Reflective writing for the end of the school year - What matters most in school?

Here's a reflective writing assignment I have for the end of the school year.  This also could be a great activity for professional development with teachers if you've got one last meeting this year.

It involves two resources. First is my randomizer for drawing 5 "cards" which students rank in order of importance. It's a good intro activity to talk about what matters most. All the information about ways to use this is on that page and there are links to other ways to use the resource.

Also, here's a TED Talk by Seth Godin in which he raises some great questions related to what school should be about. By no means do I agree with everything he says, but that's what makes it so good for thought and discussion.  

So for the reflective writing, after some discussion the students should reflect on these questions:

• Looking over the past year or semester, what stands out as most important for your learning and your future?
• If you had to do it over, what would you do differently?  Why?
• If you were running the class or the school what would you do differently?  Why?