Ann,
Great! Journals benefit instructors different ways at different times. In some ways it's like taking a daily inventory of events and thoughts. Reviewing later may help one situation now and another at a later time. It's always a great reflecting tool for instructors.
Barry Westling
The journals are beneficial for the next time I instruct the class. I have detailed information; which includes diversity of students. Not only does it eliminate blocks, helps the class go smoother next time around.
Rtee,
You've tapped into one of the tenets and benefits of using pretests, that of learning the staus of students prior learning. With that special knowledge, good instructors will modify their course as needed (sometime there is not too much needing tweaking). The end result is better use of time and improved student outcomes.
Barry Westling
I find using a teaching journal to be highly beneficial as it helps me figure out the pace of each class, the effectiveness of the assignments and how I can improve the understanding of the intended objectives. Especially since some courses, I teach every other term or once a year. It's hard to remember a year back so my notes help me so I can continue to tweak assignments and delivery to achieve the best possible outcome.
Jason ,
Ideally, immediate reflection works best for me, but half the time, something interferes with post-class quiet time. However whenever that time comes, it's so interesting to notice how many thoughts, ideas, and personal observations come to mind.
Barry Westling
I can see how a journal can help you reflect on what has worked and what hasn't. Do you generally write the journal entry immediately after the class has ended?
Sharon,
You mention some good outcomes involved with teaching journals. When we self evaluate ourselves in the way a teaching journal provides, I think we are able to be more introspective about our effectiveness, and also reflect on what we might want to modifify to improve our instructional prowess. We are usually more critical of ourselves. Nonetheless, teaching journals do help make us better instructors, in my opinion.
Barry Westling
I was required as part of my education courses to keep a journal when teaching in the classroom. I found it to be most helpful. At the end of my teaching session, I would reflect on the entire session. The activies, the student responses,the amount of time an activity took, questions students had etc. I would identify weaknesses in the lesson and make notes of how I might do it differently next time. I would identify those things that worked really well so I could continue doing the same. I highly recommend this method for instructional improvement.
Johanna,
Journaling provides so many benefits and is really very easy to develop daily (or regular) habits of making quick jots, notes, comments, or observations. What's cool is the reflection after many months or years...how one viewed things, approached situations or dealt with problems (and their solutions). We can learn a lot about ourselves.
Barry Westling
I have never used a teaching journal. I can see that it would be a useful tool to reflect on the successes and failures of each day or class. I imagine the biggest struggle I would have would be finding the time to be consistent about it. I am interested in keeping one in order to help me consider my teaching techniques in greater detail.
Richard,
My best enjoyment and benefit is remembering how I viewed situations and observations about how I dealt with students and curriculum years back. This is really a valuable asset to use the past as a guide to future events.
Barry Westling
A teaching journal is a great way to reflect on your teaching. Reading back entries will show how your strategies evolved and help you make observations in the class. You will be able to start to pick out things you may have noticed before, or catch yourself doing things in the past. Then you will be able to read what you tried to fix it and if it worked.
Raymond,
Journals can be extremely helpful for observation and reflection. I'm sure your tenure provides a wealth of past experiences which can contribute to ongoing improvement and greater instructional effectivenss
Barry Westling
I still keep a journal after 24 years of teaching. It has helped me improve my delivery of the course material and projects I use in the lab. Now I use it to improve the tests I give, I keep track of the high and low grades for the class and the class average for each test and how long it takes to complete the test. This allows me to constantly improve how access my students progress.
Tracey,
I've found that instruction is a constantly evolving process, and despite all our efforts and good intentions, mistakes will probably always present. But the lesson to be learned is to benefit from mistakes in order to avoid repeating them, and a journal can help identfy, store, and provide reflection on past classes.
Barry Westling
I plan on using my journal so I do not make the same mistakes over and over.
Donna,
First off, journals are generally highly personal, even in their organization and structure. However, I can say one might want to enter thoughts according to subject matter, topics from class, sessions within the year, or categories, such as observations, improvements, and wants and needs. One big benefit is in reflection over time while reviewing past journal entries.
Barry Westling
I like this idea - the journal serves as a record of what has worked well & what hasn't, or of how you handled different situations that came up.
One question I have is: how do you organize it so that you can find that helpful entry when you need it in the future?
Susan ,
I think all instructors who regularly journalize realize that they benefit some initially and some ovcer time as reflection, planning, and interacting with past classes leads them to present fresh material (or same information in a different manner).
Barry Westling
Not only has the journal helped me to evolve with the curriculum but it helps me to keep on task using it going forward with my lesson planning so mine has a dual purpose.
