“We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on
experience.” - John Dewey
Reflective writing contrasts from
other types of writing. Reflective writing encourages us to reveal
our personal thoughts about our life experiences in relation to the content we
are learning about in the units rather than summarizing the opinions of others.
Many reflective writers keep in
mind questions, such as:
"What did I notice?",
"How has this
changed me?" or
"What might I have done differently?”
Reflective writing can help us to
improve our analytical skills because it requires us to express what we think,
and more significantly, how and why we think that way. In addition, reflective
analysis asks us to acknowledge that our thoughts are shaped by our assumptions
and preconceived ideas; in doing so, we can appreciate the ideas of others,
notice how their assumptions and preconceived ideas may have shaped their thoughts,
and perhaps recognize how our ideas support or oppose what we read.
Examples of reflective
writing by BP, 9 y.o.
Content Study, Polish Immigration
“I decided to do choose to write about the Polish immigration.
There were two major waves of immigration. The first from late 1800's up
to World War I (1914-1918).
The first major wave happened because of economical, political and
religious reasons. People came "Za chlebem" means "For bread". Back
then there was no such thing as Poland on the world map instead Poland was
occupied by Germany, Austria and Russia.
Most of the people immigrating were called "Górale" means
Mountain people mostly coming from the Southern religion of Poland. This was
mostly Kraków and Rzeszów.
In the Second World War about 6 million out of 35 million Poles were killed. Poland was
forced to turn into a communist country under the Soviet control. That was the
second wave of immigration.
Between the 1945 and 1953 more than 150,000 Poles were admitted to the
United States and most of them were refugees.
The soldiers, intellectual and political prisoners had no way back to
Poland.
Did you know that during the 1920's more than 220,000 Poles immigrated
to the United States?
Poles had many cultural food and these are some of them:
"Rosół" - chicken soup (my favorite soup)
"Żurek" - sour soup
"Gołąbki" - stuffed cabbage rolls
"Pierogi" - dumplings (favorite meal)
If I was to choose a certain type of pierogis they would be meat pierogis.
I chose this immigration group because it is my family roots since my
parents are Polish.
Reflection on an Article.
“I found an article in Chicago Tribune which told me about the history
of Poles who were forced by the Russian Soviet Union to go to Kazakhstan.
This was clearly a push immigration because life in Kazakhstan was extremely
hard and people were forced to work in labor camps.
During World War II as many as 1.5 million Poles were deported mostly
to Siberia and Kazakhstan and many of them died from the hard working
conditions and sicknesses.
The article doesn't talk about the historical background because the author
assumes that people know that the Soviet oppression killed more than 20 million
people between October Revolution of 1917 and Stalin's death in March 1953.
Most people died during their first winter.
Under the Soviet oppression maintaining cultural traditions, observing
their faith and even speaking Polish was illegal. However Polish people sent to
Kazakhstan kept their traditions, language and culture and now their children
and grandchildren wish to come back to their home country.
The Polish government made an effort to provide many thousands of those
refugees with houses, food, medical services, education and etc., which are
evidently examples of immigration pulls.”
Reflection based on an article
from Chicago Tribune, Kazakhstan's 'forgotten Poles' long to return. Thousands
in Asia since Stalin’s era. January 02, 2003. By Cheryl Collins,
specialist to the Tribune.
Ellis Island School Trip -
Reflection Writing
“I truly enjoyed the Ellis Island Museum and learned a lot throughout
our school trip.
I've discovered that Ellis Island served as the busiest immigration
station in the United States from 1892 until 1954.
My favorite part was the boat ride because I could experience a bit of
immigrants' journey. My trip only lasted about 25 minutes but their journey
lasted about 2 weeks. I found it heart breaking that after the long trip some
people were denied and were sent back to their countries. Sometimes families
even had to be separated and were never seen together again.
After seeing the exhibitions and hearing the immigrants' perspectives
for the first time I actually realized how hard it must have been for the
newcomers. I would be scared to be denied or separated from my mom and dad.
Did you know that the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was 15-year-old Irish girl named Daisy Moore? That's just a joke she was really
Annie Moore.
It surprised me to hear that so many Americans came from around the
world. I find it interesting that in mind in 1907 there were 1,004,756 immigrants
processed through Ellis Island. This happened because there was a Russian
Revolution and beginning of political system changes in that part of Europe.
If you ask me the only thing I would change in the museum is to replace
the audio guide with the human tour guide like the one in the Lower East Side
walking trip. They didn't work too well and we got mixed up.
I travel a lot and personally I enjoy face-to-face interaction and like
to have a chance to ask questions.
In my opinion all people should visit Ellis Island at least once in
their life. I think so because most of us or our ancestors were immigrants and
me seeing these artifacts I can be more understanding to newcomers.”
Check more about reflective writing - definitions
and examples come from The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia:
