Reflection Methods

Reflection skills and methods

 

Collection of junk

 

Location        indoor or outdoor

Duration        20 – 30 min

Suitability      for groups from 8 -15 persons, aged +15 years

Material:        everything you can find in the kitchen, in the common room or outside. The more different the things the better it is. The participants are sitting in a circle.

Implementation

The participants are sitting in a circle. In the centre there are situated very different things, maybe gloves or match boxes and anything else. When the leader of the reflection asks a question each participant chooses one subject. He combines his answer with the chosen subject.

Question: „Which experience did you make the last weekend?“

Answer: „ I chose the sport shoe because I was very active the whole weekend. I was like a sprinter. It was much fun.“

 

Sure instinct

 

Location        indoor or outdoor

Duration        20 – 30 min

Suitability      for groups from 8 -18 persons, aged +12 years

Material:        one paper „sure instinct“ for every participant, a pencil, possibly a blotting pad.

Implementation
Everybody gets a sheet „Sure instincts“ and writes at the letter of he ABC the emotions he felt during the last activity/the last day. This action should take about 10 minutes. Students should write only their emotions at these letters they really can associate an emotion.
After filling up the sheet everybody marks the two most positve and the two mosts negative emotions. Maybe it had the effect of beating oft he heart, prickle in the stomach, adrenaline rush or similar effects.
Everybody presents and explains the four most remarkable emotions to the group.
Comment:
The leader of the reflection should emphasize that all emotions are okay.
In a lot of groups it is not common to talk about emotions. Then it can be helpful to show a sheet the leader filled up by himself and to give an example.

 

 

Positioning

 

Location        indoor or outdoor

Duration        20 – 30 min

Suitability      for groups from 8 -20 persons, aged +8 years

Material:        five cards with numbers 1-5 on each (score card) for each participant

Implementation
Each participant gets five cards, each with one number between 1 and 5. The leader of he reflection asks a question and the participants rate it by raising a score card.
1 = very good,  5 = very bad
The participants have to form a line after their numbers, if not it may be too chaotic.

 

Weather map

 

Location        best indoor

Duration        40 – 60 min

Suitability      for groups from 10 -30 persons, aged +12 years

Material:        sheets of paper, pencils, one poster with weather icons, possibly a blotting pad, a big poster with the „weather forecast“

Possible applications          interim balance or final balance

Implementation
In the beginning the leader of he reflection presents an explains the different weather icons. If there are impulses of the participants to extend or vary the card it is possible to do so.
Then everybody is requested to match icons to the activities that have taken place on his own. All opinions of the whole group are collected  for the „weatherforecast“ and written down on a poster. This weatherforecast is the base for the evaluation oft he last days.

Alternative:

Instead of a chronological weatherforecast you can give the task to point the most important experiences, best things and worse things by icons on a personal „weatherforecast“.

Sunny:                        good feeling, made a lot of good experiences

Fair to cloudy:            alternating good and less good experiences

Rain:                           irritating, not many interresting experiences

Fog:                            still uncertain how it will emerge

Frost:                          cool, icy atmophere, don’t feel comfort

Thunderstorm:            social tesions, conflicts, problems

 

Talking by writing

 

Location        best indoor

Duration        30 min

Suitability      for groups from 6 -30 persons, aged +12 years

Material:        poster with the themes to be reflected, pencils

 

Implementation

The method „talking by writing“ means to communicate by writing. In the middle of a poster there is written the activity/the theme to be reflected. The participants write their opinions/thoughts/ideas without talking to others.
It is also possible that a story, a mind map or list of keywords will be the result.