Reflection Samples

A series of written reflections by one student...

17 February: I wouldn't say my football ability is terrible but I would like to improve on the skills I already have. During secondary school, I would occasionally play football, however, in my opinion, there was no real passion behind it. I played football just because I had to, however, over the given two year period, I've grown to the sport and began watching a lot more on television. This has driven me forward into building upon the skills I have into a better player overall. Also, this would help me keep fit and healthy while studying the IB. The first week, I filled in the midfield role to push for a 3-1 victory over the opposing team. Good start to a promising future I thought.

24 February: I decided I wanted to play the same role as I did during the first week. My reason for this was I knew some of the mistakes I had made during my debut match. For instance, in an attempt to pass the ball to one of the strikers as they were in on goal, I accidently passed it off the pitch. This led to the opposing team getting a throw in and led to them getting a goal. Therefore, this time round, my aim for this week was to play the role I was 100% sure of and knew the limits to my abilities.

2 March: As I started the match on both first and second week, I did not want to be greedy and continue to be first pick. The main reason I believe I was first pick was purely based upon knowing friends that attended football on Friday. I took this time to stand on the side and observe those who played in the role midfield that I would normally be playing to see if they are doing anything different in comparison to me. I know that in any team sport it is essential to be cooperative and have good communication with the team. Saying this, I wanted to explore how important it was to be a communicative player in a team and therefore, at the beginning of next week, I shall be asking if I can play manager of the team rather than playing. This will allow me to see how the team interacts and able to communicate good strategies I may have come across.

9 March: This week went successfully I think. I had the privilege to manage the team which I found interesting. My plan was to observe the game and, during the second half, have a quick team talk about the positives and negatives. I called for a change in formation as I believed it would be more beneficial to the team if we played 1 striker but 5 midfielders instead. Fortunately, the strategy worked and we came out from a 2-1 lose during the first half to a 2-3 win for the students! What an intense game.

16 March: Getting picked for a starting position felt good again. Although previously I had really enjoyed the manager role, I think a big part of playing football every Friday is to maintain a high level of fitness and try to extrapolate as much both physical and mental skills as I can from the sport. Therefore, going back to the midfield role was fun and interesting as I could use the skills I had acquired from last session whilst playing in the game.

30 March: This week was not as exhausting as other weeks are for me as we ended up playing a five-a-side match due to a shortage of players. I could not gain much from the game and therefore once everyone decided to leave, me and friends stayed to play penalty shoot out. I found out during this week that there is a huge amount of pressure on one's shoulders.

Student reflection through poetry...

Let me not forget the memory of reunion.

Let me not forget the time, space, place, or the embrace.

The passing sound of suitcase wheels, interrupting announcements,

The ever growing feeling of relief, and love.

Let me not forget the moment when nothing else mattered,

Responsibilities, expectations, standards, pressure,

Slipping through my fingers as they wrap themselves in this reality.

Let me not forget the peaceful bliss as the tears glided down my cheeks;

Tears of joy, of content, of ecstatic happiness.

Let me not forget the fulfillment of those anticipating months.

Let me not forget that despite the previous distance, everything was renewed.

A friendship not worn by separation, but rather solidified in faith.

The faith that this moment would come, and would come many times again.

Let me not forget that some things can never be broken.

Let me not forget.

Student reflection through song...

“Following his involvement in a CAS project focusing on improving social justice, a student wrote two songs that acted as a culminating reflection. The student performed these songs in the school cafeteria, with an accompanying visual presentation that gave further details on his reflections and overall experience."

Student reflection through photography...

“One of my students decided to take one photograph a week throughout her CAS experience that captured what she was feeling, thinking, seeing or learning. She combed through her photographs to create a gallery without a single caption to present to the community. She wanted to see if what she saw through her camera lens would reflect the story accurately.”

Student reflection through an object art...

“A student turned in a basketball to represent his reflection in Activity. All over the basketball he wrote phrases, attached photos, and adhered articles to repurpose the ball as a road map to his experience and represent his reflections.”

Student reflection through artwork...

“Students who, as part of a CAS group project, were tutoring children within the Hmong community learned about the story quilts that are their traditional art form. They collaborated on a tapestry using learned skills from the Hmong artisans to tell about their collective journey.”

(All samples borrowed from IB CAS Teacher Support Material.)