Reflective Thinking and Writing
I think it is important to involve every student in the learning activity for each class session. You must reach the students in the front, middle and back of the room. This takes skill. Having each student perform a writing exercise each session (journal) when appropriate adds value to the class sessions (reflective thinking) no matter the subject.
Hi Matthew,
I've known instructors to try these as icebreakers, and they have proven to be a big hit. Students enjoy them, and they improve their writing and thinking skills.
Patricia
I agree that these work well concerning a number of elements talked about in this module. Effective prompts for these kinds of activities are vital because they can structure the writing for effective class discussion. I use a number of "thought experiments" to help facilitate writing that focuses on individual analysis in conjunction with follow-up class discussion to enhance the individual analysis. These can be used as icebreaker exercises as well. I teach some very long (4.5 hour) classes, and these work great to stimulate thought at the beginning of these long sessions. Using a combination of prompts having to do with the class content, students' future careers, current events, and even philosophical questions keeps things fresh.
