Much of what we, as humans, do in life is a part of a long trial and error process, which helps us to develop and grow. The hope is that humans and individuals can learn from their mistakes in an effort to not repeat them and become better people. This same approach applies to much of what is taught and learned in a school setting. The reflection process takes place when a person looks back on a mistake or series of mistakes and thinks about what could have been done differently to have avoided the negative outcome. Another large portion of this process is looking into what what done correctly and reinforcing the needs for those actions.
Most students who struggle with writing continue to do so because they do not reflect on the process in an effort to improve. It is not uncommon to find several essays with D's and F's on them in the recycling bin shortly after they are returned because many of those writers just look at the grade and reaffirm that they will never be good at writing. Every skill or profession takes practice and failure is a common part of any struggle to improve. The biggest problem is when students do not acknowledge mistakes, denying themselves of the opportunity to learn from them and simultaneously insuring that those mistakes will be repeated.
As a result of these concerns, the reflection process will be required for students after each essay. In fact, there will be points awarded to students who reflect on each essay. All freshmen and juniors at Lindbergh are required to write one DBQ essay per quarter. The goal is to place a deliberate focus on the trial and error process in an effort to model it so it can be applied to other challenges, and to improve on our writing skills.
Below are a series of questions or task each student will be required to complete as a part of the reflection process after each essay. Please feel free to forward any questions to your teacher or make arrangement to meet and go through this process together.
Reflection
Process Steps
Please
answer the following questions with as much detail as possible. The more
thought you put to the reflection process the more your writing will improve
over the school year. Students will be required to complete a reflection for
each of the four DBQ essays after they are graded and returned. This reflection
should be attached to the graded DBQ and resubmitted in the History Writing
Portfolio for a grade. Honesty is expected and will make this process more
productive.
1.
List three
positives from this essay? What did you do well?
2.
What is your
largest weakness when writing DBQ essays? What specific 2-3 steps are you going
to take to address it?
3.
What are 2-3 easy
fixes you can utilize to address other small mistakes or issues?
4.
How much time did
you devote to writing this essay?
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Questions
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Yes
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No
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Did you have anyone
review or edit your rough draft before submitting it?
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Did you refer to a
previous DBQ to make sure you did not repeat the same mistakes?
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Did you seek help from
your teacher, After School Instruction, or the DBQ Writing Solutions website?
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Did you use spell check?
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What advice
do you have for your future self to consider before writing the next DBQ essay?
