I think a teaching journal is very important because it can help one identify his or her own improvements and the way that they have grown as an instructor. It helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses and areas that you may need to work on.
Since I am new to teaching in a college setting. I think journal are excellent ideal to refresh and keep you on track for improvements.
I am new to teaching and have not used a teaching journal. I don't know of any instructors that I work with who use one but I think it's a grareat idea. As other people have pointed out, it helps you to reflect back on your day to day teaching experiences to improve methods, content, delivery of information, and relationship building with students. I will definitely think it will be a useful tool.
Hi Patricia:
Something else a journal might reveal about ideas that worked well is ways to build upon those ideas and make them even better.
Often, instructors may think the only thing a teaching journal is good for is showing what DIDN'T work.
Regards, Barry
I haven't ever kept a teaching journal before, but I have made notes in the margins of my books. Before I enter the class, I review the material and any notes that I previously made. I may keep a journal for each course that I teach and use it to write more detailed notes. This can give me even more information to create an effective learning environment.
Memory is a great gift but with schedules and a 24/7 society, mental notes easily can get lost in the shuffle of your day. Organizing your feedback on a lecture or concept on paper helps you track:
- what worked and what didn't
-what items may need more or less time to cover
- better examples or questions that arise unexpectedly in class and now you have prepared answers for the next go round
- knowledge doesn't stay stagnant, it evolves and gets better understood and through constant quality improvement builds a better student and your reputation as a kick ass instructor!
Hi Edna:
Another thing a journal can be good for is - by showing you what worked and what didn't, we can make improvements to BOTH, becoming stronger instructors all around.
Regards, Barry
Hi Barry:
Basically, I read your response as reflecting on the effectiveness of your instructional strategies and the student responses to those.
Reflecting is a cool experience, especially when it's done months (or years) later. It shows growth, progress and invites a peek into how a teacher may have altered their viewpoint about topics or material related to the course.
Regards, Barry
You can see how many students did well on the original assignment, and those that did not. This allows you to adjust the wording, difficulty or format. You can consider how many students took the assignment seriously, and amend the experiment accordingly. AND if nothing else you can see if the students found the format and the material to be applicable to their careers... because they will tell you (at least my students always do).
Hi Lillian:
For me, the two most important journal notes are observations that are out of the ordinary, and notes about needs or ideas about how I can make the next sesssion a bit better.
Regards, Barry
Hi Janet:
I've kept all kinds of versions of journals as well. For me, where I get the most benefit is reflecting on p[ast observations and perspectives I've had - to understand how I've changed in my approach to teaching classes.
Regards, Barry
A journal is what I use daily to track my students & any future adaptations I need to make going forward with them, myself & to "perfect" the curriculum. I personally use a dailly journal as well. Great improvements benefitting everyone all the way around.
Hi Erica:
Right! Many uses. A journal can be customized to assist the teacher in ways that benefit him or her. Reflection and future reference are very cool outcomes from teachers who've chosen to journalize.
Regards, Barry
This would be great for refining your teaching method. You can document what the students understood, what they didn't understand, and the various questions they have. It would also allow for personal notes on areas for improvrement. Students are very bright and often bring up ideas and examples that I use when I re-visit the material. Reflection and revision are key elements to effective instruction!
A teaching journal can help me to improve my teaching skills. STudents vary from term to term and documenting different ways to instruct the students can help in a later term. Acknowleding the comments provided to you in feedback from students can help improve your delivery for the next term. Keeping ajournal can help keep you on task with improving teaching methods to different types of learning
I will enhance my teaching journal. I do make class notes, but I will start to keep notes of student interests. It will help make our peer review groups more organized/successful, as we advance from chapter to chapter.
Hi Cheryl:
To echo something you wrote, a teaching journal is also great to show an instructor what worked and what did not. The thing to remember is that we all can make improvements on BOTh of these concepts.
Regards, Barry
Hi Donald:
Indeed, using a journal can help instructors make minute changes in delivery to make the outcomes more successful in future classes.
Regards, Barry
I think keeping a teaching journal can help you as an instructor know what your strenths and weaknesses are. If you keep a journal you will know what worked for you and your students and what just didn't seem to do the trick.
I have not used a teaching journal in the past, but for all of my classes I use a set of PowerPoint slides containing notes about the lecture, activities, labs and class discussion topics for each class session. I like the PowerPoint format because I add new activities easily as I think of them and remove activites that did not work well in the classroom.
