Journal Methods

Every teacher has a different method. I thought I'd write about the method I've developed and that works:

I have my students write in a journal at least once a week. I give them a topic. Today, I gave them three possible topics. They do not have to stick to the topic. They can ramble. They can write about anything. I tell them that they're being graded purely on word count.

Here's how I break it down:
Less than 40 words = N.C. (no credit)
41-59 words = C
60-79 words = B
81-99 words = A
100 + words = A+

This sounds time consuming, but most of my students fall in the A/A+ range. I can tell when I collect their papers who has an A+ and who probably has a B.

I also noticed that giving more than one topic is useful. Often, they don't want to write about the one topic that I presented, but they don't know what else to write about. Today, I got a lot of A+ journals, and I think that providing more than one topic may have helped. There was much less groaning about not knowing what to write about and a lot more writing.

Now that my Smart Board is working, I also write with them. I had a howl in one class writing: "They're reading my thoughts! They can see inside of my brain! Why are they doing this to me? I can hear their little voices echoing everything I think? I can't even spell anymore. What's going on?" They read aloud as I typed and we all laughed. And then they settled down amazingly well to write their own journal.