Powerful Reflection Questions For Students

Opportunities for reflection help students make sense of learning and life experiences.

Utilizing reflection questions for students will serve the purpose well. 

Teachers take things to a higher level when they ask students to ponder on a concept. There’s power in that.

Doing so allows their ideas to marinate, creating deep thought and analysis.

What’s more, encouraging reflection encourages a better learning experience.

Why?

Because this type of thinking goes below the surface, digging up emotions, thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

Students may themselves be surprised by their own thinking!

What’s more, these types of student reflection questions support social-emotional learning. 

Done consistently, students will have more clarity and a greater understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them.

However…

There is so much to do during a school day that you may be wondering when and where to fit it all in.

That’s where reflection questions for students come in. 

Whether completing a project, watching a video, writing in a journal, teaching a lesson, administering a test, or monitoring behavior, these reflection questions can be used as meaningful reflection exercises.

Use the feedback from these learning reflection questions to help plan more engaging lessons and upcoming activities that meet the needs of students, emotionally and academically.

Go ahead and add these self-reflection questions for students to your collection of higher-order thinking questions. 

You’ll spark internal conversation and classroom discussions that encourage students to express their thoughts in a meaningful way.

Reflection Questions For Students

Following you will find examples of student reflection questions that may be used for various purposes. 

Self-Reflection Questions For Students

• What motivates me to give 100% effort?

• Am I putting forth my best effort?

• What is keeping me from accomplishing my goals?

• How do I learn best?

• What is my greatest strength, and how can I use it to my advantage?

• What new skills did I learn last week?

Reflection Questions After a Project 

• What type of projects do I enjoy most?

• Did I follow the rubric when completing the project?

• Which part of the project was most exciting for me?

• How could I have done an even better job at completing the project?

• What part of the project did I find most difficult?

• Do I understand the content better now because of the project? Why or why not?

• What could have made this project more engaging?

• How does completing math projects help with understanding mathematical concepts?

• Do I prefer math or reading projects? Why?

• Under what conditions do I produce my best work?

Reflection Questions After a Lesson

• Did I have any ‘a ha” moments during the lesson?

• What parts did I understand clearly?

• How does the lesson apply in real life?

• What is the main idea?

• For which parts do I need more clarity?

• What’s the most difficult thing about math class?

• How do good reading skills improve lesson retention?

• What are the top 3 things I learned?

• Now that the lesson is done, what did I already know before it started?

• How would I summarize the lesson?

• Which parts were confusing to me?

• How did the teacher make the letter exciting?

• What are my top 3 takeaways from this lesson?

• How could the lesson be made more engaging?

• What do I surely understand now?

• After the lesson, in what area do I still need help?

• What manipulatives did I use to support my learning?

• Was I an active participant today?

• How would you summarize the lesson in 25 words or less?

• What am I still curious about after the lesson?

• If I had to create a quiz for the lesson, what types of items would it include?

• How would I improve the lesson if I were the teacher?

• What does a good piece of writing look and sound like?

Reflection Questions For Students After a Test

• On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the worst), how did I do on the test? Why do I think this?

• Which part of the test confused me?

• How would I have solved a certain problem differently?

• What part of the test do I think is most important?

• Did I pace myself so that I finish the test in an appropriate amount of time?

• How would I describe my study strategy for a test?

• Which questions stumped me and why?

• Is essay, true/false, or multiple-choice easier for me? Why?

• Did I utilize all of the accommodations allowed to me during the exam?

• How would studying more help me to do an even better job?

• Which questions seemed easiest to answer?

• Did the test make sense to me? Why or why not?

• Where do I study best for a test?

• How do study skills help me progress academically?

• Do I prefer essay or multiple-choice tests? Why?

• How could someone convince me to study more?

Reflection Questions For Students After Watching a Video

• How would I summarize the video?

• Does the video remind me of another video I’ve seen? Which one and how?

• Who or what was the video about?

• What are the pros of watching videos over reading?

• How does the video connect to what I’m learning in class?

• What made the video interesting?

• Which part of the video stood out the most?

• Who would benefit most from this video?

• What misunderstanding from the video needs clarifying?

Reflection Questions For Students About Behavior

• Did I give my best efforts at controlling my behavior today?

• On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the worst), how did I behave today? Why do I think this?

• What does appropriate behavior look and sound like?

• How would I describe someone with appropriate behavior?

• Why is it important to have good behavior?

• How does negative behavior affect my grades?

• When is it easy for me to have good behavior?

• What steps can I take in order to improve my behavior?

• When in recent times did I demonstrate appropriate behavior? What was the occasion?

• How does my behavior affect others?

Journal Reflection Questions For Students

• What was good about my day?

• Did I put forth my best effort in class today?

• When during the school day do I feel most at peace or happy?

• What about my day frustrated me?

• How can I improve tomorrow?

• What did I do well today?

• When was I happy today?

• In what ways can I push forward even when having a bad moment?

• Who made me smile today?

• Did I show kindness to someone today? Who and how?

• When was I at my best today?

Group Work Self-Reflection Questions

• How did I feel about working in a group today and why?

• Did my group accomplish the expected task?

• What are the benefits and disadvantages of working in a group?

• If I had my way, I would prefer to work in a group with people described as…

• What was my role in the group? Why is it important?

• How would I describe the group activity?

• Was I a patient group member?

• What was hard about working in the group?

• Does my group work well together? Why or why not?

• Did I offer help to my group members when needed?

• If I could change one thing about my group, it would be…

• Was the group assignment clear? Why or why not?

• What did my group do to stay focused?

Final Thoughts On Student Reflection Questions

Prompt students to think deeply about various concepts and ideas using these powerful reflection questions.

Using these examples, you’ll have an accurate snapshot of students’ thinking about whatever they’re learning or experiencing.