Reflect to Affect: Impactful Digital Student Reflections

Purpose & objective

The goal of our session is to provide strategies, tools, and resources to support reflection in the classroom. Attendees will be introduced to methods for utilizing digital reflection tools such as Flip, Focusable, Canva, Adobe Express, Padlet, and more. Additionally, attendees will recognize opportunities during class sessions for learners to engage in academic and emotional reflections. Success will be evident when teachers take these strategies back to their classrooms and start building student self-efficacy using the strategies presented.

Outline

Opening (20 min): Attendees will be given an opportunity to reflect on the learning they have experienced so far at ISTE. Multiple options for reflection will be provided. After reflecting, attendees will be asked how they felt when taking part in the reflection activity - this will connect to the importance of student reflections in the classroom along with the benefits of metacognitive activities.
Content (25 min): First, opportunities for in-class reflection will be provided along with examples (goal reflections, learning-specific reflections, SEL reflections). Next, platforms for allowing varied expression will be explored including video-forward options such as Flip and Focusable, image-based tools including Canva and Adobe Express, and more.
Call-to-Action (15 min): Attendees will partake in a goal-setting session to determine which contexts and tools would be most applicable to their subject and grade level. Additionally, educators can share their experiences with student reflections using the hashtag #Reflect2Affect.

Supporting research

Dr. Catlin Tucker speaks and writes extensively on metacognition and its importance in blended learning settings.

The UDL Guidelines support self-regulation and opportunities for varied expression and communication.

Self-Reg Schools: A Handbook for Educators by Stuart Shanker and Susan Hopkins emphasizes the importance of student self-reflection in educational settings to support self-regulation.