DESCRIPTIVE, ANALYTICAL AND REFLECTIVE WRITING


Descriptive writing: WHAT? What is the setting? What is going on? What is the background? What is happening?
• Give details and explanations of what you are describing
• Relate what you observed
• Order and sequence events
• Concrete
• Paint a picture for the reader

Analytical writing: SO WHAT? So there’s a class full of students working on a story/design/etc. Why are they doing this? Why is it important? What is significant?
• Deals with reasons
• Why did it happen?
• How do the events illustrate the practice?
• How did the teaching practice impact student learning?
• Justify your rationale for selecting competencies and skills.

Reflective writing: NOW WHAT? Now that you have described and analyzed your teaching, what are you going to do next? What worked well and will be continued as the class progresses? What did not work, and looking back on it, could have been different? There is always room for improvement (a sign of a reflective practitioner). What worked well?
• Reflection suggests self-analysis, or consideration of practice.
• What will you do next time based on your analysis of what happened in today’s lesson?
• Reflection addresses future instruction.
• Reflection pulls together your analysis and own rich connections about outcomes.
• The purpose of reflective writing is to LEARN by doing, constructing, building, talking and writing and to think about events, activities, experiences.
• Experiences (action) + Thought (reflection) = Construction of Knowledge
• Reflection is a vehicle for critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis of opposing ideas, evaluation, identifying patterns, creating meaning.
• Reflective practitioners are people who think about their actions and ask why they take those actions. They take control over their own practices. They feel confidence based on experience and insight. They continue to grow and learn. They have classrooms that are enriched because reflective teachers are innovative.


See:
http://portalsso.vansd.org/pls/portal/url/ITEM/373387235A5F2AD3E0404A0AB2000F80.