Reflection brings clarity. One of the way to reflect is to question. Let’s create our own question bank to reflect on various aspects. Ask question to oneself and to children. Have a conversation around such reflective questions with family and friends.
Most of the times curiosity drives best learning, best reflection, best teaching. The root of curiosity is questioning. Questioning helps us to peel one more layer and to look deep. Here is the list of reflective questions we can ask ourselves or our children. Why not create our own question bank and keep adding to them.
Reflect on Doing
- How did you learn to do that?
- Will you teach me how to do that
- What areas of your performance are you most pleased with?
- In what ways are you looking forward to enhancing your performance during the next test or month or year?
- What have you done today that you would like to acknowledge yourself for?
- What do think we should do?
- What will likely happen if you do that? Are those the results you want most?
- What would you do if – (fell ill before exam; didn’t perform well in this test; friends pressurize you for smoking; mummy is very angry; friend asked for cheating in the exam; neighbors are asking for help?)
- What do you think is the best way to handle this?
- What will the ideal look like when it’s complete?
- What are you most looking forward to in completing this task / project?
- How can you do this better? Why would you like to do this better?
- Why was doing this work excellently so important to you?
- What other things would you like to do excellently?
Reflect on feelings
- What are you feeling right now?
- What you learn from those feelings?
- How do think you’ll feel if you do that?
- How do you think so-end-so will feel if you do that ?
- How do you think other kids feel when someone does something like that to them?
- What do we / you need to do to get where we / you would like to be?
- What are our resources for doing that?
- When have you done similar work excellently? Which resources you used?
Reflect on thinking
- What did you learn from answering that question
- . What two or three things about that person / event / situation are you most pleased with?
- What do you feel are your greatest attributes?
- In what ways could I be most helpful to you right now?
- What are the qualities that character (cartoon, comic, TV, movie, story, etc.) has that you like the best? Which you like the least? Why?
- Who else will benefit if you do that?
- In What other ways could we solve this problem?
- What do you think would happen if we did it this way ?
- What would be the value / consequences of that option?
- What part of that decision are you most comfortable about? Most uncomfortable about?
- Which strength/ resource of yours you can use here/ in this situation?
- What is the value to you when you complete this project?
- What do you like in your friends? Would you like to have all those positive qualities in you. How will you develop them?
- In what ways will you like to be different to your father/ mother? In what ways similar?
- How can you achieve something today that you will be proud of? What will that be? What did you achieve today that you are proud of?
- What would your favorite character be like if you made up a comic book {or book or TV show or movie}?
- Who would you invite to visit our house if you could choose anyone you want?
AND WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN THEN ? (this can be asked as a follow-up to any string of questions for us far out into time as the child can conceive at his age.?)