What’s your plan?

In her poem, “The Summer Day,” Mary Oliver asks a compelling question: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” While the question seems simple, the answer is not. I’ve pondered my own response to this question for years. Predictably, as my life evolves, so does my answer; the process for responding, however, remains the same.

To be clear, much must be said about life’s fluid journey and the importance of adaptation. Equally important is the ability to plan, act, reflect, and plan anew. As a professional educator, this is my process, and it’s the same process that guides my personal life.

How do educators guide their students through the planning-acting-reflecting-planning cycle? Thoughtfully designed lessons and units are the beginning, but if we’re motivated to empower students to connect their experiences in our classrooms to their responses to Oliver’s question, we must do more. Educators must provide opportunities for students set goals, implement those goals, reflect on their challenges and successes, and then modify their goals. This is the process. While goal-setting is an important beginning, it is only one part of the process; implementation and reflection are equally critical components.

This is a life practice that can be honed in the classroom, and I’ve developed a few implementation tools for my students: 1) the “Post Speech Presentation - Self-Assessment, Reflection, and Goals,” 2) the “ELA Student Self-Assessment, Reflection, and Planning,” and 3) the FREE “Independent Reading Log for Reporting, Reflecting, & Goal-Setting.” With these tools, ownership for learning is transferred from teacher to student, and students are engaging with the critical life practice of planning, acting, reflecting, and … repeating.

These tools are part of my answer to Oliver’s question. With my “one wild and precious life,” I want to lighten the burden I feel for student learning and place the relevant responsibilities where they belong—-on students. My students embrace these tools, but many of them report that while they find exceptional value in planning, self-assessment and reflection, they’re seldom asked to do it in school.

For additional assistance or guidance with student self-assessment and reflection, please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and email me at highaltitudeacademics@gmail.com. If you’re inclined to share your professional or personal response to Oliver’s question, I’d love for you to email it to me!