While listening to Kelly Ramsey’s thoughtful response to a ROW Initiative offering on Rethinking Professional Learning, I noticed more than once that she referred to her journal writing. Kelly is such a smart “What if….?” thinker, and I pursued a conversation with her about the value of journal writing for learning.

Margie: I am aware that people usually think of professional learning in terms of taking classes, webinars, or perhaps having a mentor. Journal writing is often used for a personal outpouring of feelings, logging information, or perhaps as a place for reflection. But you work with a reimagined notion of these two learning vehicles.

Kelly: In thinking about my professional learning over three decades, I learned about how my personal life and professional life are one in the same. All of who I am has been embodied through my human experiences as a learner and pioneer, discovering new ways of bringing our whole self to the path we take. What if we created a new definition of reflective journaling as the process of capturing our lives in periods of time and revisiting our thoughts through the lens of discovery, as a reflective practitioner?