WHEN SHOUILD I WRITE MY REFLECTIVE  JOURNAL?

                                                                                                                                                                       

Memories are most reliable if you write them down shortly after the experience. Therefore, the longer you wait to jot down what happened, the less likely it is that you will remember important details. You allow some time to pass before you analyze the experience, you may gain insight and write a more thoughtful analysis to add to the initial details.                   

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CONTENT OF THE REFLECTIVE JOURNAL                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                       

NAME:                      

DATE OF FIELD EXPERIENCES: (A log entry should cover only one day and should be written the day of the experience. Otherwise memories tend to fade.)                                                                                                 

TIME SPENT: (e.g., 1:00-3:00 p.m.)                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                       

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS                                                                                                                           

Make a brief list describing what happened. By making a list, you keep a record of what happened. This record may be useful for future reference. It allows you to mention all events, even those that seemed insignificant at the time.    

 

ELABORATION OF ONE OR TWO SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES

Select one or two experiences that are significant to you.  An experience may be significant

 because what happened bothers you, excites you, causes you to rethink your initial ideas (i.e.,

 your perspective, goals, or plans), or convinces you that your initial ideas were valid.

 Therefore, whether the experiences reflect your successes or your failures, they are significant

 if you learned something important from them. Once you have selected one or two significant

 experience s, you should describe them in detail.  When you describe the experience, try to

 relive it.  Reliving the experience will enable you to provide as much detail as possible. Make

 certain that you include what people said, what they did, and how they looked

                              

ANALYSIS OF EXPERIENCE (S)

An analysis of experience s includes an interpretation of what feelings and thoughts may have caused the experience to occur, why they were significant, what questions they raise, and what you think you learned from them. Try to figure out what you accomplished, identify problems that emerge and how you plan to follow up.  This last point is the most important.  You may have learned what does and does not work in this situation.  If so, describe what you conclude.  But you may also have learned something about your philosophy of teaching (your perspective).  Does the experience confirm your ideas or force you to reconsider them?  If so, what was it about the situation that affected the applicability of the ideas?  Perhaps the episode relates to something you read or learned about in this or some other education course.  This would be the place to discuss it. Many experiences raise more questions than they answer.