carleton.ca/experientialeducation/types-of-reflections/
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244017733790
• https://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-metacognition-in-classroom-marilyn-price-mitchell

• High-Impact ePortfolio Practice: A Catalyst for Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning (Bret Eynon and Laura M. Gambino) Foreword by George D. Kuh

• https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2015/fall/hubert