So much of what my students and I do either stems from our journals or revolves around using them. It's a seemingly small thing with an enormous impact. But here's the catch to journaling- it has to be every school day. And I mean every school day.
My classes and I have finally reached the tipping point with our journals. It took work. It didn't start out as everyday. We did it every day of the week before Christmas break. We have done it every single day in January. It hit about this time last year as well.
It's just not the same if we do it almost every day. It really does have to be every day. If we only journal four out of five days in the week, it's still only something we sometimes do. It's 80% of the time. But journaling everyday turns it into just something we do. Don't miss that. It's huge.
Journaling the lifeblood of our classroom. It's one of those things that must be done everyday to get the most impact. That's what it takes for journaling to become a habit- daily writing. That's exactly what I want for my students. I want writing to be a habit.
It's just something we do. Everyday. Without fail.
It is hard to make that commitment to writing. It is hard to remember that it is not a filler activity. It is hard to convince kids it's worthwhile. But it is worthwhile. In my high school classes I give topics to write about, always with the understanding that if you have something else you want to write about, you have the right to do so. The topics are only a kickstarter for thinking. My kids start with the topics, but as the year goes on, they write on their own more and more. We are always a "work in progress".
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in how you use journaling. You might have mentioned this elsewhere. I'm just stumbling across your blog.
ReplyDeleteDo you give your students prompts, or do they freewrite? I teach 11th graders, and I'm afraid if they didn't always have a "jumping off" point, they would write the same things every day.
HI Justin, just found your blog via #4thchat and twitter, liked your message there and wanted to read more. I too am curious as to what your students are writing about, is it a reflection or prompts from you? We do something similar in terms of gathering all our thinking in a journal, making connecctions, etc. I would love to hear more, adding your blog to my favorites. ~Ann
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