Okay, I must admit, I learned something from Michael Schooler while team teaching the American Studies class. I did learn other somethings, but this was not just a normal something. This was a big something.

Social studies teachers like the facts. As Joe Friday would say, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” To ensure students know the facts we have them write summaries and outlines. We even give quizzes. I mean, how can students even begin to understand history without knowing all the facts?

Early on in American Studies my teammate, Mr. Schooler, gave the students a reflection assignment. My first reaction, I must admit, was that this was the beginning of that touchy feely English department stuff that is so not social studies. As the first set of reflections came in I could see that the students were thinking deeply about the material and were drawing some great connections between the ideas in the text and their own life experiences.

By the end of the year I was completely sold on this whole reflection thing. It is the linking mechanism that ties the curriculum to each student’s worldview, or life experience. It turns dry curriculum into exciting curriculum. It lights the way to that critical connection between the content and the student.

This year almost every assignment I give includes a reflection. Students are making the connections. They can see how everything they learn does relate to their own lives. This one little extra stretch has made a huge difference in students’ depth of understanding and appreciation. It is an essential key to student engagement. Reflections rock. Thank you, Michael, for showing me the real value of this “touchy feely” learning tool.