How to Write a Reflective Diary
Writing a reflective diary is a useful method of analyzing and evaluating experiences by focusing on the method of learning as well as the subject matter. Keeping a reflective diary or journal forces you to think more deeply and helps to provide a better understanding of a practice based learning experience and see the relationship between practice and theory more clearly. There is no one correct way how to write a reflective diary.
Unless you are told otherwise, the guidelines for how to write a reflective diary are not too strict. The following are some basic rules and guidelines for writing a reflective diary that should be kept in mind:
Basic Guidelines for Writing a Reflective Diary
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You need the experience to reflect on: Although the purpose of the reflective diary is to reflect, you must have been involved in an activity or experience and need to write your observations including what was done, what was objective and what was the outcome.
Be selective: It isn’t necessary to write about every little detail. Focus on key points and ideas, as shown in our reflective diary example.
Include mistakes as well as successes: Mistakes happen and it is okay to admit making one.
Review your reflective diary regularly: To use the reflective diary to its fullest advantage, review older entries from time to time. Reflect further on what you wrote previously to determine if new knowledge and experiences alter previous thoughts and feelings. If you are unsure how to write a reflective diary our professional reflective journal writing service is here to help you.
In general, guidelines are relatively loose as strict writing guidelines would defeat the purpose of reflective writing. Also, show that you understand what went wrong and how you plan to avoid making the same mistake again. Including only successes decreases the value of a reflective diary as a learning tool. Click and get to know some reflective facts.
A basic reflective diary sample above follows this reflective diary template as shown here:
- Description of the experience/event
- Describe what happened
- Describe who and/or what was involved
- Interpretation of the experience/event
- What aspect of the experience/event was the most important? The most interesting? The most useful?
- How can it be explained?
- How is it similar to/different from others?
- Outcome of the experience/event
- What have I learned from this experience?
- How can what I learned to be applied in the future?
There are many ways to structure reflective journals. For students keeping a diary/journal that will be submitted as an assignment, it is best to check with your instructor to see if there is a reflective journal structure they prefer.
For the reflective diary more in-depth information check the reflective writing tutorial and get to know more about academic reflection rules.
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