Why Reflection?
What does it look like in the classroom?
At the beginning of the year, students pick one plus and delta from each column and record it on their own logs. Towards October, we still brainstorm together but students are more comfortable writing highs and lows specific to them. At this point in the year, students are expected to write in a complete sentence.
Reading & Math Reflection
While end-of-day reflection is important, building opportunities for reflection into our learning blocks is also really important. At the very end of our Daily 5 block and our Guided Math, we do Plus/Delta for the day. This gives me the chance to quickly reflect with every student and plan with students who struggle. I give students the plus and delta sentence stems (Plus ā Today I learnedā¦ Delta = Tomorrow I need toā¦). Students are welcome to deviate, but it allows students to complete the Plus/Delta independently. Honestly, we do this process *quickly* and quietly. As soon as students finish, students grab their snack and gather on the carpet for a read-aloud. All-in-all, reflection in the early weeks (Weeks 1-4) takes 7-8 minutes. Once we become faster at it, we can streamline the process into 4-5 minutes. Boom!
Implementing Reflection in Your Classroom
- Model, Model, Model ā Take the first week and model exactly what you expect. During these first days, do not have students write their reflections. Do the reflections whole-group and then, have students share their own plus and deltas with a partner.
- Have a Plan for Managing the Paper ā At the end of the week, what will students do with the reflection sheets? Have a plan and prepare accordingly. We keep our reflection sheets in our Leadership Binders (so we can reference them at other times in the year), so when I print them I know to go ahead and hole punch them. This makes the end of the week easy because the papers are ready to slip into the binder rings!
- Building in Reflection Time ā Those first few days when students are writing their reflections, it does take a chunk of dedicated time. IT DOES GET BETTER. Take some deep breaths and have a Diet Coke ready. Toward the beginning of the year, reflection took about 25-30 minutes for everyone to finish. Now (in January) it takes us 8-10ish minutes for everyone to finish.
- Notice Patterns ā One of the benefits of doing daily reflection is the opportunity for me to āseeā what students think about our days. If Iām paying close attention, I can see patterns among students and their thinking. I know that my friends HATE missing a math center and it really concerns them when a friend is absent. Afternoon RtI is something we look forward to (which I would *never* guess without these plus/deltas) and this group of friends would choose Indoor Recess over Outdoor Recess every day of the week.
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Wow!!! I love this idea!! I am going to focus on implementing this in my half day kindergarten classroom when we return in January. As a parent of a preschooler, one thing I treasure is the message board the teacher uses to describe their day. This gives me the perfect place to start a conversation about my daughter's school day. I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate this in my classroom to help parents feel included in our day. Thanks for the thorough explanation!!!
I love this idea. Since this is school wide, I was wondering what it looks like in the upper grades? Does everyone use the same reflection sheet?
Everyone has a reflection time, but the reflection sheet is grade dependent. The upper-grades include any 'conduct marks' they might has received and then subject-specific plus and deltas.
Looks great. We are a Leader in Me school as well and I love how you implement it so easily into your day. Thank you for sharing your great ideas.
One of my favorite posts!!! So many great ideasā¦brainstorming and thinking where and how to get started.
Kelly
http://www.learningintwolanguages.com
I saw your post on instagram about this and I loved it! Started using it the very next week with my 1st graders! It's a great way to end the day and give them something to think about for the next day. I also love seeing what's important in their eyes! My favorite "deltas" so far were that I didn't give them long enough to write in their Science Notebook and they want more Writer's Workshop time!! Good problems to haveā¦if only I had more time in my day! Thanks!
Jennifer
Love this idea! Going to try it this next year. A couple questions though; Do your parents sign it each night? On Friday do you send it home then put it in their binder when it comes back on Monday?
It looks like on some days you might put a star on smiley face to show that you have seen it ā right? Do you always put some mark on it?
Hi Christine! Yes, I do check and mark each plus and delta every day. It allows me to see what students consider a great part of their day, as well as, communicate with families! š
I LOVE THIS IDEA! We have about 45 minutes at the end of day and this would be a perfect activity for those last few minutes! I canāt wait to try this.
LOVE + and deltas. My kiddos love it, I love it, my co-teaching team loves them. Thank you for sharing. Such a great reflection tool.
Very inspiring. Thinking about something more digital as I am blessed to be one to one with third graders.
Can you explain to me how the choices of āThink About Itā, āTeacherās Choiceā and āParent Contactā are used on the Plus/Delta sheets? Thank you! I am very interested in implementing this reflection piece in my first grade classroom this fall.
The End-of-Day Reflection: Plus and Delta is a powerful tool for personal growth and productivity. Taking time to reflect on the positives (Plus) and areas for improvement (Delta) allows for meaningful self-evaluation.
Reflecting on my learning journey, I realize how much progress Iāve made and how important it is to keep improving. Sometimes, I struggle with my assignments, and thatās when I look for extra help. I found https://www.nursingpaper.com/ really useful for getting the support I need. Itās helped me stay on track and focus on my growth.
1 Of the students. itās great to see the newcomers to the class on their fifth day at school. Although they are still at the beginning, their curiosity and excitement for learning can be read in their eyes. They are in the process of getting used to the classroom, getting to know each other and learning the basic rules of the school. At this age, they are in a very valuable period when learning meets fun and friendships begin to form.
Great post! I love the idea of using the plus and delta reflection to help students self-assess and identify areas for growth. Itās an effective way to end the day thoughtfully, encouraging them to recognize their strengths while thinking critically about improvements. I could see this working well in other areas, like during a āMy Wordleā activity where students can reflect on what strategies worked for them in figuring out the word and what they could try differently next time. Thanks for sharing these insights!
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End-of-day reflections like the Plus and Delta method are such a great way to promote growth and self-awareness in the classroom. After a productive day, I like to relax with Wordle Unlimited itās a fun way to wind down while still keeping my brain engaged!