Task 2B: Journal Writing Experience

I've been writing in my reflective journal for over a week and everyday I decided to use a new way of learning. Some ways have definitely been more of a challenge than others and I wanted to find the best way of reflecting and analysing so that I could learn and develop my professional practice. Below are my thoughts on the different ways of writing that I tried.

Description:
This was a good way of off loading everything that happened in my day. However, I am unsure if I used any analysis and from reading back on the journal entry I made my feelings weren't evident.I could see how I was feeling that day and exactly what happened but I don't think I was clear in answering why I felt the way I did or what I learned from reflecting on that day. I found it easy to describe my day but I feel like my reflection didn't develop into learning.

Initial Reflection
I enjoyed this way of writing. Reading back on the journal extract where I used initial reflection it was clear how I felt and how what happened during the day reflected my mood. I seemed to be actively reflecting throughout the day whenever I had a spare moment. I felt like I was in a good mind set after writing this journal and I had made developments throughout the day that benefited my professional practice. I think this was a more concise way of writing and enabled me to answer the questions, how did I feel, what was my mood, did anything unexpected happen.

List
Initially I didn't think List writing would work for my reflective journal. I love writing lists but I use them when I need to get things done efficiently. For this reason I was unsure if I would be able to fully reflect on my thoughts and feelings about a day. However, when I began writing I found it worked really well as it ensured that I included, how I felt and what I learned from my day that I could take into the next day. I also included a section of things that confused me. I hadn't included this in any of my previous journals. I found this helpful because writing them down stopped me from worrying about them so much and I didn't get bogged down by these little obstacles. I was able to carry on and then come back to them.Some days I included Things people should remember about me and this really helped me reflect about my own self, what I do well and what I could improve on. This is definitely a way of writing my journal that I will use again.

Evaluation
This was a very positive way of journal writing for me. In comparison to descriptive writing, where I was dwelling on every little detail of the day, evaluation helped me start with me saying what worked well for me that day. I included things to avoid so that if a similar situation were to arise I will hopefully approach the situation differently. I found this a constructive way of writing my journal and I found I learned about the way I deal with people and I discovered new qualities I need to work on to improve myself professionally.

What if?
I didn't take very well to this way of writing. I thought I would enjoy the excitement and allowing my imagination to explore thoughts of what if this happened or what if I meet him/her? However, I struggled to set my mind to this way of thinking. I felt like I was writing a fantasy novel rather than reflecting. I think this is because I am a realistic person. This is a way of writing I should work on as I know it would be good for me to try and let my mind explore the what if of a situation.

Another view
This was a fun way of writing my journal. I decided to use my back pack as the person viewing what my day was like. It was interesting to think what another person or object would have seen my day. It changed my way of thinking. I felt like I was able to explore my thoughts deeper but it took a bit longer than other ways of writing as I had to think about my day and then see how my backpack perceived my day. I considered when my emotions were obvious to everyone and then times I held back and kept my thoughts to myself. I also thought about what my backpack would think went well for me that day or if there was anything my backpack thought I didn't approach or deal with very well. I believe it is good to almost step out of a situation and view as a third person.

After looking back and analysing all of these ways of writing I think I will definitely use the format of lists and evaluation as these worked best for me. I will explore further the what if? and another view also as I think I could improve my journal writing by using these. Since starting my journal writing last week I already see my way of thinking and reflecting on a day beginning to chat. I spoke previously about how I tend to forget about enjoying the journey and worrying too much about the destination. Writing my journal has allowed me to take any worries in my mind regarding my professional practice every day and write them down. This frees my mind up to allow space for me to make developments in my practice. I have made a conscious effort to try and learn from my reflection. I do need to make more of an effort to make it part of my daily practice as there are days that I neglect my reflective journal if I am busy. However, I feel like I am definitely improving on actively reflecting in the moment which is benefitting my practice.