Self Reflection Teaching Resources

Build your classroom's self reflection kit with printable worksheets, activities, question prompts, quote posters and more to enhance your students' ability to reflect on what they've done and how they should move forward.

This collection of teaching resources was created by the teachers of Teach Starter for elementary and middle school teachers to help you help your students learn from their mistakes, identify patterns and improve their decision-making skills! Each resource in this teaching resource collection has been created with kids — and teachers — in mind, and each printable and digital activity has undergone a rigorous review process completed by a member of our teaching team.

Looking to add self reflection activities to your social and emotional learning lesson plans? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!

What Is Self Reflection? A Kid-Friendly Definition

How do you explain the self reflection meaning to your students in a way that will help them look inward? Try this kid-friendly definition from our teacher team:

Self reflection is a special time when you pause and think about yourself, how you feel and the things you have done or are going to do. This helps you understand yourself better.

Being self reflective helps us understand what we like, what makes us happy, and what challenges us. It's a great way to learn more about yourself and make better choices.

Teaching Students How to Self Reflect

The idea of looking inward doesn't come easy for most students, but then again it can be a challenge for adults too. Kids as young as preschool or pre-K can be self-reflective, but the ability to engage in more advanced and complex self-reflection typically emerges during late childhood and adolescence.

So how do you teach kids how to self reflect in elementary and middle school? Here are some tips from our teacher team:

1. Model Self-Reflection — Like so many components of SEL, seeing their teacher practice self-reflection can go a long way. Demonstrate the skill by regularly sharing your own experiences and thoughts. Explain how you reflect on situations, make decisions and learn from mistakes.
2. Provide Guided Prompts — Offer thought-provoking self-reflection questions or prompts that provide a structure for students to reflect on their experiences and feelings. This can be incorporated into your morning meeting time.
3. Celebrate Growth and Learning Progress — Sometimes students will need to reflect on negative behaviors or feelings, but not always. It's important to encourage our students to recognize and celebrate their achievements and personal growth too. Help them understand that self-reflection is a powerful tool for learning and improvement as you can build on those positive results.
4. Encourage Critical Thinking — Promote critical thinking skills by asking students to analyze situations from different angles, and encourage them to consider multiple perspectives as well as evaluating the consequences of their actions.