Reflection is more than just description. While description is important for explanation, it does not provide the meaning and significance that is needed to truly reflect. For example, telling a story gives the reader a description of an event or series of events. However, reflection comes into play when you look back on those events and learn from them, giving them meaning. In my e-portfolio, it is important to use reflection to show why I am telling the stories that I am using. If I simply said I fixed my computer and this is how I did it, the reader would be left asking "Why are you telling me this?". By employing the use of reflection, I am learning from my story and growing from it. When I include this information, the reader understands the message. In layman's terms, the point of the e-portfolio is to relay a message, and the stories which you use within it are merely the vehicles with which you attach that message(s). Reflection is all about why, what is the meaning, and where is the significance.
Answer these questions:
1. ) What does reflection mean to you?
2.) What is your understanding of this term?
3.) What sets it apart from mere description?
4.) How do you plan on using reflection to develop your e-portfolio?
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To me, reflection means to look at something for what it is and trying to decide what it means to you.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of the term is the same as what it means to me. It is looking back on something and trying to figure out what it means to me.
I think reflection has more feelings and meaning than just a simple description does.
Reflection within my e-portfolio will show why certain things matter to me and exactly what they mean to me.
Reflection is a way to analyze, absorb, and understand either what happen during your day or during an event. Reflecting on a community service event. For example, would benefit me in a great way because taking the time to see how what I did a person impacts another person’s life. My understanding of the term reflection is to connect and to contextualize everything. Reflection is different from description because with reflection you look more into why things affect people and how those things affect yourself in the process. I plan on using reflection to develop my e-portfolio by thinking deeper into why I’m writing and how what I’m writing can affect me now or in the future.
ReplyDelete~ Ashley ~
ReplyDeleteThis is a good place to start. Everything you said is true. But I would like you to look and think deeper. You have only just scratched the surface! Reflection is more than just giving meaning, it is also about looking at changes. How have things changed? Why did these changes happen? How have you grown? What is new? Also, remember that without signing your full name somewhere within your posts, either the beginning or the end, you will not receive credit for your work.
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~ Valerie ~
Very good! You are definitely on the right track! I agree with everything you said. Reflection can also be about growth and new levels of understanding. Maybe it is about looking at the big picture and how everything fits into it or conversely, looking at each piece of the puzzle individually. Try to think of some ways which you can tell a story about each headline in your portfolio and how reflection will give those stories meaning. Or, if it's easier, write a draft of a story you could use for one of your headlines and employ reflection within it! Keep up the good work!
Reflection to me means thoughtful thinking about past events in my life. When I take into consideration the path that led me to “now”, I think about the opportunities afforded to me as well as the decisions I made along the way. As was stated earlier, what sets reflection apart from mere description is that reflection tells a story. When I reflect upon my past I like to analyze what I may have learned from the experience and how can I continue to grow and improve for the future. My plan for using reflection in my e-portfolio is to take what I have learned in the past along with what I am learning now and apply it to my future endeavors.
ReplyDelete~ Diana ~
ReplyDeleteExcellent response! You are right on! Reflection can also focus on cause and effect and the changes which have occurred. Please think about a story which you may use to introduce one of your headlines in your e-portfolio. Either tell us what that story may look like using both description AND reflection, or go ahead and write up a tentative draft of your story to share with us! Great job and keep it up!
To me reflection means that you look back on something from the past (yesterday or a year ago, time isn't really relevant), whether it be a paper, a book, a story, an experience whatever, and think about what that event or thing taught you, what you thought it meant in the first place and what you think it means to you now. You can then take that knowledge with you and incorporate it into the next event of you life.
ReplyDeleteDescription is just an overview of events or a small blurb of how something looks. It is just aesthetic, it is only the surface, it does not include the whys or the hows or what the thing you are describing means to the person.
I think that as I go along in my career as a student I can see how different classes have changed my perspective on things, I can see why certain things have been important and how they have impacted me. I can see how, as I have moved along, my thinking patterns have changed and how I am better equipped to analyze and really understand a situation or an assignment or an event in my life.The eportfolio will reflect that change and be an example of how I relate to things, of how I think and analyze.
Simone Cohen
Diana,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. You managed to say what reflection was in fewer words than I, maybe I had trouble with the wording. I too like to analyze the event and see what I can learn from it. Maybe there is a way to do something better or maybe no need to do something at all. But that is what reflection about, seeing what you can learn from something and letting it change you, hopefully in a good way.
Simone Cohen
Reflection, to me, means to look back on something and see it in a new light or with new meaning. I think that it is different from description because when you describe something, you're only taking it at face value. Describing something is easier because it doesn't take much to say what you see. To reflect, you have to look deeper to see the significance.
ReplyDeleteAs I move along with my academic career, I can continue to reflect on what I add to my e-portfolio. I think that when all is said and done, any new meaning and insight that I gain from the completed project should be helpful to me in the future.
~ Simone ~
ReplyDeleteExcellent post!! Very thorough and insightful! Maybe you can tell us about a specific story you have in mind for one of the headlines of your e-portfolio? How are you planning on utilizing both description and reflection? You could tell us the story or just tell us about what you are thinking of doing! Awesome job! Keep it up!!
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~ Danielle ~
Perfect! Right on target! Why don't you tell us a story you might be able to use in a headline within your e-portfolio which engages reflection as well as description? Or maybe you'd like to tell us about a particular epiphany you have reached via reflection? Thanks for your insights! Keep up the good work!
@ Mikaela
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments I believe that reflection is a good thing and works better when people think about the actions they have done because everything affects another person. I love to keep a notebook that explains and describes how community service and volunteering that I have done affects myself and the people it was for.
@Diana
I love how you touch on growing and expanding your actions into the future. You make it sound easy l0l. I like when people realize that their actions have a cause and effect and then they expand on how it all works.
Reflection to me are life lessons. Usually when people reflect back on their past they remember their highs and lows and often tell the moral of the story. A reflection is a deep connection of what reality is. Some people go through situations and dont understand why they went through what they did. To understand why as you reflect, you have to have a deep connection with things of this world.
ReplyDeleteA desription is a simple explanation of things. You can describe what you dreamed about, but can you reflect back on it make sense of it. As i do my e-portfolio I want I person to live vicariously through me. I want them to feel as though they can connect to my reflection in some kind of way. If they can not connect but to make them think deeply about my situations or my thoughts.
Janelle Brooks
~ Valerie ~
ReplyDeleteYour journal would be a great example of an artifact which you may be able to use within one of your stories for a headline! I think it's great that you make a point to regularly reflect and also keep a record of it! Thanks for sharing!
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~ Janelle ~
It seems to me that you have a firm grasp on the concept of reflection! It is valuable in life to not only understand what it mean to reflect but to also practice it. How regularly would you say that you take the time to reflect yourself? Thanks for your post!
@ Mikaela.
ReplyDeleteI reflect about myself very often. I reflect on how I got to where I am and what I can do to get where I'm going. Sometimes I have to make changes to things that pertain to my life, but I believe that those changes will reap rewards!
janelle brooks
~ Janelle ~
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you are so aware of your reflections! Some people are afraid to take their thoughts deeper into reflection. Personally, I feel like it is inherent within me, similar to common sense. I find writing, especially poetry, to be my favorite way to get my reflections out and share them. And in my opinion, if we truck through life without reflecting, we will surely perish as we will never truly learn.