Student Ownership and Reflection

Ongoing student reflection promotes ownership
of learning decisions and groupings.

Classroom Goals: (ordered from emerging to sustaining)

• Use of digital or paper student reflection tools (reflection sheets, notebooks, journals, self-assessment manipulatives) 
• Evidence of student self-assessment to monitor learning and identify needs Evidence that teacher provides growth-oriented feedback on reflections
• Students have the ability to articulate what their strengths or weaknesses are and what actions they are taking to address these Multiple pathways to learn and demonstrate learning
• Teacher allows authentic and autonomous choice with content, process and/or work product
• Students know their individual role within collaborative group activities

Context

Goal-setting is a core component of the blended and personalized approach. It provides students with more transparency and ownership of their learning. Goal-setting creates intentional opportunities for students to reflect on their learning data, although the frequency may vary by classroom (e.g. weekly goals, unit goals, etc.). Goal-setting also has a metacognitive component, helping students understand what they know and don’t know.

Students will often leverage data to set goals. They may reference progress from their playlists, or results from a pretest or posttest to determine an upcoming goal. For example, a student might review their posttest, determine they don’t feel comfortable with a skill that they got right, and create a goal centered on improving their understanding of that skill. SMART goals are frequently used as a goal-setting tool for students goals, although they are not the only type of goal used within the school.

Teachers support students in their goal-setting as well. Teachers frequently should check in with students through small group interactions, and occasionally individually, to review progress on student goals. If the student has not yet accomplished the goal, then they discuss why and what can be changed to help them succeed. Teachers will also review student data in case there are skills or targeted areas they want to suggest as a goal for a student. Goal-setting check-ins have the benefit of creating additional opportunities to build the relationship between the student and teacher.