Engaging Readers and Writers: Journal Are Key To Personalizing Learning

 

Tonight I am delivering my workshop on Teaching the Journal Genre.   I am really excited about having this opportunity.   

In my own life, I have used journal writing as a way to engage in personal and reflective thinking.  Journaling has also given me space to generate new ideas -- to "write myself into clarity." 
  
I can still remember the first diary I got when I was about eight years old.  It was white leather and it had a lock with a very small key that I kept in my bank-safe (which was also where I kept all my baby-sitting money.  In this journal I recorded my daily activities, like where I road my bike, what books I got at the library, and what fun I had with friends or my cousin on the weekends.

I can also say that one of the reasons why I wanted us to read Tompkins' (2012) sixth edition rather than seventh edition (2017) is because in the sixth edition, Tompkins still identifies journal writing as it's own genre with unique elements of text structure and text features.    In the seventh edition, she only discusses journal writing as a tool for learning about other content.      

Even though I would agree that writing in the form of journaling is an EXCELLENT tool to use writing-to-learn, I also believe it's helpful for practicing teachers to recognize the different ways journaling is separate from other kinds of narrative or nonfiction writing.    

Also, one of the articles that I reference in my annotated bibliography focuses on the power of using blogs (a digital journal form) for learning about the writing process as well as being a tool for learning.  

 
I look forward to having a great conversation with everyone today and that the class walks away, not only with new understanding, but with a strategy or a mentor text they know they will be able to use with their (future) students.