This week’s application assignment required that we write journal entries for three consecutive days. Taking 15 minutes each time, we were asked to write a reflective journal in dialogue form. Once a journal entry was completed we were to review and reflect on our writing and the journaling experience. The following assignment includes an account of the experience and some “considerations of how journal writing can help with the development of a qualitative researcher” (Walden University, 2013).
When I was younger, before I had children I used to regularly put my thoughts on paper. More accurately, I kept a journal since I was approximately eleven years old. I do not quite recall how it started, but at first I wrote little stories. Later, as I grew older I confided into my diary – my hopes, my dreams, my heartaches, my problems, and successes. Thus, being asked to keep a journal was not necessarily a new experience. However, what was unique was the dialogue form. Although I always wrote in a conversational tone and manner, I had never used the dialogue form to formulate my thoughts and experiences. At the beginning it felt awkward, strange, and uncomfortable to write a dialogue. Indeed, I struggled a little adhering to the form, constantly being tempted to fall back into essay style. However, after an initial feeling of being stuck, I found myself enjoying the experience.
Since I simply let my thoughts flow, looking back and reviewing what I had written was an interesting
Personal development guidance notes on how to write a reflective account qcf health and social care level 2 or 3 unit 2 personal development study aid or guidance notes
Personal development guidance notes on how to write a reflective account qcf health and social care level 2 or 3 unit 2 personal development study aid or guidance notes
It is Connor’s last semester in medical school. In order to earn an internship at a top-rank hospital, Connor must write a ten page reflective essay on which part of medicine impacted him the most. Connor has no idea what to write about as multiple ideas come to mind but none of them are his own. Like all writers, Connor must make sure he avoids obvious content and instead give his genuine and original idea to allow the reader to understand how he truly feels about the specific topic. To be able to provide a clear visual of what impacted him the most, Connor, like all writers, must slip out of abstraction when writing and provide enough detail to not just help the reader visualize but to also embody the experience, leaving a lasting impression. While providing enough detail to help the reader visualize their vision, the writer must make sure they avoid padding and be as direct as possible. Being direct will help Connor reflect and share his experience while keeping the reader engaged and demonstrating a better understanding of how he feels. Consequently, all writers can write well by projecting their own voice while keeping the material fresh, providing detail for a more vivid experience, using strong evidence, and establishing their own voice amongst other writers.
Bakhtin would argue that it is exactly this responsive and addressive, dialogic nature of interaction and communication that stimulates creativity in language use, affecting the form and meaning on all levels. (2006) With this in mind, it may seem surprising that this can also be exemplified in what is ordinarily considered to be the very private activity of keeping a diary or journal. Many diaries draw considerably on literary uses of language, such as parallelism, metaphor, rhythm and imagery. Janet Maybin (2006) explains that this use of language may help to express strong emotions in a way that more prosaic language could not communicate as effectively. Maybin relates diary writing to identity work, the literacy process “..providing a kind of backstage for the self, or a launching pad for an improved self..”.(Maybin, 2006, p.264) She highlights that whilst at one level diaries provide scope for very personal and intimate thoughts, in the writings of a diary “.. there is always [..] a sense of addressing someone else”; an absent
If you also want to express your inner thoughts, I have a good way to help you re-find your writing voice in
In typing out this journal one should note that from this journal onwards there will be great memory work, in some journals more than others, but memory work nonetheless, as from this point forward I am writing these journals and reflecting on group sessions based on jot notes I have taken of the sessions either at some point during that given day or of that week.
So for this journal entry, I will write about my process, which has been a lot harder, and had a much steeper learning curve, than deciding on the topics. My method has changed drastically in that the concept of reflection seems to be a much bigger part of writing creative nonfiction that I originally understood.
“1,2,3,4..5,6,7,8,” Counted Jaime’s cheer coach. “Okay great practice everyone I will see you all next week you are all dismissed.”
Question 1: For this Learning Journal you will write a paper about your own experiences. Using reflective writing, reflect the importance of pro-social behavior and altruism in your society or cultural tradition.
I am a strong reader/writer learning style which I use to my advantage. I value developing my knowledge and skills through research of information and resource which will further develop me as an occupational therapist. While I currently reflect though thought on my experiences at the end of the day, I feel I would benefit from journaling. I will aspire to make the use of reflective journaling a stronger focus for my placement in order to improve my professional practice.
This experience of writing my journals, and my reflection, has helped me to put my thoughts together and summarize my plan. My career goals are refined by this
Almost everyone seemed to be trying not to drift into a deep slumber while the teacher continued to lecture on English grammar points for the day, oblivious to the fact that her students were not paying attention. It was a rather quiet afternoon, which is quite unusual when you have forty-eight young ladies in the room. I was sitting on the corner in the right side of the room, drifting into thoughts of writing. This was the day that I first started writing, I did not know what I was doing. All I knew was that I had pent up emotions that I needed to write through certain characters that I made up in my mind. Emotions that I was not able to let out. I had tried to write on a journal, but it only depressed me. Having to recount all the bad things that happened day by day was too much for me. As Toni Morrison, a well-known novelist, editor and professor had said, “If there’s a book that you really want to read, that hasn’t been written
I am glad that this class had taken part in the listening journal assignment as I was not sure what to expect. I was uncertain of my listening capabilities and have wondered what areas could use improvement. I do consider my interactions with people in hindsight, and I always hope that I did my best to listen and communicate with respect. I am fortunate to find out through the logs that I am above average while listening to others, in respect to the log analysis. I am further aware that this is because of a significant change in my life that took me from being self-focused to other-orientated. If this class had been over thirteen years before, my details on those logs would have been vastly altered.
This writing assignment was one of my first experiences comparing and contrasting qualitative and quantitative research. I also looked into the different dimensions of qualitative research methods like Phenomenological research, Grounded theory and Ethnography. From doing this written assignments I was exposed to many different research questions and when and how to test them, this in turn really set me up for a few years down the line when I was faced with conducting my own study.