Whether you heard from a guest speaker sharing their career path, did a tour of a local company, or participated in any other work-based learning activity, taking a few minutes to capture your thoughts afterwards is very helpful.
There are two types of reflection: reflection in action (when you're actually doing an activity) and reflection on action (thinking back to the activity once it's over)
Reflection IN Action
Analyzing what's happening
Adapting based on the situation
Anticipating what's next
Example: You're working on a project to design a new product and pitch it in a competition. You realize you are spending too much time on the name and logo so you shift to working on the produce and what it can do.
Reflection ON Action
Thinking about your experience
Identifying what you learned
Planing what you would do differently in the future
Example: After the product design project is complete, you think about the experience and different steps you took. You identify that you need to spend more time at the beginning planning each step and you make a checklist to use for future projects.
Why Reflection Matters
Taking time to reflect helps you think about your progress in the path to a career.
Is your initial idea of what you want to do still a career you're interested in or has your idea shifted?
Are you moving in the right direction or do you need to make changes?
WBL Reflection Form
After each work-based learning activity, you will complete a Reflection Form. This is both for you to think about how what you learned might affect your college and career plans in the future and to share your perspective with your teacher.
To access the WBL Reflection Form you will log into NAFTrack, find the WBL activity you would like to reflect on, and click on "Take Reflection".
