Susan,
This is very thorough, and I can tell that your reliance on the journal as a chronologocal record of your thoughts and activities provides a ready reference for reflection, stimulation of futurfe ideas, and documatation for your own uses.
Barry Westling
I can't function without my journal. It helps me with so many things. It's a basic spiral notebook and I start off with the day's lesson plan in it. I also have a checklist of basic administrative things I need to do each day like attendance, calling absents, turning in any forms and so on. I also have any special campus announcements I need to make in my journal. The middle section is a brief outline of the next week that I go over with the students close to the end of class so they have a direction for the week. The bottom of the journal is where I make remarks on the day, any student issues, things I need to cover the next week, grades for the day, information to enter into student records, and the list goes on. Very often I go over to the back of the page.
Now each week as I prepare for the upcoming class, I go back to the journal and bring forward anything I didn't have time to cover or something we rescheduled and start my class with that so there's continuity from week to week. Then add my regular checklist and on it goes. It always refreshes my perspective each week and I continue to make improvements on my documenting. I can look back on any class and see what happened, where the hang-ups were, and what needs to be re-emphasized. It also cuts my prep time every week.
Thank you!
Ron,
Yes, reflection and perspective. That's what I get from reviewing past journal notes. For me it shows growth and maturity as a teacher.
Barry Westling
Using a teaching journal has been an invaluable tool for me throughout my career. It is humorous to take out some of the older ones and see how differently I taught back then.
Tavia,
Instructors who use a journal benefit in multiple ways, the biggest being self discorvery and improvement in their teaching skills.
Barry Westling
Gail,
Perfect! Many instructors benefit by self continuous quality improvement by use of a teching journal. Good perspective.
Barry Westling
this is a great impliment to my teaching
I can see the flaws and reflect from my instructional teaching to hopefully change errors in my judgement that didn't go well during the teaching phase
Alison,
That's great. Unless someone spends time to document, record and memorialize class events, they probably can't appreciate the value and personal satisfaction an instructor can receive from journalizing. Similar to an older photograph, journal entries can give a picture of how one thought about things, viewed issues, or made decisions. Can be very interesting and beneficial.
Barry Westling
When I began teaching, I had no experience and no education in teaching. I had not heard about a teaching journal until I took this course, but I was doing something similar in my lesson plans book. After each class I would document how much time each item took; I would also take note of activities, journals, and discussion questions that seemed to receive the best response from the students and facilitated the learning process. On the breaks between quarters I would revise my lesson plans. Although there is always room for improvement, I now feel I have each class meeting down to a science.
Funmilola,
Yes, it's a constant work in progress. And unless an instructor wishes to remain stagnant, striving for better performance will always be a duty we have to ourselves as instructor.
Barry Westling
I agree with your comment, about writing reducing any stress. I also like the use of strength weakness columns to target improving skills as an instructor. Reading entries from the past helps assess how far you have come. After appreciating this process, a new skill can be chosen for improvement.
Lisa,
That's what's nice about a journal - we can comment or add whatever feels good to write about. For more thoughtful comments, it's always interesting to look back after months or years to ponder the state of mind, attitude, and growth that probably has occurred.
Barry Westling
Writing always helps with any emotional stress I may have. It can also help show improvments and accomplishments.
Tawnya,
Well, it's never too late to bring to fruition a good idea, especially one that will yield better results.
Barry Westling
I see many opportunities for improvement by the use of a journal. There are just those times when a lesson plan looks good on paper but doesn't present or have the impact that is originally intended. A journal will remind myself, course by course, which methods worked and which ones did not and will help me avoid repeating those pitfalls. I wish that I had thought of that years ago.
Larry,
Teaching journals can reveal a lot about ourselves, especially through the perspective of an extended time period (several moths or years.). Improvement is best made when the instructor sees for themselves what needs to be done (vs someone telling them to do this or that).
Barry Westling
I think this is a great idea and I plan on instituting utilizing a teaching journal immediately. The benefits as I see them are:
A) It allows me to track my progress in a paticular subject.
B) It will allow me to see where I was successful in teaching and where I was not. It will also allow me to see if I need to bring another teching method into a particular area. i.e. does this particular block of instruction need more hands on, more lecture, more visual aids.
C) It will help me to better plan future lessons in the same subject.
I could think of more but dont want to ramble. neeedless to say I think this is brilliant especially given its simplicity and the little amount of time needed to effectively use this tool.
Sheneka,
Glad you found something practical you can use. I will often keep a notecard nearby to keep remnder notes to myself. These notes are then later transcribed in full in my journal binder after class. I find that, for me, if I don't write it down at the moment, it's likely to be forgotton.
Barry Westling
This was a really helpful tip. I jot things down all the time or think in my head how things worked well or went south during class but have never compiled all of this in the same place so it is easy for reflection and also organized.
I have changed things in my courses but I am sure I forget alot of the things that go through my mind during each class.
With a journal, I will be more organized, and can adjust accordingly based on the demographics of students in the classroom.
I will definitely use this tip immediately. Thanks.
