Have you used journals in your classroom – either handwritten or on-screen?
‘Journals are a wonderful conduit for interactions between teacher and student facilitating conversation (conferences) about confusions and concerns the student may have, or confirming that the student is on the right track. [Some learning] can be difficult for students. Journals reveal this and allow for timely intervention, where guidance and perhaps redirection help children to successfully continue the task at hand. I am reminded of Vygotsky’s (1978) discussion of accomplishing tasks alongside a more experienced person.
Journals are not used for assessment, but more as a way of building a connection between the teacher and student. A ‘dear journal’ entry may reveal that a student is having some difficulty searching for material on the web, [or has learned something new, or is excited about a story or is pleased about a piece of writing just completed and so on].
I refrain from writing in student’s journals, preferring to listen, converse and model on small whiteboards, mainly using the question I wonder, which allows the student to suggest a solution. In some instances I may use a sticky note for the response’.
This thought is from Thinkers and Performers, Bringing critical Thinking Alive (Hawker and Brownlow) pages 130,131.
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