Collaborative Critical Reflection and Replies

Step 1: Capture your topic.  Once you have identified some potential topics for your reflection, your next task is to identify the specific prompt or stimulus from course content that you will share with others as the primary (top of the entry) catalyst for your reflection.  For the critical reflections, please choose one (or more) one or two sentence direct quotations from the textbook readings or supporting resources as your prompt.  The quotation(s) should reference, in a relevant, meaningful way, the issues, idea or concept that you will reflect about and that, in the end, you hope all learners will come to think about as a deeply important truth or lesson of this class.  To make it easier for you to reflect meaningfully on the topic, the quotation should be relevant to a topic that you can tie directly to your own (or others’) experiences, observations, and critical reasoning.  It should also be something you are willing to discuss with the class and something you are willing to think critically about.

Step 2: Write your reflection. Once you have identified the quotation prompt for your reflection, post it at the top of your paper, followed by a line space.  Then, share 300 to 400 words (in meaningful, well organized paragraphs) that defend your belief that there is an important truth or lesson relevant to this course to be gleaned from this quotation. Essentially, your job is to clarify just what the lesson to be learned is and then to strongly (and thoughtfully) defend why you think the lesson is vital.

To help you think about your topic and write well, consider (and answer) these questions: What truth or lesson is being communicated by this quote? Why is this truth or lesson so important? How do your own or other’s experiences and observations relate to and support this truth or lesson? In what ways does this lesson make logical sense to you? In what ways does this lesson make emotional sense to you? How might this lesson be relevant to your own or others’ life and career? Why do some fail to live as if this truth or lesson were important? Why might some suggest this truth or lesson is not important? How would you defend the truth of this lesson from those who disagree and believe the lesson is not important? What can we do (at an individual, community, or society level to make this truth or lesson better recognized or practiced?

You are encouraged to be creative in your reflections.  Your reflections may include, when relevant, links to media, pictures, or other supporting resources.

Step 3: Write a Discussion Question that Prompts Further Dialog on the Topic. End your entry with a line space and then post a single, relevant, provocative, open-ended question that you believe will prompt further debate and reflection by readers.

Step 4: Give Your Reflection a Title.  Be sure to give your reflection a relevant, catchy but professional title.  The title should be something creative that sparks other learners to want to read your reflection. Your title should be like a creative, but good headline.