Journal Writing Across the Curriculum

Journal Writing In The Curriculum

Our ancestors have been journaling and recording events that helped them shape the human civilization as it is now . Together with the progress we have taken , the forms of journal writing have also taken diversifications . From the personal journals of people like Anne Frank to the math and science journals of students across the globe journaling has really come a long way

Journal writing inside the classrooms is a tool in learning that encourages students to learn by writing what they observe , what keeps their interest

, and how they link new information to the knowledge already stored in their minds (Instructional Strategies Online , 2004

This form of instructional strategy usually involves the interest of the students , making it more personalized and exciting for the part of the students . This makes them want for a personal and active engagement with their studies . This also provides them a venue in writing without the fear often connected with being wrong in grammar and spelling minds (Instructional Strategies Online , 2004 . On the other hand , this provides a way wherein teachers could learn something new by reading the insights written by his students . In this manner , learning is rendered in two ways , which is very helpful and healthy in terms of keeping a good relationship and rapport inside the classroom

One of the kinds of journal used in classrooms is in the form of written dialogues . The teacher reaches out to his students by commenting to what they have written in their journals . Thinking that this is a raw product of the minds of his students , the teacher does not take note of the number of wrong punctuation marks or spelling . This maintains the good bonding between the two parties , aside from the usual interaction during discussions

Journal writing also makes available a setting for the thoughts running on the minds of the students after reading a certain article or a book With this , the teacher could trace what his students have been reading By asking his students to write a critique or a simple commentary on a chapter of a book , he could keep himself updated on the progress of his students

Teachers could also get unexpected benefits from journaling especially in mathematics (Hopkins , 1999 . The journals give them a bird 's eye view of the problems of his students regarding the . By encouraging them to write what they have not understood after each lesson , the teacher provides a better way for the students to tell what concept has been giving them a headache , something that they could not raise during class hours because of shame or uneasiness of questioning while the discussion is going on

Journals in science could also give a better venue for the students to learn and examine their own observations to a particular experiment . The students could write about their ideas , observations and inferences about every experiment in their subjects . They could question how they arrived at the product if the teacher failed...