Journaling is to formal writing what sitting in your pjs sipping a cuppa is to being formally dressed in company sipping a cuppa.<\/p>\n
Journaling is getting your thoughts down on paper, whatever form they might take, whatever sense or lack of sense they might make.<\/p>\n
Some classical teachers may think of journaling for school as forming bad habits. To me, journaling is the student’s chance to process in writing what he or she has just read.<\/p>\n
I use journaling in science and math classes as a feedback mechanism. They read before class because they know there will be a quiz first thing every Monday morning. I offer journaling as a for credit activity where they have to write a paragraph or two explaining what they read, and also explaining what they did not quite grasp about what they read. I sneak a peek at their journal (they know I will), and I get a chance to see where some of them are stuck. <\/p>\n
Journaling like that is therapeutic, as it gets the student’s thoughts down on ‘paper’ (in this case electronically on the course shell in his or her student account). It allows the student to process his thoughts, express in writing what he or she thought about what was read, as well as vent any anger or frustration at the assignment, the class, me (the instructor), or anything else he or she chooses to say in the journal. <\/p>\n
My minimum criteria for journaling are proper capitalization and spelling as well as basic punctuation. (It is torture for me to read a whole passage with no caps and no punctuation). Other than that I do not argue with the writing, I simply read it, and leave a kindly comment at the end, to let them know I read it, and to let them know I care about what I read.<\/p>\n
Journaling is also an excellent mechanism for feedback. I encourage students to process their feelings about the class in an ancillary journaling paragraph at the end of their weekly entries. This is where they can express where they struggled with an assignment, or where they may be lost, or what they like or do not like about the class. That gives them a chance to vent, and it gives me a chance to revisit some of my practices in the class, potentially with an eye towards change, and sometimes just to affirm that ‘this pain is good for them’.<\/p>\n
Another suggestion for journaling –not so much for homeschoolers, but for coops and schools– at the end of every math class, I have all students take out a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. In the left column at the top, they write ‘Got it’. In the right column at the top, they write ‘Did not get it’. The last 3 minutes of class, they write in those two columns what they did and did not get, and as they leave my classroom, they drop their slips on my desk. This is an excellent reflective process for the students, and it is an excellent tool for me to evaluate what material I must cover again next week. If it is more than half the class that struggle, I go over the material again. If it is fewer, I often write up a short example on paper, scan it, and post it on the course website. Then I send out an announcement that I put an example up on the web for those who want to take a second look at the material. At other times I post a video from Youtube that covers the material, or I record my own video for them to look at.<\/p>\n
Get them writing! Get them writing about the material they need to process! Get them in tune, emotioanlly, with your class! Reap the benefits from their thoughts! And best of all, with your comments at the end of the journal entry, let them know that you care and that they are heard \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
I recommend this blog post about Journaling Turning Trauma into Story from Scientopia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Journaling is to formal writing what sitting in your pjs sipping a cuppa is to being formally dressed in company sipping a cuppa. Journaling is getting your thoughts down on paper, whatever form they might take, whatever sense or lack … Continue reading