Our instructors review hundreds of student journals each quarter. The traders who improve share four fields on every setup, even losers.
Field 1: Average type and length
Write 'SMA 20 daily' or 'EMA 20 / 4H' — not just 'MA.' Ambiguity makes later review useless.
Field 2: Slope descriptor
Choose from rising, flat, or falling, and note for how many bars that descriptor has held.
Field 3: Invalidation price
State the close that would prove your average thesis wrong. If you cannot name it, you are not ready to size the position.
Field 4: Post-trade average behaviour
One week after exit, log whether price respected the same average on the way out. This closes the feedback loop.
These fields fit on half a page. That brevity is intentional — you are more likely to complete them.