Student Reflection Opportunities.

The school provides opportunities for students to participate in, and reflect on, the assessment of their work.

The Al Jabr Islamic School provides opportunities for students to participate in reflection both inside and outside the classroom. In the classroom, students partake and reflect on the assessment of their work through formative and summative actions to express their independent and group learning during and at the conclusion of units. There are in-class bulletin boards which display their prior knowledge evaluation and work based on their subjects. Throughout the school community, there are additional subject and grade bulletin boards and formal exhibitions such as the Science Fair, Islamic Arts Festival, weekly assembly performances which are rotated between classes, and the upcoming Student Led Conference (SLC).

The SLC is a time when students guide their parents or guardians throughout their journey of learning by demonstrating their work from the past year. MYP students had the chance to bring their parents into the English Language room and demonstrate the reflections they made as a class for each unit of learning within different graphic organizers such as PMI and flow charts. Also, students and parents participated in an interactive corner where students informed their parents about the knowledge of routine process steps’ chronological order and definitions (example: expectation, deadlines, first draft, peer editing, etc.) by playing a matching game.  

In what ways do the opportunities for students to participate in, and reflect on, the assessment of their work demonstrate differences in learning styles? Why is it important to provide these reflection occasions for students? The school provides a variety of methods for students to reflect on their learning and their assessments because students have different learning styles. The students are encouraged to reflect not only through written essays but visual graphic organizers, class discussions, peer and teacher review, moviemakers and Power Points which they created, dance and drama performances, or possible quiz or examination to list a few.

It is important to provide these occasions for students because reflection is the final process step and a part of the IB Learner Profile. Students are building a routine for learning which requires inquiry and critical thinking – being reflective and open-minded in regards to their actions and assessments is critical for them to move forward. Students – and teachers and parents - are able to get insight and gain understanding of whether students have been able to comprehend the lesson. There is an effective evaluation on what the lesson, assignment, or unit has been about all in hope that students continue to become positive-acting global citizens.