This kind of simple questioning can help someone identify and build upon his or her strengths. Feel this sense of heaviness going down your legs, through your feet and down into the ground. The topic of this game is success, so participants will share their ideas on what makes something or someone successful. Is your personality like either of your parents? This type of activity is especially useful in scenarios where students are required to reflect on past learning, consider real-world implications, and let this reflection guide future actions and activities. If youre looking for a shorter exercise that taps into the students creativity, McGrath recommends trying an Ernest Hemingwaystyle six-word memoir. Dont think about the past or the future. Through this activity, participants can give their input anonymously. This way, students can share their favorite moments as well as tips or ideas for navigating the class. Then, ask students to share what they think the principal would read about them. Supply each participant with a pen and paper. The last few weeks before summer break is a great time for students to look back on what theyve accomplished throughout the difficult year, recognizing that challenging circumstances can often be the best learning opportunities, say educators. Here are 5 reflection oriented games you can play. Teaching combinations of 10. It also might be the only social media exercise that will actually lower the amount of emojis students use! As you develop an awareness of the self, you begin to connect with your own unique identity. Journaling is a tried-and-true reflection activity especially for practicum-based programs like nursing and education where its crucial that students connect theory to reality. The Jung Personality test can help you explore things like how you think, how you make decisions, and how you deal with others. Now think about the proportion of time you dedicate to each of these things. This is a great activity to take advantage of social media as a tool for learning. . Growth activities are a great way to help promote this. Describe a devastating moment in terms of relationships. I think I could use these exercises to help teach them some valuable life skills in entertaining way. Tasked with writing a five-paragraph, humorous essay about the epic last year, Brenneises students have come up with different reasons why they picked one answer over the other. These detailed, science-based exercises will not only help you increase the compassion and kindness you show yourself but will also give you the tools to help your clients, students, or employees show more compassion to themselves. Brainstorm "More Of, Less Of" What better time than December to reflect on things that make us feel happier and start the next year feeling more positive, grateful, and focused on what's working (and not working) in our personal and professional lives? Daniel Goleman, a psychologist specializing in self-awareness and emotional intelligence, suggests that people with a solid sense of self-awareness generally have more self-confidence, and they have a more realistic assessment of themselves. Two-Dollar Summary:Kids write a two-dollar (or more) summary of the lesson. Ask yourself if you treat yourself better than others? Explore mirrors with paint: Finger paint and Mirrors, Painting a Bathroom Mirror, Painting the Night Explore mirrors with various materials: Water, Mirrors, and Reflections, Invitation to Play: Create a Forest , Pompoms and Mirror Record all your discoveries in a science journal. 2. This middle-grade level activity is a fun and yummy way to teach self-control! Collect the responses from each team and give them to another team. From making sock puppets to making maps, your students will love these creative activities. Read Aloud. If your students are fully or partially online, go digital and have them add the ideas to an online whiteboard or other shared collaborative space. Studies have also shown some fantastic benefits of mind-body practices, such as lower blood pressure in hypersensitive patients after relaxation-response training. This series includes reflective rites where students deliver a presentation about who they are now, as a way to both look back on how they've grown in their middle school years and look forward to what they're hoping to achieve next in high school, according to teacher Gus Jacobson. This fun activity can be completed as a physical escape room or a digital escape room. Notice every thought that comes and goes. Im always writing about the science of learning. Ask yourself if your personality has changed since childhood. This activity helps students to construct their own knowledge. Its very useful in particular for soft skills and life planning training sessions. The aim is to focus on what is done well at their workplace, as well as on what it could be improved. 3 Pass the Ball 4 Beach Ball Reflection 5 Quiz Show 6 Sculpting Your Thoughts 7 Graffiti 8 . 13. We asked teachers around the country to share what these activities look like in their classrooms, and heres what we found. Parent Hotline:Give students an interesting question about the lesson without further discussion. 1. This is especially useful in helping student project teams avoid the usual pains of group work. For some, every day is pajamas day or noisily slurping cereal through the first block, sleeping through second, and noisily slurping ramen through third were the highlights of their year. Derived from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, created by Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is an awareness that arises through paying attention to the present moment, in a non-judgmental manner. Valeria additionally has several years of experience of also working with Ofsted and Cardiff University in management roles & is she is the founder of Symonds Training. Jigsaw. In this post I'm going to give you a collection of playful learning activity ideas using colour, light, shadows and reflection with children. What did we do + Create a sentence Scaffolding Key Take Away Reflection questions using Bloom Conclusion What you can do with those previous last minutes of a lesson. (Source: Gretchen Bridgers). When you do this, you can actively work on improving those weak areas. What would you recommend to your children to do or not to do? Students I Learned From the Most:Kids write notes to peers describing what they learned from them during class discussions. Built with love in the Netherlands. Building a 3D rainbow measurement activity. After a set time (usually nine months), go back and reflect on your decision-making process. Solicit answers. Was this school year The Bestest, Most Funnest and Absolutely Wonderfulest School Year Ever or The Baddest, Most Awfulest, Absolutely Worstest School Year Ever? Fourth graders at Nebo Elementary School in North Carolina are still deciding, says their reading teacher, Lori Brenneise. So coming up below are 7 reflection activities and games that also can be used in your workshops and classes as a freelance trainer or teacher. 2. Or you can record them during Zoom meetings and then share. I hope that you found these useful, and thank you for visiting educationrickshaw.com, an international teaching website that is constantly updated by the fabulous Stephanie Groshell (@Sgroshell) and her goofy husband, Zach Groshell (@mrzachg). Any number of participants. Here are some prompts you can use to get students writing. Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Ask the groups to use only images, photos, drawings, and graphics. This activity is perfect for Reflection and discussion. The test measures your DISC personality type: This can help you better predict your behavior towards others as well as those things you do every day. This is an activity that participants can do on their own but, if they do it in groups, they will develop. This kind of activity can help promote physical awareness and self-acceptance for a young child. ). Practice Beginning Sounds. Journaling. The author is the student. She has taught in the UK at the University of Bath and Cardiff Metropolitan University (where she got her PhD), in addition to working as a researcher at Exeter University. Young children frequently leave toys around the house without realizing any sense of responsibility. (42) $3.00. For more activities, resources, and printables for teaching math, see my Math Activities for Kids page . Explore light and reflections through hands on play! Explain to them whether they need to sort the cards into groups of concepts, rank them, or match them with other items. Notice the texture of the fabric and how the seat feels. Hand out Post-It type notes at the beginning of the lesson and encourage your students to write down any questions or understandings related to the topic. Sounds like youve got quite the job ahead of you! Of all the relationships you have had, describe the best moment. It is nice to be able to utilize these activities without having to create them. Email Address. There are many enjoyable self-awareness activities for youths and students as well. Ask participants to share their story with the rest of their small group. So today, my rose was. My previous role was Director of Educational Technology. How are you feeling? Answering these questions is a powerful method of self-discovery. The camera doesnt stop recording until each representative has completed his or her summary. The point of looking ahead is to get students excited about whats next, but its also an opportunity for teachers to hold students accountable through goal setting and organization, says Rowell. Maybe you wanted to start exercising and lose a few pounds. Quick Writes. This is a good exercise to help participants focus on the essentials and on what is important. And its not about the quality of the art its about how a different medium prompts students to look at learning from a different perspective. Dont be quiet about it either talk out loud through your thought process to show students that reflecting doesnt stop in the undergrad years. Sequence It:Students can quickly create timelines with Timetoast to represent the sequence of a plot or historical events. He recommends trying an activity where students imagine they are at an end-of-year assembly and the principal is going to call up every student to read a biographical index card summarizing the high points and low points of the past year. In this easy activity that just sounds nice, students name one thing that they are proud of for the day (their glow), and one thing that they would like to improve in their learning, or possibly one goal that they would like to achieve in the near future (their grow). We hope you enjoyed reading this article. . Hands-On Activities Elementary teachers know how busy K-5 kids are. Learn more: Teaching in Blue Jeans. Use the app Snapchat and ask your students to take a selfie. Give each group of participants a set of cards, 20 for instance, with words, pictures, or statements. Start breathing in and exhaling to the count of 3. Not only does my ego need to hear the positive feedback after reading about all of the ways that I could have been a better teacher this year, but it also informs me about what I should continue doing, he says. Reflection doesnt have to be purely solitary. So make sure to model the same reflection skills you teach. Participants choose the statement that best describes them. When there are no hands left, ask a question for them to discuss. Ask each of them to think of a peak experience of whatever the topic is (e.g., the best work meeting you ever had; the best-organized conference you attended; the most engaging speaker you ever heard; the most interesting presentation you remember; the best piece of work you did, etc.). 3. She recommends helping students think about their plans for the future and plan out next steps to get there using a planner or a service like FutureMe.org to send their future selves a reminder of long-term goals. It enables you to compare your current actions to your internal standards helping you foresee if you need to make any adjustments. As they do this, you can emphasize the beauty and uniqueness of all the different colored skin. Nureva audio is built for the new reality in higher education. Select the picture that fits the given transformation: reflection, rotation, and translation. This exercise can be carried out individually or in small groups of 3 to 4 people. Great for keeping things positive and for looking ahead to the learning experiences ahead. In terms of psychology, self-awareness is often defined as the ability to engage in some kind of reflective awareness. For children of this age, self-awareness is more about noticing the differences and discovering their bodies and emotions. Art expression Using crayons or modeling clay, get kids to create a representation of different emotions - anger, happiness, frustration, or excitement. Have you discovered sketchnotes? . Check out my posts on technology integration by clicking the image above. Allow 15 to 20 minutes for this reflection and planning exercise. And it can be done well whether students are in the classroom, online or both. Give your best performance of the ABC song. 5 Reflection Activities to Help Students Glow and Grow. Explain that each group will create a shield out of a big piece of paper. Start by dividing them into "home groups" (4 or 5 people works well). Thats why active learning classrooms should be easy to reconfigure for different activities, giving opportunities for both quiet reflection and group sharing. 7. Being self-aware is vital for both personal and professional success. Gather your family or some friends together with the instructions to bring a video clip, funny photo, or joke to share with the group. And when we're finished, scrubbing the mirror clean is another fun activity in itself. The following two tabs change content below. 2. I wrote similar activities during my second career as an Instructional Designer. Dont forget to download our three Self Compassion Exercises for free. 188 0 obj <> endobj Once her students hand in their final drafts, Brenneise will gather all the essays and make a book for each student to remember the year by. Subscribe Search by Grade: Kindergarten-1st Grade 2nd . We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. This activity always keeps the kids busy and entertained for ages. This activity lets students reflect on learning and build writing skills - plus you'll get a window into their understandings and misunderstandings. 4. This activity may not work with current health regulations, but it can be adapted for the new reality. 10 Ideas for a Fun, Reflective End of the Year Activity Mud and Ink Teaching April 24, 2021 Every year of teaching, I struggle with creating a meaningful end for my students. reflect: or when the light bounces back at you, like with a mirror or something shiny. Play golf using transformation. Steps: 1. Each group receives a set of cards, which have information on them such as sentences, questions, pictures, scenarios. Closure refers to an activity that ends a lesson and creates a lasting impression, a phenomenon calledthe recency effect. Heres how breakout rooms work in Zoom. According to child educator Jean Warren, this kind of activity can also help a young child attain self-worth and group identity. 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