Ask yourself these quick lesson reflection questions before you forget
/By Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.
Whether you’re new to teaching or you’ve been teaching for decades, you’ve likely tried to write down a few notes after each lesson about what went well and what you want to do differently next time. But like most good habits, even with the best intentions, it’s easier said than done.
And by the start of the next semester or school year, you’ve forgotten the changes you wanted to make. This happens to me all the time. If only my past self took a moment to make things easier for my future self!
Thankfully, it’s not too late for some quick retrieval practice to boost your own long-term memory. Continue reading for quick lesson reflection questions to ask yourself before you forget. Your future self will thank you.
Curious about my lesson reflection from teaching this year? I recently hosted a free '“Ask Me Anything” (AMA) for my newsletter subscribers. I was joined by three cognitive scientists who also shared reflections from their own classrooms. Click here to subscribe for my newsletter to receive announcements for future AMAs.
P.S. All my newsletters and posts are written by yours truly, not AI. Enjoy!
Got questions? Ask us anything!
One of my favorite activities when I teach is an “Ask Me Anything” session (AMA). I do an AMA on the first day of class, mid-semester, and the last day of class. My favorite question from a student this semester: Would you rather have fingers as long as legs, or legs as long as fingers? (Email me at ask@retrievalpractice.org and let me know which you’d prefer!)
I’ve also been hosting live AMAs for educators (click here to watch one on YouTube). They’re fast-paced and informal, with questions that really make me ponder. I recently held a free AMA with cognitive scientists Dr. Janell Blunt, Dr. Michelle Rivers, and Dr. Veronica Yan, who are experts on retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and all things learning and memory. They’re teachers, too! We’ve been friends and colleagues for nearly 20 years, and I really enjoyed the conversation.
Want to join future AMAs? Click here to subscribe for my newsletter to receive announcements.
Help your future self with these lesson reflection questions
Photo credit: Photo via gratisography
Have you finished teaching a course, but didn’t write down what went well and what you would change about a lesson each week? It’s a tough habit to develop and maintain. Plus, it can be frustrating the next time you teach the course but you can’t remember how it went. The never-ending cycle of forgetting adds significant time, energy, and stress to lesson prep when you’re already overwhelmed with the start of a semester or school year.
Luckily, there’s a solution to this problem: just like you use retrieval practice to boost your students’ long-term learning and memory, use retrieval practice to boost your memory, too. (If you’ve been a long-time reader of mine, you’ll know that I’m a fan of asking students to take two minutes to retrieve two things.) Even if you’ve finished the school year, it’s not too late!
Take just two minutes to retrieve, reflect, and write down your responses to these lesson reflection questions:
What was your favorite lesson to teach this semester or year? Why?
What was a lesson your students frequently forgot, one that you had to revisit a number of times? What makes that lesson less memorable than other lessons you teach?
Next step: What should you do with your responses so you can find them the next time you prep a course and they don’t get lost in the shuffle? Here are some practical tips:
Insert your thoughts as a comment at the top of a Google Doc or Word document you always go to at the start of a semester or school year (like a syllabus or course plan)
Email your responses to yourself, then snooze the email until the week before the semester starts
Go to your Google Slides or Powerpoint slide deck for the two lessons, insert a new first slide with your comments in a text box, and hide the slide (I like to change the slide background to a bright color to make sure I see it)
I just finished teaching a course I hadn’t taught since 2024 (Social Psychology), and I’m so grateful that my past self spent two minutes doing this lesson reflection for my future self. When you retrieve and reflect on a lesson that was your favorite this year, you can then draw on that energy to reshape a lesson that’s less memorable the next time you teach it. As I like to say, forgetting is normal. Your students forget, and you forget. So, take what’s memorable for you and channel it into making a lesson more memorable for your students.
