Writing down your thoughts and feelings about your teaching experiences is really important. It helps you grow personally and become a better teacher. By reflecting on your emotions, you can better understand how you feel in different teaching situations. Here are some simple tips that can help you include emotional reflection in your journals.
First, you need a quiet place to write where you feel comfortable being honest. Here are some ways to create that space:
Set Aside Time: Choose specific times to write in your journal. Routine helps you think more clearly about your experiences and feelings. Try to write both daily and weekly. Daily entries can be about what happened that day, while weekly ones can look at bigger patterns.
Start with a Prompt: To get started, you can use simple questions like, “How did I feel during today’s lesson?” or “What surprised me today, and how did that make me feel?” These prompts help you focus on your emotions.
When you write, try to describe your feelings clearly. Avoid using vague words like “bad.” Instead, say things like, “I felt really overwhelmed and anxious when my students didn’t understand.” You can use a feelings wheel for help with different emotions.
Using a structured method can help you dive deeper into your feelings. Here are two helpful models:
The Gibbs Reflective Cycle: This method helps you think about your experiences step by step. First, describe what happened. Then, express how you felt. After that, think about what went well and what didn’t. Finally, make a plan for what to do next time. For example, if a lesson didn’t go well, you might reflect on your feelings of frustration and how to handle it better next time.
The Driscoll Model of Reflection: This model uses three simple questions: What? So what? Now what? This way, you can analyze what happened, how you felt, and what you can learn from it.
Adding details about what you see, hear, or feel can make your writing more vivid. Describe what your classroom is like, how students react, or how your body responds when you teach. For example, saying, “I felt a knot in my stomach when I saw a student zoning out” gives more emotion to your experience.
Storytelling is a great way to share your feelings. You can write about specific events in your teaching that made you feel a certain way. This helps others, like fellow teachers or mentors, relate to your experiences and learn from them too.
Talking with other teacher candidates can be really helpful. You can form a small group to share what you wrote. This shared experience can make you feel connected with others, and you might discover that they feel the same way you do, which can make you feel less alone.
Taking a moment to relax before writing can help you reflect better. Try deep breathing or meditation to focus your mind. You might even want to write about how this mindfulness helps you connect with your feelings while teaching.
After reflecting on your emotions, think about how you can turn those feelings into goals. If you felt unprepared during a lesson, for example, you could write down a goal to create a better lesson plan next time.
Besides writing, try adding pictures, drawings, or charts to your journal. Sometimes images can express feelings better than words. For instance, you could track your emotions throughout the week using a simple chart.
Think about how your students’ attitudes affect your feelings. You might write about how you felt when students were engaged in a fun activity compared to when they seemed bored during a lecture.
Take a few minutes before and after each teaching day to check in with your emotions. This can help you notice changes in how you feel over time.
Putting emotional reflection into your teaching journals is a practice that helps you understand yourself better and grow as a teacher. Use these techniques to not just write about your feelings, but to learn from them. Accept all emotions you experience—whether they are happy, confusing, frustrating, or exciting. Learning to reflect emotionally will enrich your teaching and help you grow as an educator.
Remember to be open and honest with yourself as you write. Teaching is an emotional job, and understanding that is the first step to becoming a better teacher.
Writing down your thoughts and feelings about your teaching experiences is really important. It helps you grow personally and become a better teacher. By reflecting on your emotions, you can better understand how you feel in different teaching situations. Here are some simple tips that can help you include emotional reflection in your journals.
First, you need a quiet place to write where you feel comfortable being honest. Here are some ways to create that space:
Set Aside Time: Choose specific times to write in your journal. Routine helps you think more clearly about your experiences and feelings. Try to write both daily and weekly. Daily entries can be about what happened that day, while weekly ones can look at bigger patterns.
Start with a Prompt: To get started, you can use simple questions like, “How did I feel during today’s lesson?” or “What surprised me today, and how did that make me feel?” These prompts help you focus on your emotions.
When you write, try to describe your feelings clearly. Avoid using vague words like “bad.” Instead, say things like, “I felt really overwhelmed and anxious when my students didn’t understand.” You can use a feelings wheel for help with different emotions.
Using a structured method can help you dive deeper into your feelings. Here are two helpful models:
The Gibbs Reflective Cycle: This method helps you think about your experiences step by step. First, describe what happened. Then, express how you felt. After that, think about what went well and what didn’t. Finally, make a plan for what to do next time. For example, if a lesson didn’t go well, you might reflect on your feelings of frustration and how to handle it better next time.
The Driscoll Model of Reflection: This model uses three simple questions: What? So what? Now what? This way, you can analyze what happened, how you felt, and what you can learn from it.
Adding details about what you see, hear, or feel can make your writing more vivid. Describe what your classroom is like, how students react, or how your body responds when you teach. For example, saying, “I felt a knot in my stomach when I saw a student zoning out” gives more emotion to your experience.
Storytelling is a great way to share your feelings. You can write about specific events in your teaching that made you feel a certain way. This helps others, like fellow teachers or mentors, relate to your experiences and learn from them too.
Talking with other teacher candidates can be really helpful. You can form a small group to share what you wrote. This shared experience can make you feel connected with others, and you might discover that they feel the same way you do, which can make you feel less alone.
Taking a moment to relax before writing can help you reflect better. Try deep breathing or meditation to focus your mind. You might even want to write about how this mindfulness helps you connect with your feelings while teaching.
After reflecting on your emotions, think about how you can turn those feelings into goals. If you felt unprepared during a lesson, for example, you could write down a goal to create a better lesson plan next time.
Besides writing, try adding pictures, drawings, or charts to your journal. Sometimes images can express feelings better than words. For instance, you could track your emotions throughout the week using a simple chart.
Think about how your students’ attitudes affect your feelings. You might write about how you felt when students were engaged in a fun activity compared to when they seemed bored during a lecture.
Take a few minutes before and after each teaching day to check in with your emotions. This can help you notice changes in how you feel over time.
Putting emotional reflection into your teaching journals is a practice that helps you understand yourself better and grow as a teacher. Use these techniques to not just write about your feelings, but to learn from them. Accept all emotions you experience—whether they are happy, confusing, frustrating, or exciting. Learning to reflect emotionally will enrich your teaching and help you grow as an educator.
Remember to be open and honest with yourself as you write. Teaching is an emotional job, and understanding that is the first step to becoming a better teacher.