Hello, Mentees! I hope you are doing well and getting back into the swing of things this past week after a much needed spring break! Spring break is always a nice way to relax a little and step back from homework and school, isn’t it?
Reflection is essential in making many life decisions, whether personal, academic or professional. Everyday I use reflection techniques in one way or another—when decided what to eat, what task to do at work, etc. I often recall past events to help me make the present decisions. For example, “I recall the last time I order that entre at the restaurant, afterwards I felt sick to my stomach, missed work the next day and swore I would never touch that stuff again.”
Read on for good advice and descriptions of reflection, then tell me how you use reflection in your life.Reflection makes meaning by using present perspective to look back on a past experience. Some reflective prompts include:
• I thought/I began to feel…
• I wondered/began to wonder…
• I figured…
• I felt as though…
• I began to feel…
• I said to myself…
The reflective voice is the one who has the advantage of perspective and insight on the past event. This voice can be the one that drives the development of thought and the subtext of the piece. It's important, then, that this present perspective has power. Consider this passage by doctor/writer Richard Selzer:
"It is twelve years since I walked away from my beloved workbench in the operating room. It was not done with a cheery wave of the hand. For a long time, there was a sense of dislocation as if I was standing on the bank of a stream, and it was the bank that was flowing while the stream stood still. Surgery was my native land. The writer who cuts himself off from his native land does so at great risk. The subject of so much of my writing had been my work as a doctor. Would I be punished for sending myself into exile? Have nothing left to say? I needn't have worried. There is always the sharp and aching tooth of memory."
After reading Dr. Selzer’s passage, do you have a better understanding of how reflection is used? Do you see the several examples of reflection used to give us, the reader, an insight to how important being a doctor was to him and the controversy he had when deciding to leave it behind?
After reviewing the above information and examples, plus using your own recent reflection assignment, can you give me examples of what you think reflection is and why? How you can use reflection in developing your e-portfolio, your academic path and your career path?
I look forward to your responses! :o)
Kadie
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Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteI think I'm a reflection addict! I'm always reflecting about everything, and I don't think I d it on purpose. Most of the time that I caught myself reflecting is on the way home after a long day of school or work, when I'm alone in my car, no music, just my thoughts and me. I think reflection is a powerful tool, that helps you understand were you are. Like Kadie said, its a very useful tool for making decisions too.
Paloma Peraza
I think that using reflection for the e-portfolio should be carefully employed. The reason for this is that sometimes, perphaps many times we use reflection to clarify past mistakes and you don't wanna potrait yourself we all the mitakes you have done. It doesn't mean it's all bad, on the other hand it can be a powerful tool for showcasing the fact that one can always learn from past mistakes ans experiences. Like I said, one should be very selective about what to include in a porfolio. ;)
ReplyDeletePaloma Peraza
I agree Paloma Peraza, I feel as if I am a reflection addict as well. I am always looking back on everything I say and do. Sometimes I am pleased, and other times I am thoroughly disappointed. I agree with the fact of not over-reviewing your mistakes so that others may learn from them also. There is also the thought of possibly displaying a “before and after” so to speak. For example showing how you made a mistake and how you fixed it. This could be a helpful and encouraging way to educate those who come along after you =)
ReplyDeleteRebe
Hindsight is 20/20. This is a common saying in my family. My parents always encouraged me as a child to sit down ad think about what had occurred. Reflecting on actions or conversations helped to make sure that I did not make the same mistakes again. I also got into journaling and blogging because of the same reason. ON the same note, we must make sure while reflecting, we do not stay in the past. The goal is to change how we did things the first time around.
ReplyDelete-Dora Peters
Dora,
ReplyDeleteI too have grown up with that saying and I have also been told several time to go think about how I should have done something differently then I did. Keeping a journal is a great way to be able to look at many things that you have changed and the different way that you have grown. When I was younger my dad was sick, my mom gave me a journal and told me to think about keeping a log of my thoughts about everything so I could remember how I felt and how to handle bad things in my life. I never took her advice because I did not like thinking about those kind of things that much. Now looking back some of the memories that have faded would have been nice to have written down, especially the good memories with my father. But again I guess hindsight is 20/20, and I am glad I still have many good memories of that time in my life.
In response to a diary,
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to be able to maintain a diary or journal, but have never being able too. I guess it would be nice in order to keep memories. At the same time I don't think everything should be written because it could be "dangerous" or backfire or at least thats what my mom says!
paloma Peraza
I too reflect quite a bit. I think reflective thought is part of any academic path. At some point we all had to stop and think about what we wanted to do with our lives. In my case this reflective thought brought me at first to the wrong conclusion but mostly because I was not being truthful to myself. More reflective thought brought in the end to the right path. Ironically, this comment is also an example of reflective thought!!
ReplyDelete~Ana Zuniga
Like others in here in too am a reflexive thinking addict. Like Paloma, I do a lot of reflecting on my way home from work or school. I guess that is the bright side of so much traffic congestion here in Orlando. I find that nice mellow background music can actually trigger me to think about my past and even ponder about my future. Whichever way people accomplish reflexive thought in their lives, it is for sure necessary in order to grow as an individual. The past assignments from the e-portfolio were no easy task because once more I had no idea what to include and what to leave out. Like others said, you should not include everything in an eportfolio.
ReplyDelete~Ana Zuniga
As far as the diary goes, whenever I have tried this route of reflective thought I find that my mind goes much faster than my pen. My thoughts are not as linear as writing usually is and so putting my thoughts on paper is very difficult. This method has only worked on trips. I like to travel a lot and there are a lot of experiences that pictures cannot capture. So I might write what I felt or thought in a journal.
ReplyDelete~Ana Zuniga
I used to think a diary was a good idea when I was younger, then my little sister arrived. I still believe that diaries are a great resource, but one should be very careful in what they put in it, where they keep it, etc. I have moved from a material diary to using my computer on occasion. Of course, I live by myself so I don't worry much about others getting into it. Even so, I still name it something boring to keep people from being tempted.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, a diary is very helpful because it will allow you to get your thoughts out, especially if it's something you don't really want to share with others. It allows you to sort through your thoughts, often show you where the issue/mistake/importance/etc. lies and can help you reach a decision or realization. Sometimes when I reflect using this method, I see more positive in things and realize that whatever I am stressed about is not that big of a deal afterall.
With a diary in mind, I have found that random typing of words, thoughts, ideas, etc. has been a very helpful reflective tool. When I sit down and try to think about what I want to say and make it make sense, I have less luck. But when I just allow my hands to write (or type) without caring about punctuation, spelling, making sense, etc., I get to my "deep-down" much quicker, than I can reflect on everything at that point because all of the randomization and confusion is out of the way.
Reflection is amazing because it can be done in so many ways and be so incredibly helpful!
Well, Peter, its never too late to write it all down. Maybe you can turn it into something you want to pass along to the next generation. Lessons learned and what not. And, Paloma, sometimes I do wonder what would happen if someone reads some of my journal entries. There are days when I think it might be better to just burn the entire thing. Reflecting might be good, but putting it down in writing can be dangerous I guess. I cant say anything though, I actually have been blogging since 2004. So, a lot of my thoughts, travels, and random things that come through my reflections are all available for the world to read.
ReplyDelete-Dora Peters
Kadie,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean; I have a younger brother. In fact the very first time I cursed out loud was because he had stolen my diary! HAHA! I do indeed practice the art of random words to reflect all the time. Especially on a stressful day when I am not allowed to express my feelings to the people. I will sit down with some quiet music (like Ana) and just start writing down random words which eventually make sense. This helps me to curb my emotions and also to get my thoughts straight. There are some people, however, who can reflect upon everything and still make the same mistakes over again. The whole point of reflecting of course is to make sure we right a wrong. We must learn to grow from our mistakes, learn new things about ourselves. Reflections are a great source of clear thoughts that come along after we have cleared all the brush away.
-Dora Peters
I plan to use the ideas and actions of the past to choose what I will do now and in the future. I reflect back on things I have done wrong in the past more to rectify the mistakes and try to prevent future occurrences. But in my e-Portfolio I don’t think that should be the case. So my content page will reflect upon things I have accomplished, which some may be due to past failures but that shows my resilience and my ability to learn and adapt. Reflection is necessary to identify who you are now. It doesn’t completely make you but it has a big hand in what type of person you are or will become.
ReplyDelete-Lawatha L. CherRenfro
My idea of reflection is recollecting past occurrences in your life and thinking about what went right, what went wrong, how could things have been different, what could have been done o prevent the bad outcomes, etc. Reflection is the same as description because when you reflect you are describing past events. Where reflection and description differ are in the manner that reflection calls upon you to put detailed thoughts of those occurrences. Those thoughts require you to imagine more than just the occurrence itself. It requires you to implement ideas of change and reform.
ReplyDelete-Lawatha L. CherRenfro
Reflection is looking back at certain times in your life, choices you’ve made, meaningful experiences (good and bad) and using your recollection to better yourself and gain a deeper understanding of the universe. A great example would be a general argument. Often times the participants of just your average argument will look back afterward and reflect upon the situation; wonder who was actually right or if he or she handled it as well as they could have. Looking back and understanding the situation a little better will provide help with future problems of similar nature.
ReplyDelete~Galen Michael Macpherson I~
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ReplyDeleteThe e-portfolio is a great place to do positive reflection. Meaning reflecting on all the great things that one has done. However, the e-portfolio is no place for pure reflection on all aspects of a matter. One could do pure reflection to himself and only write down the positive notes in the e-portfolio. The building of the e-portfolio itself however does require a person to do reflection since an e-portfolio relies mostly on the past. One needs to reflect upon his whole life to be able to pick out what parts to put in the e-portfolio.
ReplyDelete~Galen Michael Macpherson I~
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ReplyDeleteReflection is a great thing to do when looking towards the future. Looking back and reflecting upon certain events one might have participated in or jobs one has held and using that reflection to decide what one would want to see in his future and what one would want to keep out of it it an outstanding way to shape and mold your academic path and career. Look at the past and make your future the future you want it to be by avoiding unwanted things previously experienced and embracing the things known to bring happiness. Reflection is a great start to a great future.
ReplyDelete~Galen Michael Macpherson I~