A team holds a post-game meeting. Military personnel hold an AAR (After Action Review). A business group debriefs the big deal that just came off. When I first heard about students reflecting on projects, I thought it sounded like a nice idea—if I could fit it in. And sometimes I did. Over the years, though, I’ve come to see it as essential for engaging students in their own learning, empowering them to analyze their own work, and integrating even summative assessments into the learning of the classroom.
What does that look like? This week 10th graders turned in the final draft of their first processed writing. See last week’s blog for what I re-learned about the value of writing with my students through the drafts. This week’s is about the value of students reflecting on the process and product. (And of me, the chief learner in the room, reflecting on their reflections.)
When students came into the room on the day their final draft was due, the slide at the top of the blog was on the board. (See below for the peer revision rubric they used to guide pair work last week.) Following are some of their answers to the 3 prompts.
One thing I learned about writing while working on this piece:
- When I read “Fish Cheeks,” Amy was describing the food that they ate for Christmas, and it helped me a lot to describe the cons that I experienced in track.
- One thing I learned while writing this paper was to grab the reader with imagery and strong language.
- One thing I learned about writing while working on this piece is that describing your feelings is hard. However, it gives the reader the feeling of the moment the author was in.
- In this piece I really learned that you can’t revise enough when you write something. Even looking back right now, there are so many things that I would change.
One thing I did well; one thing I want to grow in:
- I tried to make the reader feel like they are in and engaged in my narrative by adding dialogue, figurative language, description, and my thoughts. I want to improve in making my writing more interesting by using better choice of words.
- I want to grow in being a better storyteller by drawing the reader in and keeping them engaged and also making a good conclusion.
One specific question I have for Mrs. Essenburg about my writing in this piece:
- What makes a good writer good?
- How should I change my intro to be more interesting?
- How should I improve using…better word choice?
- When should I add details?
- How do you get better at writing imagery?
- How can I do a better job of making my sentences flow together?
- How do I show my voice better?
One student raised his hand while writing his reflection and asked, “Is it alright if I ask 3 questions instead of just one?”
“Oh, please!” I replied. “Student questions are like teacher candy—I love answering questions because then I know it’s something you really want to know. So much better than me giving out information no one is really interested in!”
Reading the students’ reflections also helps me assess my teaching as I catch glimpses of how students perceived and applied my goals for the project, and what my next goals should be in order to support (or sometimes redirect) their goals. I’m happy to see that they have the idea of writing for an audience, and that I’m doing a much better job of not just calling a mentor text a mentor text and pointing out a couple of things students could do in their writing, but getting students to actually adopt the mentor text for their own model.
And I’m excited to note that they all seem primed for more because my answer to all of their questions is “Pay attention to your reading. When you read a passage that grabs your attention, ask yourself, ‘What made that good? Was it a good introduction? Powerful word choice? Interesting details? Striking imagery? Sentences tugging you breathless from one to the next? Great voice?’ Then try it in your own writing.” It isn’t copying if you’re discipling yourself to the patterns of the great.
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