Midterms - Reflecting on Reflective Learning

It's mid-term and parent-teacher conferences are next week. For me this means it's time to reflect on how to best inform parents/guardians about this different method of teaching math that their child has been involved with for half a quarter. So I did a little research into my past classes and decided to compare them with this year's scores.

Since starting this reflective learning process with my students, scores on my chapter assessments have increased. It is entirely possible that my students this year are better equipped for my Algebra 2 class (or just smarter) than they have been in the past, but seeing that class averages on tests increased 4 percentage points is still pretty exciting. One takeaway for sure, reflective learning hasn't impeded their progress.

I know the system isn't perfect; I don't know that it will ever be perfect. For instance, the reflections from some students have been insightful and just plain outstanding, while others are lacking. Reflections like, "this homework was hard" aren't reflective, they're status updates.

Even though it takes more work and energy from me, I like this reflective learning addition to my teaching. Any reflections of your own on what I'm doing? Or is it enough to say that reflective learning seems like a good thing?