Training teachers as reflective practitioners is an important element in many teacher education programs. Teacher education literature indicates that journal writing is an approach that fosters reflection, and is an effective source of dialogue between student and teacher. This document reports on an action research study on the use of journals in the development of reflective practitioners by investigating both student and teacher comments. The participants, 15 students enrolled in an "Approaches to Teaching" course, were required to keep a reflective dialogue journal as a class assignment. Additional data were gathered from sources such as interviews, questionnaires, and class lesson plans and notes. Analysis of the data identified six reflective writing modes for students: descriptive/narrative, affective, metacognitive, meta-affective, connective/extensive, and proflective writing. Teacher comments were characterized as affirming, think more or nudging, personal connection, give information, and little/no reaction. While the preservice teachers' journals displayed entries in all six modes, the descriptive/narrative and affective modes were used most frequently. These pre-reflective modes served as a foundation for developing the other four modes. In the metacognitive and meta-affective modes of writing, students began to move beyond description to recognition of their own understanding, emotions, and beliefs, and finally to substantive reflection in the connective/extensive and proflective modes. The teacher responded with a type of comment appropriate to the students' journal entry. (Contains 59 references.) (ND)