In the syllabus you see something called one-minute summary for Week 1, etc.
That’s a task you should do for yourself. You do not submit it to me. I’ll never see it. Now is the time to start developing habits of mind for yourself.
At the end of each week, take a minute or however long you need, to jot down a few notes on what you learned this week in this course. Indeed, you might want to do this for all your courses, or even for your life in general.
If you’re not sure what to write about, if you’re not sure that you learned anything during the week, then here are some possibilities for you to reflect upon. Only choose 1 of these if you’re not sure what to write about. Don’t try to respond to all these prompts every week, though I do know people who actually spend a couple of hours at the end of every week thinking deeply about what they did that week. That’s great. I don’t do that myself. Do what works for you. Be aware of managing your time, but at least give yourself one-minute every week where you reflect on that week. (Remember, you’re not submitting this to me at all; this is for you.)
- Try to state in 3 complete sentences the key points of the week.
- Each week of the course has at least one essential question: write down what new insights you have learned about that topic.
- have any of your interactions with other students in the course changed the way that you perceive what you are learning?
- If you learned a new tool this week, describe your reaction to it. How would you use this tool in the future? How would you improve it?
- Has your learning process changed?
- What became clear to you that was previously very confusing?
- What connections are emerging between this course and your other courses or your everyday life? You use technology everyday. How are you understanding it a bit better every week?
- What improvements are you noticing in your own skills at staying organized, studying, or even interacting with others?
- Did you try any new learning strategies? Were they effective?
- How can you improve your learning strategies? Note: think in terms of learning and not studying. Studying is something you do for an exam. Learning is something you will do throughout your life even when there is no grade.
- What mistakes have you made this week. Remember, you’re writing only to yourself. You can be candid and honest with yourself.
- What gave you the most pride during the week? What gave you a real sense of accomplishment?
Ultimately, when you think about what you learned during the week, what you are doing is actually learning about yourself.
[Several of the prompts above were adapted from Linda Nilson’s book Creating Self-Regulated Learners: Strategies to Strengthen Students’ Self-Awareness and Learning Skills.