Task 2b: ' Journal Writting Experience'

When I first saw this task I honestly thought to myself, what is the point in this. I love writing a dairy but why would I need to use different methods as I like the way I do it. But after experimenting with the different ways of writing a journal I now look back to my first initial thought and see how I was wrong to think like that as if you don't  try out different things in life and just stick to what is comfortable how can you ever know if there is a better method out there for you and how can you ever learn and improve!

The types of journal writing I feel that didn't  really work for me was Description and also writing a list.  With the description method i found myself wanting to go into more detail. Just describing what had happened in my day wasn't enough. I always wanted to evaluate aswell so maybe a mixture of description and evaluation  is a better option for me as I tend to want to express myself more. With the List writing, I thought this could be a good idea as its short and to the point and I tend to write a lot of lists on a daily basis but I noticed that my list became very, very long and each point turned into small paragraphs which I don't think is what a list is meant for. I think I will keep my lists for organising my days etc, instead of using it as a way of reflection.

I really had fun with the journal writing from Another view.  I think its really interesting to see how somebody else might see your day as it makes you look at yourself in a different way because somebody else is judging you. I chose one day to choose an object in my house which was ' the couch' as i had been at home most of the day. I found myself being very critical of what i had done and achieved that day but i think that was good because sometimes you don't see what you are doing that is wrong unless you are told from an outsiders point of view.  Another way of writing a journal i quite liked was the What if?  I think this is a fantastic way to look and see how you could have made your day better and also a method which is perfect for using for something you plan to do in the future. You can write down how your day could go from amazing to awful just by small choices you choose to make and therefore thinking ahead might lead you to making the correct decisions.

Overall i feel i have learnt so much from this ' Journal Writing Expereince' . Non of the methods of writing are right or wrong its just about finding the one that suits you best and helps you to reflect the most you can on your professional practice. I am glad i have been reminded of writing a journal again as it is something i enjoyed doing previously in my life and I am now going to continue to write a journal everyday .

 I feel like my mind is thinking differently now that I have read so much on how reflecting can improve you as a person in your profession. For example I was observing a dance class a few days ago as I am going to be covering for another teacher sometime next week and as I was sitting there watching, I was taking in everything that was happening and I was reflecting on how she taught the children. I made notes and when I got home, I reflected on things I thought was good about her ways of teaching and things I would have done differently. I also looked at the What if? method . Basically my train was delayed that morning and I was almost late to observe the first class. Although this is bad I am glad it happened the week before because if I was late when I was going to teach the  this would be even worse so now I have learnt from an experience that I should get the extra early train to avoid this happening.

In future when I am writing my journals my preferred method is Evaluation as i feel like i enjoy going into detail about my day and there are no limits as to what I can write. I also will use What If? and Another view as part of journal writing as i feel they work for me and help me to Reflect the best!