Reflection Isn't the End of Learning: It's Where Learning Becomes Visible

*Summer PD Presentation at SLED (IDEA) July 2026

I teach a dual credit speech class, and one part of that course is following the college syllabus. In that syllabus, students are expected to reflect on their formal speeches by watching their recordings and then writing a formal reflection on what they observed, learned, and how they might grow moving forward. What I noticed, however, is that students rushed to get this assignment done because nothing was done with the essays once they were submitted and graded. Their learning stopped with the reflection, and their thoughts didn’t lead to immediate, actionable change in their speaking abilities.

Too often, I feel like the reflection process is treated as an item to cross off a list instead of a meaningful part of the learning process. So I tried to shift my thinking. What if reflection could become an active and meaningful part of the learning process?

The Problem with Traditional Reflection

Reflection is a powerful tool that can lead to a deeper understanding of concepts and the learning process, but as classroom teachers, we often find that time forces us to skip this step or shorten the experience. Reflection in my classroom often takes the form of an exit ticket or a quick question on a Google Form. Students complete the task, but they often don’t review what they wrote again. The grade gets entered, and the learning feels complete. This cycle of learning felt like a hamster wheel to me. Students were actively writing, but they weren’t actively applying the notes they wrote about in their reflections to the next speech.

Learning started to feel disconnected from future learning. The focus became about the product, not the process. It was here that my thinking started to shift. As a lover of video creation and making learning visible, I started to wonder how I might make reflection more visible.

Learning Becomes Visible When Students Explain Their Thinking

Reflection isn't simply asking students what they learned; reflection should help students explain how and why their thinking changed. It should also address where they might apply what they learned in the future. The science of learning tells us that retrieval and interleaving ideas lead to long-term learning. Feedback and reflection are also important parts of the learning process, asking students to explain their thinking. With video assignments, students can demonstrate their thinking in ways that cannot be created with AI. With video, students must use their voices to explain their thinking.

Why Video Changes Everything

Video does not replace written reflection. In fact, students sometimes have to write more to craft a reflection that others can view. Using a podcast template, I started having students interview a peer about their speaking and writing experiences. To prepare, they used a template to jot down their ideas before they talked through their thoughts. After they prepared, they were able to record and share their thoughts with their peers. Because students knew that their peers could listen to their thoughts, they put more time into crafting their messages. They then wanted to spend time listening to their peers, investing more time in the reflection process. Their learning became a story.

How to Get Started

Making reflection a video shifted the focus from product over process to process over product. Often, teachers are hesitant to dive into video creation because it seems time-consuming or they don’t know how to use the technology, but being a reflective creator doesn't necessitate award-winning videos. This type of reflection can start with small, intentional routines.

Some of the reflective video assignments I started to build into my class included exit-ticket videos (similar to old-school Flipgrid), unit reflections, and pre-writing reflections. Having students talk into a video using WeVideo or Snorkl helped make this practice a natural part of the learning process.

Video can be used to teach concepts, too. My speech students were struggling with Monroe's Motivated Sequence. Once I shifted this concept to a PSA video assignment, the learning clicked. When students actively engage in explaining their thoughts, reflection becomes a conversation. They can discuss how they might change their thought process or approach in the future. With someone else listening, students are more actively engaged. Having conversations around learning makes reflection feel like a habit, not an assignment to complete.

Using templates and simple routines emphasizes process over product, as students feel ownership of their learning. Storytelling is an important part of the learning process, which is continual and collaborative. How might you use video reflections in your classroom?

The K–W (Expanded) Framework: A New Way to Think About AI Literacy

What if curiosity was your guide and AI was your thought partner?

For the past two years, talk of AI has dominated educational conversations. Many valid concerns about the rapid growth of AI tools and their ubiquitous presence in our lives have been raised. No matter where you personally fall on the AI continuum, no one can deny that artificial intelligence has changed the conversation in education. 

Too often in my local network, concerns about cheating and a loss of critical thinking have shadowed the possibilities that AI has to stretch what is possible and support deeper, long-term learning. While these concerns should be addressed, I find that when our conversations about AI immediately focus on negatives, we are asking the wrong questions first. Instead of asking, “How can we do this for my students or for me?” we should be asking, “How can AI help students expand their thinking?” 

This past year, I had the privilege of speaking at ISTE with a dear friend from my district about leveraging AI to narrow learning gaps in our classrooms. Using the literacy classic KWL (What do I KNOW?, What do I WANT to know?, and What have I LEARNED?), we wanted to reflect on how AI tools can be used to promote critical thinking and creativity while also supporting the needs of all learners. By expanding the framework to use AI as a thought partner before completing the learning process, we hoped to encourage curiosity and spark thoughtful, collaborative conversations in our classrooms. Our wonderings led to reframing AI as an additive tool that helped students ask better questions and create meaningful artifacts to demonstrate understanding. 

Step 1: It starts with what we know. 

Every learner has knowledge to share. Sometimes articulating what they know does not come naturally, but we must leverage our students’ prior knowledge and empower them to practice retrieving that information. This step is often done without the use of devices and can take the form of a quick write, brain dump, or pair-share in the classroom. Students should be at the center. By activating their prior knowledge, students and teachers alike can have a strong picture of what still needs to be learned. Taking that information and celebrating the learning gaps creates opportunities for inquiry and further exploration of ideas. 

A brain dump is my favorite tool that makes learning visible. I often use this strategy before students write a speech or paper. Using pen and paper, students write down everything they know for a set period of time (usually two to three minutes). With time as a motivating factor, students fervently stretch their thinking and pour out their knowledge onto the page. At the end of the exercise, students can look at what they know and use it to tackle the next step in the learning process. 

Step 2: We don’t know what we don’t know. 

While we might not always know where the learning gaps are, we can use knowledge gaps to foster curiosity and inquiry. Curiosity and creativity are not innate traits; they are skills that can be learned and cultivated in our learners. The biggest obstacle I see to student learning right now is that they don’t know what to ask when they do not understand a concept, but once their understanding has been sparked, they are able to engage in deeper learning. AI can serve as a spark, providing multiple perspectives, illuminating misconceptions, and generating real-world connections. 

Step 3: Leverage the learning gaps to expand student knowledge. 

When it comes to learning new vocabulary and concepts, confusion can lead to a lack of confidence in students. The productive struggle level can become too high for students to want to engage with learning. Where learning stalls, teachers have an opportunity to use AI to help reframe and provide different examples to students so that they can better access the learning.


I've used MagicSchool's Multiple Explainer tool to take a complex concept like mitosis and generate multiple explanations or analogies that might resonate more with a 14-year-old than a traditional textbook definition. Google Gemini has also been a valuable thought partner for reframing concepts from different perspectives. For example, asking Gemini to explain mitosis from Charles Darwin's perspective and then from the perspective of a teenager helps students see how restating an idea for a specific audience can shape understanding. In both cases, the AI tools aren’t replacing students' thinking; they are making learning more accessible.

Step 4-5: AI can be used to explore, expand, and encourage reflection. 

One of my favorite ways to use AI is to model how to effectively use it by completing a full class activity. At the end of a lesson, I might ask students to share what we learned or discovered that day. Asking students to recall key ideas can lead us to what we still need to learn or accomplish in future lessons. By recording their takeaways, I can show them how to use AI to question and wonder what we might be missing or what else we can explore together tomorrow. Showing how AI can be a thought partner reminds us that our learning is never done. We can use it to expand thinking - not end it with a quick answer. 

This process shows students how to wonder, question, and reflect throughout the learning process. Learning becomes lasting when students engage in reflection. AI is not doing the learning; students are. Technology can be used to help explore this process. 

 Step 6: Recognize what has been learned. 

Again, AI is an additive tool that helps differentiate, personalize, support, and create more opportunities for feedback and learning. Using AI tools thoughtfully can create more space for the parts of teaching that matter most: relationships, curiosity, creativity, and meaningful conversations. What I’ve discovered and am excited to explore is just how helpful AI can be in supporting both teachers and students in asking better questions and wondering more. When we shift our mindset from AI being a productivity tool to one that promotes inquiry, students have more time to wonder, and teachers can better design learning experiences that amplify student voice and thinking. Teachers become better designers of learning.

Technology should never replace thinking; it should amplify it. How are you helping students identify their learning gaps? How might we utilize AI to expand our thinking? I'd love to hear how you're using this tool to empower learning in your classroom. 

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