Not only does a journal record my first impressions of the results of the lesson it serves to document the interaction between me and my students.
I feel that a teaching journal is a great tool for me. I have journaled in the past but never considered starting a teaching one. It is a good idea and will give me an opportunity to reflect on my instructional days and work on my weak areas. I am looking forward to it .
Please allow me to frame my response: I teach in a secondary vocational chef training school. We operate on an annual basis, with more and more emphasis on standardization and less time with the students. We are moving to a schedule where we will be teaching back to back classes with a 10 minute break dividing the classes. This and pick up our food and materials for the next class plus be available to the students for questions. There are no breaks for coffee, lunch or much else.
In this tightening arena a teaching journal can help me track those items which will have to pushed off to be dealt with after class. It will also allow me to see if my style and standards will dovetail with the school's new approach to the curriculum for our students. The journal also acts as a release to detail incidents with inappropriate actions of students rather than make rash decisions. Finally the journal can act as the guideline for creating the production schedule for the class management ongoingly.
Mo
Hi Glenn:
Good for you. Many seasoned teachers do not use journals.
Those that do actually end up helping their students through the process of reflection, contemplation, self examination, and observation. As time goes by, better teachers begin to look at their classes differently than when they first began. "I actually said that!" might be the expression several years down the road. Boy, you couldn't purchase that kind of depth of understanding. Good luck!
Regards, Barry
Hi Holt:
Teachers who journalize find by trial and error what kind of information they want keep track off. The benefit is the reflection, and contemplation of previous thoughts, ideas, comments, or feelings about classes. Honest comments reveal something about ourselves, and that's where we can see improvement, growth, or how differently we view situations over time. The hope is that we become stronger teachers because of it.
Regards, Barry
By using a teaching journal I'd be able to avoid the weak areas of my lectures or clinical skills demonstrations,and also would alert me about the things that worked well.
Hi Kimberlee:
Yeah, blank faces are an ominous sign of lost interest or understanding. What you try to do to reengage and restore their focus is noteworthy and may be worth memorializing it in your journal. This is the kind of information that reading about at a later time makes using a journal a great tool for teachers.
Regards, Barry
I am new to the formalized teaching role. In the clinical profesional environment I believe that we all are responsible for spontaneous instruction.
In moving into the formal educational environment I believe that the teaching journal concept is an excellant idea. I am going to start one.
Thanks
I find you should learn by your mistakes. I take notes on my delivery. I do not like looking out and seeing blank faces. I want to get the information across to the students so they can digest the information. It is a quick technquie to help better yourself as an instructor.
Hi Harmony:
Terrific. Over time, your thoughts and personalized reflection will bloosom into more significance as you mature in your teaching career (this is true however old you are or longevity in the profession).
Regards, Barry
Hi LaTonya:
There are different ways teachers use journals, and some don't do it at all.
Your method seems great, and is more of a functional style that helps record daily events and assist planning for future classes.
Others like to reflect on their thoughts, dialog with themselves how class could have inmproved, jotted notes about future classes (as you do), or explore possible (and impossible) options about the class, the students, the school, the classroom environment, etc.
Regards, Barry
I use a teaching journal because it helps keep me organized. I can keep track of everything that I went over daily, and more importantly things that I didn't go over that I can include the next class session.
Hi Linda:
True. I reality, we are all (as individuals) subject to change, adaptation, adjustment, and improvement as time moves on - it's a part of the life cycle. I think it's so interesting to look at my thoughts from an earlier time and reflect on how similar or different I've become. It's kind of like looking at older photograpgh's of ourselves (except we had more hair!). But even that's part of the ongoing cycle, eh?
Regards, Barry
Hi Linda:
Great! I think teachers use a variety of systems of recording their thoughts and notes, and there's no one better way over another that works best. Finding something that works and will be accessible and used regularly will be most helpful to teachers who adopt a practice of reflection, notation, observation, comments, reference, and plans (real or hoped for) for the future.
Regards, Barry
Hi Lloyd:
Good for you. I too look at my past thoughts and notatations and feel I have benefited from time and experience, based on my comments. Experience? Improvement? Self Awareness? I don't know, but I feel I am more confident and all the better because of it.
Regards, Barry
I use a teaching journal to help me reflect on the days lesson. How did it go? What went well? What could I change? How could I make it better and more meaningful for my students? I do this after each lesson I teach.
Ooohhh, I really like "The Next Up Step on the Ladder" title.
Some great intelligent person (I think it was Albert Einstein) said, "When you reach the top, keep climbing."
Your title could motivate students as well, by keeping track of their up-steps on the educational ladder!
I think this is a great idea--much better than talking to myself!
Keeping a log of what works and what doesn't helps me maintain consistency from term to term.
By keep a teaching journal or as I titled my journal "The Next Up Step on the Ladder"; it has help me to plan better for the classes ahead. I have been able to improve on my classroom delivery and have been able to connect a little more with many students. Have been able to promote a upbeat attitude in many students so they have a can do feeling when facing a challenging process.
Hi Christine:
Great. I think journalizing is a good thing, though not required, but I think better teachers tend to use them more so than newer teachers.
The thing is they can be in any format and contain just about anything the instructor feels is worth recording. You've listed some. Even the format varies, from notebook, electronic files, blank lined notebooks.
The recorded information can be pragmatic, reflective, opinions, comments, ideas, feelings, notes from lessons, really, it's whatever the teacher feels they might benefit reading about sometime in the future.
Regards, Barry
