LCRG Ownership of Learning | Upper School by Laurel School

CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON GIRLS

A SERIES OF RESEARCH AND INFORMATIONAL PUBLICATIONS BY LCRG

Putting the world’s best research to work for girls.

UPPER SCHOOL OWNERSHIP OF LEARNING The Laurel education is designed to be intellectually and personally challenging in order to develop students who know how to embrace challenges, navigate difficulties and thrive in a variety of conditions. Girls need to know their strengths, learn how to cultivate them and apply them in developmentally appropriate ways. The categories outlined below guide girls through taking care of themselves, looking to others when needed, persevering in the face of difficulty, seeking diverse solutions and deploying their talents in the service of meaningful goals. This self-assessment tool, developed by Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls, is designed to help each student reflect on her approach to school in order to individualize her learning.

READINESS TO LEARN: I come to school • Well rested and on time • Prepared for class ] Homework completed ] Materials on hand biggest strength: __________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ biggest challenge: ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

TIME MANAGEMENT: I am

MEMBERSHIP IN A LEARNING COMMUNITY: I strive to • Effectively use resources to grapple with challenging material • Seek out teachers for extra help or explanation when needed • Respect multiple viewpoints and work to see situations from others’ points of view • Engage with disagreement as a conversation, not to shut others down • Manage frustration and regulate emotions biggest strength: __________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ biggest challenge: ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

• Strategic in planning homework and studying ] Take into account the week’s schedule ] Know—and use—places and times that help me focus • Strategic in approaching my work ] Break down big projects into steps and tackle them one at a time ] Preview most effective strategies before beginning a task • Realistic in knowing how long I need for different kinds of tasks

METACOGNITION OR THINKING ABOUT THINKING: I can

biggest strength: __________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

biggest challenge: ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

ENGAGING NEW CONTENT: I am

MOTIVATION AND LEARNING STRATEGIES: I know how to

• Open to new ideas and new approaches to material • Able to connect new information to previous knowledge • Able to distinguish important content from extraneous details. biggest strength: __________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ biggest challenge: ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

• Recognize the connection between effort and outcome • Accept uncertainty and confusion as a necessary part of the learning process • Draw on past learning experiences and teacher feedback to improve performance on new tasks • Work efficiently and know when more effort is, and is not, required for mastery

• Keep motivated when my interest in the material wanes • Minimize my use of ineffective study strategies (highlighting and rereading material) • Maximize my use of effective study strategies (spaced practice and sample testing) • Take effective breaks and get myself restarted biggest strength: __________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ biggest challenge: ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

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THE OWNERSHIP OF LEARNING

GOAL-SETTING: In the space below, write down your academic goals for the current school year: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reflect on these goals. How have you made progress? How might you level up or adjust your goals at this point in the year? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Choose at least one area of strength from the list above and in two to three sentences, explain how you regularly demonstrate that strength. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Choose an area of weakness and write down your plan to improve in that area. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON GIRLS Putting the world’s best research to work for girls.

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Copyright © 2020 Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls, LaurelSchool.org/LCRG. Please do not duplicate. If you wish to adapt for your own purposes, Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls must be credited and include the website link.