2a. The 9 different journal techniques

So for the last couple of weeks I have been keeping a journal, using the 9 different journal writing styles suggested to us. I thought I would talk a little bit about how I have been getting on as some techniques I found really helped me, and others I found I didn't relate to as easily.

Description

Description was the first style I started with and was probably the one I found the easiest. It is how I naturally keep a diary and it allows me to write freely about me day as well as highlighting the important/ key events. I found I simply tended to break down my day chronologically describing what had happened. However, this technique didn't really challenge me in terms of developing my thoughts.

Initial   

Initial seemed to suit me well, as it allowed my to expand on description in a way that made me think about how I felt during certain points of my day. I don't always take the time to think and I write down how I feel, so this was a really good task for me to do. I found certain thoughts and feelings kept reoccurring if a particular event was prominent in my life for a few days.  

Reflection

Reflection allowed me to analyise why I might be feeling certain things towards different activities. It forced to me begin to really self reflect, which is something I can struggle with. It also helped me look at how much I had achieved in a day, and ask myself questions. I believe that reflection will feature a lot more prominently in my journal writing from now on.

List

I am constantly writing or forming lists! It's how I organise my life. So this technique was a positive as well as a negative for me. It allowed me to organise my thoughts and my day, as well as break things down into sections. For example I don't usually make a list of 'Things I'm glad I did', or 'Thing's I wish I knew more about', but by doing this I was able to clearly separate what I needed to focus on, and what I felt confident in. However sometimes I found the lists made me panicked as it seemed like an impossible task of things that I needed to do. I like the idea of incorporating lists into my journal, but I definitely shouldn't use it as my soul technique.

Evaluation

Evaluation was a great way for me to have an overview of my day and to not focus to much on specifics that can sometimes scare or worry me. It also helped me to work out reasons as to why certain things were happening and gave me a sense of perspective. I found it linked in with reflection but concentrated more on practical elements of my life, for example things I should be avoiding, rather than how I feel about them happening.

Graphs, charts and diagrams

I didn't click with this technique as much as I thought I would. It didn't help me to remember anything I did, it just allowed me to work out what emotions were more prominent in a day. I tried a few different styles of charts and graphs. I did a graph of my feelings that day to see how my mood changed, and then I also constructed a pie chart to break down how much of my time I spend on my career, uni work and other factors in my life. It was good to use a visual tool, but I found I still wrote a little note to myself describing my day as I felt I hadn't allowed those feelings to come out.

What if?

I tend to use the what if? idea a lot when I am planning my lessons for teaching, so this technique was interesting for me to put into a journal context. It allowed my creative mind to explore imaginary scenarios which was nice, but also made me think about how I really wanted my career to go, as I found myself dreaming about certain jobs. This put into perspective for me what I need to do in order to make these dreams happen. I also had a couple of 'Sliding Door' moments, where I imagined my life if just one tiny factor had changed in the day. This was generally just a really interesting idea, and one I enjoyed!

Another view


I found this experience really hard. I did a journal entry from the point of view of my i pod dock. I found I couldn't switch off my own voice and really imagine just what the i pod would have seen. I kept bringing in other factors that I happened to know as I had experienced it too. However it did allow me to reflect on my day from a more outward perspective which allowed me to think about how the children I taught that day may have viewed my classes. I feel that I should give this technique another go and try to develop it further.


In general though I have really enjoyed trying out the different styles of journal writing. I am quickly learning that in order for me to maximize the journeys reflective potential I need to use several different writing techniques. I am now going to try a week of combining different styles and see what comes from it!