For this task we have been told to look at different ways of writing a reflective journal. We have been given a few to try out on different days/entries for our journal including: evaluation, description and graphs/diagrams etc.
So I thought I would share a couple of extracts with you from my journal.
The first is an entry I wrote before I had even looked up 'how to write a journal' it goes as follows...
"I wanted to write about today as I feel it has a few interesting points. The first was I had my 2nd taster session for a care home, which I was already anxious about as having been there before, the set up wasn't really ideal. Also the fact I have recently sprained my ankle, a lot could go wrong. Anyway, I turned up and the activities co-ordinator was very cheery as per usual. But she then decided to drop a bombshell on me. She informed me I would be doing 2 sessions in 2 rooms rather than 1 session for the hour (which I had all my plans for) so that was a lesson plan out of the window. Which then reminded me of something Joe had said in a previous skype session: "door handle lesson" and that is exactly what I had to do! So I had to 'confidently' (although I definitely was not) say that everything was okay and that it would be fine for me to adjust..."
As you can see, I have been descriptive and used my initial reflection to state how I was feeling on this day. I find it okay to write like this but I am still not completely comfortable with it.
This is when I turned to my Handbook, looked again at the tasks, and saw how we should try to write in different styles. I have been doing this for over a week now and I am enjoying trying out new ways to write.
Here is another entry extract when I was trying to write an evaluation...
"So today has finally come around. I was team teaching my 1st dance fitness class that I will be taking from now on....*skips ahead*
So my colleague done the first half and now it was up to me. I nearly couldn't bring myself to step forward I was so nervous. But I knew I had to do this, after all I would be doing this on my own as of next week! Sadly my ankle started to play up and hurt too much, so my colleague had to take over earlier than anticipated. But all things considering it did go really well. I felt so proud of myself, for throwing myself in at the deep end. It wasn't perfect by all means. There are improvements I need to make for example I still have to learn the cues and use my voice more, but I will continue to practice. As after all practice makes perfect.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I cannot wait to go back next week!"
After looking at this again, I did struggle to write in evaluation form as I also wanted to keep it quite casual. But let me know what you think in the comments about it?
I think my strongest forms of writing are lists, description and initial reflection. I will definitely continue to use these throughout my journal, but I will also continue to look for other ways to write reflectively.
I really am getting the hang of this task now, and I cannot wait in years time to find my journal and have a look back on it!
So I thought I would share a couple of extracts with you from my journal.
The first is an entry I wrote before I had even looked up 'how to write a journal' it goes as follows...
"I wanted to write about today as I feel it has a few interesting points. The first was I had my 2nd taster session for a care home, which I was already anxious about as having been there before, the set up wasn't really ideal. Also the fact I have recently sprained my ankle, a lot could go wrong. Anyway, I turned up and the activities co-ordinator was very cheery as per usual. But she then decided to drop a bombshell on me. She informed me I would be doing 2 sessions in 2 rooms rather than 1 session for the hour (which I had all my plans for) so that was a lesson plan out of the window. Which then reminded me of something Joe had said in a previous skype session: "door handle lesson" and that is exactly what I had to do! So I had to 'confidently' (although I definitely was not) say that everything was okay and that it would be fine for me to adjust..."
As you can see, I have been descriptive and used my initial reflection to state how I was feeling on this day. I find it okay to write like this but I am still not completely comfortable with it.
This is when I turned to my Handbook, looked again at the tasks, and saw how we should try to write in different styles. I have been doing this for over a week now and I am enjoying trying out new ways to write.
Here is another entry extract when I was trying to write an evaluation...
"So today has finally come around. I was team teaching my 1st dance fitness class that I will be taking from now on....*skips ahead*
So my colleague done the first half and now it was up to me. I nearly couldn't bring myself to step forward I was so nervous. But I knew I had to do this, after all I would be doing this on my own as of next week! Sadly my ankle started to play up and hurt too much, so my colleague had to take over earlier than anticipated. But all things considering it did go really well. I felt so proud of myself, for throwing myself in at the deep end. It wasn't perfect by all means. There are improvements I need to make for example I still have to learn the cues and use my voice more, but I will continue to practice. As after all practice makes perfect.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I cannot wait to go back next week!"
After looking at this again, I did struggle to write in evaluation form as I also wanted to keep it quite casual. But let me know what you think in the comments about it?
I think my strongest forms of writing are lists, description and initial reflection. I will definitely continue to use these throughout my journal, but I will also continue to look for other ways to write reflectively.
I really am getting the hang of this task now, and I cannot wait in years time to find my journal and have a look back on it!
Hi Georgie! Interested to see that you find writing lists comes quite naturally to you as I personally find it quite challenging to write in that format.I always tend to use a combination of description, initial reflection and evaluation quite naturally. When I tried to write in a list format I always find that my journal becomes very personal and I tend to focus on individual feelings which would not necessarily make sense to anyone else. I think you have used evaluation really well in the extract above and you have still managed to maintain your informal style of writing.
ReplyDeleteHi Ann,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! I have been writing lists since day dot. I have so many floating around the house! I also, believe it or not struggle to write long descriptions. I've always been more to the point too! I think it's really good that you write that way, perhaps we can share some tips to each other about how to write in different ways to practice?