What is a reflection?
 serious thought or consideration
http://oxforddictionaries.com
 the fixing of the mind on some subject; serious
thought; contemplation
 the result of such thought; idea or conclusion, esp. if
expressed in words www.yourdictionary.com
The value of reflection
 To record events and our reactions
 Challenges us to question our actions and ways of
thinking
 Helps us to view our learning objectively and develop
strategies for improvement
 Increases our confidence through a better
understanding of our strengths
 Creates a bridge between prior learning and new
learning
So what might we reflect about?
 The Topic – What are my opinions on the topic of study?
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Have they changed over the course of the investigation?
Challenges – what was difficult and how did I overcome
this?
Achievements – what did I do well at and what
preparations/strategies did I use to help me achieve?
Insights – what new understanding and/or skills did I gain
from the experience of undertaking the investigation?
Learning – how do I understand myself better as a learner?
Areas for Improvement – how would I do a similar task
differently next time?
Guiding Questions on conducting
the Investigation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How did I choose my topic for the Investigation?
What challenges did I face in finding my
information? How did I overcome these challenges?
How did I collect and organise my information?
What resources were most useful? Why?
Were the resources readily available? If not, what did
I have difficulty finding? How did I deal with that?
Guiding Questions on preparing and
drafting the Chinese component
What strategies did I use to plan my response?
2. How useful was the drafting process? How could I
have improved on this?
3. What preparations were most useful?
4. How effectively did I manage my time from the
initial planning through to task completion? What
could I have done better?
1.
Guiding Questions on
Understandings
How did my understanding of the topic develop
through the course of the investigation?
2. How has my understanding of the Target language
and culture developed as a result of this
investigation?
3. How has this investigation contributed to a deeper
understanding of my own values and beliefs?
1.
Guiding Questions about Learning
What strategies worked well for me in completing
the investigation?
2. What does this tell me about myself as a learner?
1.
Organising your responses
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Draw a Concept map
Group ideas into common themes/ideas
Choose format of response
Plan an outline of response with one clear idea to be
developed in each paragraph/section
Draft and edit response
Formats for Reflection
 Journal Entry
 Letter to the teacher
 Blog
 Reflective Essay
 Discussion with the teacher
 Oral Presentation to the class
 Participate in a group discussion
Journal Entry
 Lots of personal opinions and feelings in response to
your learning experience
 Remember audience is yourself
 Language should be informal and may contain some
visual representations, some words in bold or use
colours
 There should be a date at the top of the diary entry
 Journals usually end with a hope or plan for the future
which results from the increased understanding you
now have through the process of journaling.
Letter to your teacher
 Use appropriate letter format and appropriate address
and language (remember you are writing to your
teacher not your friend)
Structure
 Greet recipient and introduce purpose of letter
 Paragraph according to key ideas
 Conclude with overall summary and reflection on the
experience
 Make sure you date your letter
Blog
 Write with the reader in mind. Perhaps you might write the blog as advice to others
completing this kind of task, whatever you choose, you must have a reader in mind that
you are writing for
 Keep it short and simple, sweetie. (KISS). You may have a lot to say and think it
interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point
quickly.
 Keep it lively, make it snappy and snazzy. Even if you aren’t a natural born writer, you
can write for your blog. Just write like you’re speaking to your friend.
 Write clearly (short sentences, only one concept per sentence). No more than one
idea in one sentence- don’t make your readers have to think about your meaning. Use
commas and dashes liberally.
 Write like you talk. It’s okay to use common expressions from speech. Examples: Go
figure. Don’t even go there. Now, I ask you. Gotta love it. (And, remember the age group
of your readers.)
 Use a clear headline. Make it snazzy and use key words.
 Above extracts from: http://website101.com/social-media/how-write-blogwriting/#ixzz1HTW64opl
Reflective Essay
Must maintain formal essay structure
 Introduction (Provides background to the experience
and outlines key ideas to be discussed in body)
 Body (with one key idea per paragraph)
 Conclusion (including some
suggestions/recommendations for the future)
How is it different from a regular essay?
 Should contain personal opinions, experiences and
observations
Discussion with Teacher
 This is less structured and will involve more
spontaneous conversation
 The teacher will ask you questions and may ask you to
clarify your responses
 You may ask questions or seek suggestions from the
teacher, but you must be the main speaker in this
discussion
Oral Presentation to the Class
 Should have a clear structure – introduction, body and
conclusion
 May be supported with visual aids (e.g. digital
presentation, collage)
 May ask questions of your audience to provide a more
engaging experience for everyone
Participate in a Group
discussion
 This will involve several students and the teacher
 This will be a structured discussion where the teacher
will invite participants to share their ideas and
students may also request to contribute their ideas at
certain times
 Students should be prepared to respond to the ideas of
others and ask questions of others
 The purpose of this is to develop a shared
understanding of the experience and how others feel
about it
Sample Task: Stage 1 Continuers
Description of assessment
Write a personal reflection on your experience
undertaking the investigation of a famous Chinese
Identity
In your task you must reflect on
 The challenges you faced during the investigation and
how you overcame them
 How the investigation has impacted on your
understanding of your chosen Identity
 Any new understandings of Chinese languag/culture
you have gained as a result of the investigation
 use appropriate language and layout for a reflective
response
Some class time will be allocated to developing skills in writing reflective
responses. You will have choice on the style of reflective response (e.g. diary
entry, letter, blog)
Assessment conditions
Task length: approximately 500 words
Task completion: 100 minutes in class, with support of one page of notes following
the presentation of the investigation Chinese response.
Ideas
A Depth of Treatment of Ideas, Information, or
Interpretation and Reflection
Opinions
Depth and breadth in the treatment of ideas,
information, or opinions on familiar topics.
Effective elaboration of ideas and support of
opinions.
Reflection
In-depth reflection on how cultures, values, beliefs,
practices, and ideas are represented or expressed in texts.
Insightful reflection on own values, beliefs, ideas, and
practices in relation to those represented in texts.
Thoughtful reflection on own learning.
B
Depth of Treatment of Ideas, Information, or
Opinions
Breadth and some depth in the treatment of
ideas, information, or opinions on familiar
topics.
Generally effective elaboration of ideas, and
some support of opinions.
Reflection
Some depth in reflection on how cultures, values,
beliefs, practices, and ideas are represented or expressed
in texts.
Some depth in reflection on own values, beliefs, ideas,
and practices in relation to those represented in texts.
Some depth in reflection on own learning.
C
Depth of Treatment of Ideas, Information, or
Opinions
Some variety in the treatment of information
and simple ideas or opinions on familiar
topics.
Short, simple sentences usually containing
one idea are used with some effectiveness to
convey meaning and support an opinion.
Reflection
Some reflection on, with mostly description of, cultures,
values, beliefs, practices, and ideas represented or
expressed in texts.
Some reflection on own values, beliefs, ideas, and
practices in relation to those represented in texts.
Some reflection on learning experiences.
Extracts from Student Responses: