Journals in a Facing History Classroom

Students are entitled to know how you plan on reading their journals. Will you read everything they write? If they want to keep something private, is this possible? If so, how do students indicate that they do not want you to read something? Will their journals be graded? If so, by what criteria? (See more on grading journals below.) For teachers at most schools, it can be impossible to read everything students write in their journals; there is just not enough time in the day. For this reason, some teachers decide that they will collect students' journals once a week and only read a page or two—sometimes a page the student selects and sometimes a page selected by the teacher. Other teachers may never collect students' journals but might glance at them during class time or might ask students to incorporate quotes and ideas from their journals into collected assignments. You can set limits on the degree to which you have access to students' journals. Many teachers establish a rule that if students wish to keep information in their journals private, they should fold the page over or remove the page entirely.

It is easy for students to confuse a class journal with a diary or blog because these formats allow for open-ended writing. Teachers should clarify how the audience and purpose for this writing is distinct from the audience and purpose for writing in a personal diary. In most classrooms, the audience for journal writing is the author, the teacher, and, at times, peers. At Facing History, we believe that the purpose of journal writing is to provide a space where students can connect their personal experiences and opinions to the concepts and events they are studying in the classroom. Therefore, some material that is appropriate to include in personal diaries may not be appropriate to include in class journals. To avoid uncomfortable situations, many teachers find it helpful to clarify topics that are not suitable material for journal entries. Also, as mandatory reporters in most school districts, teachers should explain that they are required to take certain steps, such as informing a school official, if students reveal information about possible harm to themselves or another student. Students should be made aware of these rules, as well as other guidelines you might have about appropriate journal writing content.

Many students admit that they are less likely to share their true thoughts or express questions when they are worried about a grade based on getting the "right" answer or using proper grammar or spelling. We suggest that if you choose to grade students' journals, which many teachers decide to do, you base these grades on criteria such as effort, thoughtfulness, completion, creativity, curiosity, and making connections between the past and the present. There are many others ways to provide students with feedback on their journals, such as by writing comments or asking questions. Students can even evaluate their own journals for evidence of intellectual and moral growth. For example, you might have students look through their journals to find evidence of their ability to ask questions or to make connections between what was happening in Nazi Germany and an event from their own life.

Students learn and communicate best in different ways. The journal is an appropriate space to respect different learning styles. Some students may wish to sketch their ideas, for example, rather than record thoughts in words. Other students may feel most comfortable responding in concept webs and lists, as opposed to prose. When you introduce the journal to students, you might brainstorm different ways that they might use it to express their thoughts.

Throughout a unit, students both encounter new vocabulary and develop a more sophisticated understanding of concepts that might already be familiar to them. Journals can be used as a place to help students build their vocabulary through the construction of "working definitions." The phrase "working definition" implies that our understanding of concepts evolves as we are confronted with new information and experiences. Students' definitions of words such as "identity" or "belonging" should be richer at the end of the unit than they are on day one. We suggest that you use the journal, or perhaps a special section of the journal, as a space where students can record, review, and refine their definitions of important terms referred to in this unit.

Students are often best able to express themselves when they believe that their journal is a private space. We suggest that information in students' journals never be publicly shared without the consent of the writer. At the same time, we encourage you to provide multiple opportunities for students to voluntarily share ideas and questions they have recorded in their journals. Some students may feel more comfortable reading directly from their journals than speaking "off the cuff" in class discussions.

Once you settle on the norms and expectations for journal writing in your class, there are many possible ways that you can have students record ideas in their journals.  Here are some examples:

• Teacher-selected prompts: One of the most common ways that teachers use journals is by asking students to respond to a particular prompt.  This writing often prepares students to participate in a class activity, helps students make connections between the themes of a lesson and their own lives, or provides an opportunity for students to make meaning of ideas in a reading or film.  In every lesson, you will find suggested prompts for journal writing. 
• Dual-entry format: Students draw a line down the center of the journal page or fold the page in half.  They write the factual notes ("What the text says" or "What the historians say") on one side and on the other side their feelings about the notes ("Reactions").
• "Lifted line" responses:  One way to have students respond to what they have read is to ask them to "lift a line" - select a particular quotation that strikes them-and then answer questions such as, "What is interesting about this quotation? What ideas does it make you think about? What questions does this line raise for you?"
• Brainstorming: The journal is an appropriate place where students can freely list ideas related to a specific word or question.  To activate prior knowledge before students learn new material, you might ask students to brainstorm everything they know about a concept or an event. As a strategy for reviewing material, you might ask students to brainstorm ideas they remember about a topic. Moreover, as a pre-writing exercise, students can brainstorm ways of responding to an essay prompt.
• Freewriting: Freewriting is open, no-format writing. Freewriting can be an especially effective strategy when you want to help students process particularly sensitive or provocative material.  Some students respond extremely well to freewriting while other students benefit from more structure, even if that means a loosely-framed prompt such as, "What are you thinking about after watching/reading/hearing this material? What does this text remind you of?"
• Creative writing:  Many students enjoy writing poems or short stories that incorporates the themes addressed in a particular lesson.  To stimulate their work, some students benefit from ideas that structure their writing, such as a specific poem format or an opening line for a story (examples: Once upon a time, I could not believe my eyes when my friend came running down the street, yelling...).
• Drawings, charts and webs: Students do not have to express their ideas in words. At appropriate times, encourage students to draw their feelings or thoughts. They can also use symbols, concept maps, Venn diagrams and other charts to record information.
• Note-taking: To help students retain new information, they can record notes in their journals. Notes could be taken in various formats-such as lists, concept maps, or in graphic organizers.
• Vocabulary:  Students can use their journals as a place to keep their working definitions of terms, noting how those definitions change as they go deeper into the resources.  The back section of their journals could be used as a glossary-the place that students record definitions and where they can turn to review and revise their definitions as these terms come up throughout the unit.
• K-W-L charts:  To keep track of their learning in this unit, students can keep a K-W-L chart in their journals.  In this three column chart, the first column "K" represents what students already know about a topic.  The second column, "W," represents what they want to know. And, "L," the third column, is where they record what they have learned. 
• Interviews:  From time to time you might ask students to interview classmates, family, or community members about particular themes or questions. Students can record data from their interviews in their journals.
• Sharing:  While there will be times when some students will not want to publicly share thoughts form their journals, most of the time students are eager to have the opportunity to select something from their journals to share with a small group or the larger class.  There may be times when you let students know in advance that what they wrote will be shared with the class. A pass-around is an exercise where journals are "passed around" from one student to the next. Students read the page that is opened (and only that page!) and then write connections they see in their own lives, current events, or other moments in history.