Introductory Journal Prompt

Reflecting on Our Progress as a Learning Community...
 
So far I think the class is going well.  I think the students are beginning to trust themselves as readers and writers and are becoming more aware of their own reading and writing processes.    Last week's class certainly gave them some new insights into their digital reading and writing processes. 

As we continue on, I do hope they are continually take the time to think about the language they want to use in their own classrooms to describe and illustrate “what a good reader and writer does.”    It is so important that students recognize they do not have to all use the same writing strategies as they write or the exact same reading strategies at the exact same time as other readers.  

I often worry when teachers say “I always have students use a graphic organizer as a way to brainstorm ideas.”   Sometimes simply talking it out with a friend is more beneficial than creating a mindmap. 

Hopefully in the writing groups we establish this afternoon, the students will be able to share their preferred writing processes strategies and will be able to develop ways to use each other as guides as they write.

Of course, I also hope that through this presentation on Journals they also develop an appreciation for the powerful ways personal writing can change one's understanding of the world and appreciation for what is read and written.