1. A Scholastic Way to Tell People What You Think
Reflection Essays
A Scholastic Way to Tell People What You Think

2. What is a Reflection Essay?
A reflection essay is more academic than a journal entry but less formal than a traditional research paper. It's an assignment that essentially gives you the opportunity to react to how you personally feel about a particular book you read, a movie you saw, or a debate you attended.

3. What is a Reflection Essay?
While a reflection paper allows writers to provide their own personal feelings and should be written in the first person, it's important to note that an effective reflection paper will not only provide your opinion, but it will back that opinion up with solid examples and cite an expert's knowledge if possible. Additionally, a reflection paper is about how you feel about the subject you are writing; there is no need to bring up counter- arguments or counterpoints in this sort of essay. That would only take away from the importance of your opinion.

4. Why do teachers assign Reflection Essays?
→Allows you to consider how your personal experiences and observations shape your thinking and your acceptance of new ideas.
→To encourage you to explore your own ideas about something.
→To express your opinion rather than summarise the opinions of others.
→To help you to improve your analytical skills because it requires you to express what you think, and more significantly, how and why you think that way.

5. Types of Reflection Essays
→Experiential Reflection:
⇾Popular in professional programs, reflection is an important part of making connections between theory and practice.
⇾Do not only describe your experience, but you evaluate it based on ideas from class.
⇾Abstract concepts can become concrete and real to you when considered within your own experiences, and reflection on your experiences allows you to make plans for improvement.
→Reading Reflection:
⇾Many interdisciplinary courses may ask you to submit a reading reflection. This is a time to look at what you read and apply it to your life or profession.

6. You Are Writing an Experiential Reflection!
→You will need to critically engage with concepts from the speakers and breakout sessions on Monday by making connections between your observations, experiences, and opinions.
→Doing so provides important insights and perspectives for your own growth as a leader, student, and Christian Gentleman. For this assignment, it is important to balance reporting or descriptive writing with critical reflection and analysis.

7. Consider These Questions!
1. Contextualize your reflection: What were the objectives of the day? How do these goals fit with the themes or concepts of the Leadership Initiative?
2. Provide important information: What is the name of the host organization? What is their mission? Who do they serve? What was your role? What did you do?
3. Analytical Reflection: What did you learn from this experience? About yourself? About working with others?
4. Lessons from reflection: Did your experience fit with the goals of the day? Why or why not? What are lessons you can use in the future? What was successful? Why? What would you do differently? Why?
Consider These Questions!

8. A Note on Mechanics & Grammar!
→As with all written assignments or reports, it is important to have a clear focus for your writing.
→You do not need to discuss every experience.
→Your writing must be organized.
⇾ Introduce your topic & the point you plan to make about your experience and learning. ⇾Develop your point through body paragraph(s), and conclude your paper by exploring the meaning you derive from your reflection.
→You should maintain a formal tone, but it is acceptable to write in the first person and to use personal pronouns.

9. The value of reflection:
Critical reflection is a meaningful exercise which can require as much time and work as traditional essays and reports because it asks students to be purposeful and engaged participants, readers, and thinkers. Reflection allows the writer to understand and carefully consider what they’ve learned. It should encourage personal growth.