Reducing learning gaps while gaining student trust

One of the Mirror demo program participants is a high school teacher with resource classes for students with IEPs and 504s. Her primary goal for each student is to build a bridge of trust with them so she can identify their learning gaps. She aims to work in tandem with each student to be able to give them the support they need to be successful in their work. A large part of her role includes tracking individual progress.

“It’s sometimes difficult for me to get into my students’ brains to help create a unique roadmap of success for each of them. Learning gaps aren’t always explicit until a student is failing. Until then, often students don’t trust or are intimidated by speaking to adults, which only makes my job harder. School years are short, and it can be difficult to make significant progress with students who aren’t comfortable taking a chance to build trust with me.”

When she first heard about Mirror she became excited about the possibilities it presented to save her time in tracking each of her student’s progress throughout the year. With Mirror, she was now able to have each of her students reflect on a project. Mirror would then automatically produce a dashboard of insights for each student, saving her time reviewing each individual reflection. All all of the data is kept in one central location.

“Mirror is beneficial for teachers but also for the kids. This is something I hadn’t considered when I first heard of Mirror.” The first time she had each of her students use Mirror to record a reflection she noticed students were more comfortable speaking authentically to Mirror than to her. She began viewing the device as more than a timesaving tool for her work. Mirror was a bridge to communicate authentically with her students, find hidden learning gaps, and build trust more easily with each of them. 

While viewing the first reflections her students recorded she noticed that one student remained silent during his first reflection. She already knew that this student struggled to voice how he felt about class and what he was learning. She was determined to figure out how she could help this student become more open and vulnerable while reflecting with Mirror. The next day in class she took a different approach.

Mirror helped me see what hurdles were standing in his way of success

“I began our time together leading a group discussion about what a reflection is. I defined the things I wanted each of them to think about while they reflected with Mirror. I took this approach because I realized for the majority of my students this was the first time they sat down and reflected on their work.

Once we had this discussion, the student who was silent during his first reflection recorded another. This reflection was completely different. He went into a lot of detail about what he didn’t understand about what we were learning. From the Mirror insights, I was able to see his frustration and high stress levels. I was able to know exactly what he was struggling with and how I could support him.

Without that reflection, I would have never known that he was feeling that way about the material. Now, I am able to validate his feelings and break things down for him. His confidence level skyrocketed, not just with the material, but with everything.

Mirror helped me see what hurdles were standing in his way of success.”

For this student, reflecting regularly with Mirror has helped him flourish in school. “He was even able to earn his first 100 on a test!” As a teacher, the excitement in this achievement is clear. “I’m excited to see what other transformations my students will experience with a regular reflective practice with Mirror.”

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