Saturday, March 19, 2016

Student Reflections #SOL16

I had my students reflect on their writing so far this year. They have taken about seven or eight pieces through the entire writing process, some nonfiction and some fiction. They read back through their writing and were able to see how they've grown so far this year. They noticed things like being able to "show don't tell" their reader by including great description, figurative language and strong word choice. They know how to include dialogue to move their story along and bring their characters to life. They see the importance of having a strong lead to grab their reader. The recognize the mechanical errors they had in the beginning of the year as compared to more recently. This is what I heard around the room as they looked at their pieces:

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I did that! Look Frances, I didn't even capitalize my sentence!"

"My lead is so boring Ms. Fahey. My last story was so much more interesting. I really grabbed my reader."

"Ms. Fahey, can I correct this story? I see so many run-on sentences that it doesn't even make sense."

Amazing, right? This was so rewarding. It's one thing for me to tell my students how they've grown and what they need to work on, but with this reflection, my students recognize their own growth as writers and can also see where they're still growing and their goal areas.





10 comments:

  1. Janie, reflection is such an important phase of student learning. I have always believed in and encouraged daily reflective practice. It is exciting to see students own their learning.

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  2. This personal reflection is so powerful - so evident in their comments.

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  3. This personal reflection is so powerful - so evident in their comments.

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  4. Just warms the heart when they make these statements.

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  5. Yay! What a thrill to hear them acknowledge their own growth! Kudos to your team for designing the year in a way that allows for both the growth and the reflection.

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  6. This slice is almost an exact ditto of what I wrote about on Tuesday. Isn't it awesome when our writers can see their growth?? Love it!!

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  7. So powerful when students say these things! Powerful for them and a huge thank you for the power of your teaching!

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  8. How wonderful for you to hear your students reflecting on their growth as writers. Sounds like even more growth is on the horizon before the school year draws to a close!

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  9. I love reflection times...it makes all those times I repeated myself totally worth it. This slice reminds me that it's the perfect time to bring out all of our previous writing and reflect!

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  10. So wonderful when students can actually see their growth and want to improve their work. Great slice.

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