Summer PD: Guiding Readers + Writers to Reflect and Set Goals

Once upon a time, one of my English department colleagues — the senior stateswoman of the department, highly skeptical about my new-fangled methods — came to me. She received the students I taught as juniors in her senior English class, and this was the ultimate test. Was I really as full of it as she thought I was? When she taught the students I had prepared, she’d be able to tell.

She said, “Well, I don’t know if they are all better writers than they used to be, but they are the most reflective students I’ve ever had.”

Since this was probably the greatest compliment I was likely ever to receive from this teacher, I took it. And ran. I was honored that she found my students to be highly reflective and metacognitive because I do spend a lot of time working on those skills. Without the ability to set meaningful goals and reflect deeply on progress, it’s hard to become a better reader or writer.

Here’s a session I hosted a couple years ago on specifically focusing on reflection and goal-setting around reading and writing. Below, you’ll be able to grab the resource pack of reproducibles, too!

Leave me a comment and let me know what’s resonating with you, what questions you have, or what you want to learn more about in the coming school year!