Tips on writing a reflective statement
From an IB examiner
Here is what the IB Literature Guide says is the criterion for full credit on the reflective statement:
Reflection on the interactive oral shows development of the student’s understanding of cultural and contextual elements.
So what do you need to do?
To start, go up to but not over the word count. If you have 401 words in your reflective statement, you lose a point out of three.
You want to say as much as possible. A reflective statement under 300 words will be inadequate.
Next, you need to refer to an interactive oral. The examiner wants to see that this reflection is actually about an interactive oral. There is no one kind of oral that IB requires, but be clear about what was happening in the classroom.
It is probably a good idea to mention students by name, and to talk about what they said. Do not try to mention too many students; only talk about the ones who presented ideas that have been helpful to you.
Remember, this assignment is a reflection, not just a summary. You only need to summarize enough to show what was being said.
What is important is to show that your ideas have developed based on the interactive oral. If you did not learn anything important from any specific oral, write on a different one.
Look at the grading criterion again. You need to talk about cultural and contextual aspects. “Cultural” can include the culture of the work’s setting, or the culture of its composition. “Context” can refer to themes or style in the work as well as the writer’s biography.
Finally, you need to write about how your ideas have developed. Mention something that you learned, and tell how this idea makes you appreciate or understand the work better. It is often effective to talk about how you changed your mind, and what caused you to do so. You might also talk about how you had, perhaps, a general sense of what the writer was doing, but after your interactive oral, you have a more detailed understanding.
Paying close attention to the scoring criterion, you should be successful in getting the highest score on your reflective statement.