I highly value reflection in my classroom. Throughout the semester, I encourage students to reflect on their writing process, their work, their goals, and their thoughts, in general.
I began my FYC class this semester with a questionnaire to help me get to know them. Some of the questions I asked led them to reflect on themselves as students. For example, “Are you a procrastinator, someone who works ahead, or somewhere in the middle?”
Throughout the semester, they answered brief journal prompts that tie into the major assignments and lessons. Most of the major assignments also included a brief reflective paragraph at the end, so students could tell me how they felt about the project, what they were proud of, what they feel they could do better, or anything else about the assignment.
All these reflective pieces were aimed to help students complete their final major assignment, a reflective letter. Students could address the letter to themselves on the first day of class, a hypothetical future student, or me. The questionnaire, journal prompts, reflective paragraph directions, and reflective letter assignment sheet can be found in the document below.
