Task 2B: Journal Writing Experience

Journal Writing Experience

Well, an experience it has definitely been!! Over the last couple of weeks I have tried every method laid out in the Handbook, along with some other suggested methods.  After writing each one I tried to immediately analyse what had come from it and made a few notes on each method:

Description

Definitely a good way to start this process. As I had never written a Journal before this seemed the most natural way of writing for me. However, instead of purely writing a description of the day I noticed that I was going into more detail and actually involving aspects of 'Initial Reflection' and 'Evaluation'...Would this turn out to be the best method for me?

Initial Reflection

I discovered more so with this method that I don't like to be restricted when writing the Journal.  I was trying very hard to focus on just the 'Initial reflection' of the day, but couldn't help but add description and again a little evaluation into the log.  I felt unsatisfied with just focusing on the questions laid out in the handbook and felt I needed to express more about the day.  So overall, I would describe this method as a little restricting for my liking.

List

I was really surprised by this method.  Being an avid list maker I thought I would absolutely love this method of Journal Writing, however it had the total opposite affect.  I felt completely restricted by this method, I was constantly wanting to expand my thoughts further but knew that this was not the requirements of this version.  I tried to stick to a bullet point format but no matter how hard I tried, the bullet points were expanding further and further.  Not the method for me!

Evaluation

I loved this method!! It promoted the most successful reflection out of all the methods I tried. Once again I included a little bit of description within it and Initial Reflection but overall this format as a single method really worked for me.  It showed me very clearly the positives and negatives throughout the day and what worked and what didn't work.  For example, I learnt that I shouldn't try to plan too far in advance and that working in the morning is the best option for me.  Knowing this, I planned the next day around these new discoveries - is this not a true example of learning from your experiences i.e. reflection!! Will defintiely be using this method!

Graph/Chart/Diagram

For this method I decided to do a chart comparing aspects of my life last October to aspects of my life this October.  I enjoyed making the chart as it really did make me think about aspects of my life now, what needs to be improved and what I am happy with.  However, I was unsatisfied with just doing a chart. I had to discuss it and evaluate it to feel satisfied! At this point I was realising more and more that the description and evaluation method was definitely the method for me.  I think these extra techniques are useful once in a while, but only as additions not as a complete Journal entry.  I cannot really reflect without a thorough analysis and evaluation.

What if?

I really liked this method and would use it as a method of 'Reflection before an event' (David Boud).  By asking yourself questions such as What would you love to happen? What would you hate to happen? etc. you clearly set out what it is you want to achieve from the following day.  Unless you know exactly what you want to achieve then it is unlikely that you will make these goals.  It can help you think about things to avoid and ensure you get the best possible outcome for the day.  It would be quite nice to do this at the end of each day, after you have analysed and evaluated the day, then use this method to enable you to get the most out of tomorrow!

Another view

I decided to write my Journal from the perspective of my teaching bag.  Throughout I felt like I was writing a children's story and gave the bag a childlike persona; I cannot really explain why I did this, it just happened naturally.  I noticed that I am a lot more sympathetic and give myself a much easier time than if I was writing from my own perspective.  This may be a good method to use if you are having particularly negative feelings towards an experience.  Hopefully it can get rid of these feelings, by looking at it through lesser judging eyes and you can learn and develop from the experience, rather than letting those feelings inhibit the reflection process.  I'm not sure I would use this in a day to day instance, however occasionally it may be nice to view things from a different perspective and maybe learn something new from an existing experience.

Poem

This was the only method that was completely unsuccessful for me and I actually couldn't finish my Journal entry.  I was too concerned with the structure of the poem to actually think about the content within it.  I was adding anything just so the poem read well, rather than writing about my actual feelings.  Not a method I will be attempting again, well not any time soon!

Stream of Consciousness

This is when you write the first things that come into your head. 

With this method I was constantly changing my thought processes.  It started off with a huge thought…'Will I fail?’ That is quite a big statement to make and I found it interesting that this was the first thought that came into my head. I am very philosophical and talk very openly about my dreams, aspirations, fears etc. With this I was writing about the 'bigger picture' and started to talk very broadly about things, rather than specific day to day events.  This would be a good method to use every once in a while, just to see how you are generally feeling about life rather than focusing on the smaller day to day events. 

The Experience

Althought this task is entitled 'Journal Writing Experience', my experience with Journals has really only just begun.  However, this initial experience has enabled me to find a combination of methods that really work for me and that actually promotes successful reflection, after all this is the main reason why we are keeping the Journal! I am going to be using a combination of Description and Evaluation, adding on 'What if?' to the end of each Journal entry.  I have really enjoyed writing the Journals so far and have found the experience theraputic and calming.  It helps to settle my thoughts and find logic and meaning within them; is this not the process of Reflection?

Happy Journal Writing :)