Entry #4 - Picturing Journal Writing In My Own Classroom
Who else loves journal writing? I know I do! But, my excitement about reading the journal genre may be a result of my own personal experience. Actually, I recently purchased a journal and personally, I use my journal to write down what is on my mind, similar to Tompkins' (2012) description of personal journals. Before writing in my own journal, I usually find a quiet space and then essentially, let all my thoughts out on paper. I find that when I write down the million things that are on my mind, it is easier for me to let go of some of my thoughts that are causing me stress; for me, I love the informal and personal use of journals.
But, as I write this, my head is becoming flooded with different ways I can envision myself using this type of genre writing in my classroom. Therefore, I figured I would use this blog similar to my own journal, writing down the process in which I would implement the journal genre in my own classroom. First, as a future teacher, I believe Tompkins' (2012) idea of quickwriting is a great way to support the introduction of journal writing; plus, this is a strategy I have seen used in the classroom. Specifically, when I was in a 3rd grade classroom, I observed the teacher provide students 5 minutes to write everything they know about the game "Sit on Ten" - this is a game that all students are familiar with. During these 5 minutes, the teacher encouraged students to write the whole time, "...letting their thoughts flow from their minds to their pens without focusing on mechanics or revision" (p. 126).
Since quickwriting allows students to focus on their thoughts, rather than writing conventions, I believe it would be a great way to introduce personal journals. As emphasized by Tompkins (2012), personal journals are informal and the students can choose the topic they write about (p. 109). In the classroom, I have seen teachers devote a specific time of the day to allow students to reflect in their personal journals. As it may come to no surprise, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a variety of challenges for both students and educators and as a result, anxiety in school has been at an all time high. For this reason, I love the idea of using personal journals to allow students to reflect on how they are feeling. As a future teacher, I can envision personal journals being used in the classroom as a resource for students to write down anything that comes to mind.
Additionally, as highlighted by Tompkins (2012), along with using this genre for personal writing, teachers can also utilize journals for having written dialogue conversations with their students. As a future teacher, I recognize the importance of building a classroom community and getting to know your students - this is something I will strive to do. For this reason, when I read Tompkins (2012) expert of dialogue journals, I couldn't help but envision myself using this type of journal writing in my future classroom. Tompkins (2012) describes dialogue journals as a conversation between the teacher and students and "their interchange is built on mutual trust and respect" (p. 112). I believe dialogue journals are a great way to build teacher-student relationships.
But, as I sit here writing, I notice many questions are flooding my mind about how to incorporate dialogue journals in the classroom. Are dialogue journals usually used at the beginning of the year? Or, can they be utilized throughout the whole school year? Should students engage in dialogue journals daily? I would love to learn more about how teachers implement dialogue journals in their classroom.
However, not only are personal and dialogue journals a resource for encouraging reflective writing and building teacher-student relationships, but they also are a great way to build students fluency. In the classroom, I can picture myself assessing students growth through Tompkins (2012) concept of checklist. Although Tompkins (2012) discusses checklists as an assessment tool for the letter genre, I can envision this being used as part of the journal genre, too. For example, under dialogue writing, Tompkins (2012) asks four questions, "Are students' entires getting longer? Are students responding to the teachers questions? Are students asking questions? Are students using more conventional spelling, punctuation, and capitalization in their entries?" (p. 130). In my classroom, I can imagine these questions being turned into a checklist to support students journal writing and also, a way for me to assess their work. As a future teacher, I am excited to continue exploring the multi-purposes of journal writing and finding additional resources that will support me in implementing this genre into my own classroom.
I love the way you embraced the stance of the writer in journal writing as you composed this entry. As you reflected on the readings there were a number of key ideas that you reviewed for yourself as well as posed questions. As you continue to write these open entries, I would encourage you to keep this stance. There may be times when you want to more fully explore a single idea or concept that Tompkins offers. These entries can also be a place where you try and write yourself into clarity. For example, in this entry noted, that you would want to use dialogue journals. What can you "see" this would look like? How many times a week would you ask your students to respond? Again, I'm not saying you have to follow this kind of train of "envisioning" but you are welcome to play with ideas/possibilities in these entries.
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