Activity 2.2

Having looked at the examples try drawing your own timeline.

The actual timeframe will be up to you – it can include your whole life since childhood, or you might want to focus on recent study or work experience or look at your experience of life as a carer.

Go to Activity 2.2 in your Reflection Log. Once you have completed your activity, make sure you save the document again. Or you can use this document [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   to plot your timeline, but don’t forget to save it.

You may have other ways of representing your timeline. What is important in this activity is the information or understanding from your experience that is brought to mind. So, if you prefer, you can simply make a list of the high points and low points of the period of your life and reflect on these.

You could also use the drawing tools available in most word processing programmes to produce your timeline. If you’d like to look at further IT options, you can use a free online software programme (for example, bubbl.us) to create images like the ones included in this course. Note that although bubbl.us is free, users are required to sign for an account. If you choose to use bubbl.us, click on Learn more to see how to get started. (Bubbl.us is not an Open University website and the OU is not responsible for third party websites such as this or the information you choose to share with them.)

If you prefer not to use bubbl.us, or any other online tool, don’t worry – pen and paper will do just as well!

Remember, it’s up to you what you want to include and the timeframe you want to focus on – your whole life, or a specific period. Try to put low points lower down the page and high points above them, just as Lesley and Scott have done, but if your life has fewer ups and downs then just list them side by side. You do not need to include anything that you want to keep private.

If you are working in a group, or with a mentor, you might want to share and discuss your timeline in whatever format you’ve created it.