Task 2 b: Reflective writing

Learning strategy is such a broadly researched area I feel that with investigation over the past few weeks I am only scraping the surface of understanding.  Nonetheless,  it is a fascinating area and I want to deepen my knowledge of theorists work and also work to dig a bit deeper when thinking about my own learning style. 

As part of my journal, I am writing a reflection a day on notebook in the various writing styles.  After exclusively allocating time in the day to writing in one style, I will hopefully come away knowing which journal entries have come naturally to me. I will find a style of writing easiest to look back on over the course; looking to find my own clarity that will work for me when I want to revisit an experience or reflection.

Description

In terms of writing a piece of prose that is just for and as a tool to reflect I found being descriptive a hindrance.  I feel that when teaching or trying to help others learn, being as descriptive as possible is imperative.  However, what I kept having to remind myself was that my journal is for no one but myself.  Therefore, I didn't feel like I needed to be descriptive.  I almost work better just writing key points or feeling when reflecting on my work.  When I'm juggling so many ideas in a day, the trail of thought and focus was hard to keep hold of when writing descriptively.

List

I found writing a list about my day very helpful in terms of clarity of my initial and later emotions.   I had an interview in the middle of the day, for a role I am really interested in working with a circus company.  I went back to my list after the interview and added some thoughts and emotions.  
A valuable style for realising perhaps some areas that I am hung up on, and should not spent so energy worrying about:  refining an a thought to get back to the original idea / emotion.  After finding this clarity it is then easier to work out my goals.

Initial reflection

I held what I considered a difficult session today.  I was teaching a group that were hard to hold the attention of, and felt under pressure to make sure they were reaching the learning objectives.
Writing an initial reflection was very useful in a therapeutic sense.  The idea was fresh and the physical focus of sitting still and writing about the what had happened made me feel somewhat more positive about the outcome.  David Boud (D, Boud 2010) talks about the benefits for promoting journal writing for learning as a way for 'therapy, expression and to record'.  I felt great benefit from writing initial reflection as a means of accurately recording events as being a form of therapy.  My therapy is usually physical - I'll dance or go to the gym.  Sitting and writing was a refreshing change!


Graphs/Charts/Diagrams

This week I have been recording my daily emotions as an excel graph as above.  It's only Thursday so I will continue for the rest of the week, but wanted to record my thoughts on this style thus far.

I think my default reaction to record events or ideas is to create a diagram and I have always made mind maps when I want to jot down notes;  so this style appealed to the side of me that likes clear conclusions and the aesthetic appeal of a chart. 

I think what is hard however, is working out clear emotions to write down the axis of a chart.  

We as humans are not as clear as this, and emotions can seem ambiguous.   So,  I had to give a lot of thought to how I was feeling that day,  which meant that in a therapeutic sense and to grow on my self awareness this exercise was very useful.  

It was interesting because I can see from what I have noted down, that I spent most of the week feeling either anxious or excited.   I of course knew this already,  but I didn't really give it much thought until I saw it recorded so straightforwardly.

Will I use a graph as a journal tool again?  Not to record events simply,  but I would be interested to continue a graph like this for a longer time frame and see what patterns emerge.

What if?

When I reflected upon my day starting with the question 'what if?'  I kept thinking of this Martin Luther King quote.  Sometimes it can feel that as a dancer you do so much work which isn't your 'dream' job just to fill in the in-between time.  So often I've felt pessimistic about the industry.  I think my perseverance has always come from being a bit of a dreamer.  i constantly let myself get carried away with what could happen if I do get an audition, or a teachign job abroad etc... I've decided there is no fault in it and sometimes we've got to allow ourselves the fun of riding the highs!