Reflective Journal
A very important component of EDUC 222 is to keep a journal of your
experiences in the public school. You will write an entry each day that you are in the
school, reflecting on what you observed and expressing your reactions. You should write
each entry as soon as possible after the classroom visit, no later than that evening.
Your journal should include very detailed participant observations—a detailed
description of what you see, such as:
1. Physical characteristics of the room, the school, the children—everything you see.
2. Specific techniques (including words, gestures, looks, etc.) that the teacher uses to
manage the classroom. Describe individual students’ reactions/responses.
3. Teaching techniques the teacher uses—how the children react.
In addition to observations, you should include reflections about what you have seen.
What excited you? startled you? made you laugh? made you sad? What do you wonder
about?
Examples of
Reflective Journal Entries
I’m shocked! What a day! Why am I so shocked?
I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t expect the kids
to be so casual. Are all the schools in the U.S. this
way now? How did things change since I was in
elementary school?
***********************
Guess what? I have had my eyes opened and I still
want to teach. I love it! I guess sometimes we get
so involved in just teaching we don’t stop to think
clearly. When I think in this journal I think how
much I have learned about teaching. I have a long
way to go, but now I know that some teachers and
some schools don’t treat kids like real people. The
worst part is I don’t think anyone cares.
***********************
...Another problem is that the kindergarten kids
have too much paper work and ditto sheets. Another
thing…Hannah (fictitious name) says she can’t even
teach the kids what she knows they need because
she’ll get into trouble if she doesn’t follow the
curriculum. Do you really have to follow a curricu-
lum if it is not right for the kids?
Examples of
Reflective Journal Entries
At first when I arrived there wasn’t a soul in sight.
The building looked old and broken down and it was
very HOT! Soon after, people started coming so I
went inside. You began our lecture and I learned
different auditing (listening) strategies to use with
children.
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In the sixth grade group I had two new students. They
hadn’t been there before due to absences. There was a
constant chatter among the people in my group. I
asked one of them to leave the group. He couldn’t be
quiet and didn’t want to participate in the group
activity. I guess that’s the way it is here. The kids
have a lot of freedom.
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I did teacher dictation and they seemed to like that.
We did seven sentences and they all participated, even
the ones I had put out of the group would listen and
follow along. I hope that was ok? After we did this I
