Reflection: A Helpful "How-To"

I know that you are getting ready to write a reflective essay on two of your blog posts. I thought I would share some ideas I have about good reflective writing.

The first and most important step in some ways is to read through all your posts so far. It is interesting to see things there that you may not have seen before. The posts will vary, but you will probably have: responses to readings, responses to class discussion, and observations from shadowing and other experiences. It will be hard to choose just 2 to focus on! How do you choose? Choose ones that you think are rich and that you want to reflect on.

A good model for reflection comes from the work of Patti Clayton: the DEAL model. Describe...Examine...Articulate Learning. The idea is that you start with the facts: what do you see? what does that post say? What does it include? How would you describe it?
Then you get in close and examine it: what is happening in the post? how do you know? how does it demonstrate learning happening? Make connections, analyze your language, etc.
Finally, you step back and discuss what you learned from this post that applies to the bigger picture of your learning. Did you learn something about the nature of learning? Did you learn about the nature of writing? How does this relate to assumptions you may have had before this semester? How are you going to change your blogging activities or other writing activities in the future?

If you want to learn more about the DEAL model of reflection, you can go to this website:
http://www.curricularengagement.com/SampleResources.html