Reading/Writing Entry 3

Blog Entry #3

Journal Writing

          I love journals.  I use them personally, professionally, and in my classes.  Before reading the text on journals in Tompkins, I had only thought there were only one or two types of journals and only a few activities that could be introduced to students to help aid in their learning.  But as I read, I not only thought of how my students could benefit from journal writing, but how I, myself, could use journal writing to aid my own learning.

          For example, I often have a hard time gauging my learning after reading narrative text.  I usually write about whether I simply liked the text or not or I may write about other meaningful items I encountered during reading.  Tompkins provides a number of prompts on page 99 that would help out my journal writing after narrative texts.  My favorite prompt from those on the list is, “how does this story make you feel.”  I don’t get to read much for pleasure these days, but even when I do, I rarely ask myself how I feel after reading something.  I usually concentrate on the things that I have learned or questions I may still have, but very rarely do I check in with my feelings.  As a student, I think that writing about emotions that one feels after reading, can be stressful, because you always know that a teacher is going to read it.  But in my own personal journal, I can be free to write about the emotions that were brought out by the text.  Engaging narrative texts should bring emotions out in people.  Journal writing is a good way for me and for my students to check in with our feelings. 

          There is a flip side to allowing students to journal about feelings.  Tompkins says that “sometimes teachers learn details about children’s family life that they may not know how to deal with” (Tompkins, 2008, pg.104).  I never considered this issue until I read about it.  I am one of those teachers that would be really uncomfortable in reading something related to the safety of my students.  As a teacher, I have a responsibility to tell someone about a possible issue, but as a human being, I would feel very uncomfortable in sharing my student’s private journal with a third party.  That sends the message that they can’t trust me with personal information.  Some student’s may include such personal items in their journals as a cry for help, others for attention, and still others just want someone to listen.  It will be hard to decipher which voice needs what.

References

Tompkins, G.E. (2008),  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product (5^th ed.).

          Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.