Just 2,000 words! Online high school journals rock.

Snap!! Did you read my diary?! (How to respond to online journals...)

      Our ELA students are likely doing some sort of writing on the regular for our various classes. Right now, my freshmen are in the midst of an official writing unit (today we worked on introductions on their argument of judgement essays--you've been there). My AP Lang kids write constantly; right now, I have just introduced the extended definition essay (see another post on the blog for an assignment sheet). 

The students will all write plenty of "formal" finished products, so why bother with journals?

I want all those writers to loosen up! I want them to relax, and just plunk away, a kind of stream of consciousness vibe taking over the space. During the journaling earlier this week,  I played winter coffee shop music (the screen  has a burning fireplace and snow falls outside the giant windows). I give them easy prompts:write about the past spring break, write about someone who influenced you (or someone who irritates you), write about whatever is on your mind, give me 100 more words on whether you identify as an introvert, an extrovert, or a narcissist? Off they go, typing away to earn their 25 points over the next few weeks. 

ENGLISH 9: I set the word-count bar a bit lower for freshmen: 1500 words +2 pts. extra credit for anyone who writes 2000. Each time we write I push them to 100-300 words, but I tell them even 75 will work. I warn them that some people near them may be clicking away super fast, but that's ok--some people just don't write as lickity split as others. Then, when I ask the general question of how many words they just wrote, they are excited to tell me: "I got 130," or some over-achiever, "I got over 350."  Pretty good for 15-20  minutes. I'm not sure they liked the soft jazz--with freshmen, the ambience may be largely for me. 

AP LANG: Their word count is 2000 with the +500 extra for 2 pts. extra credit. They really liked the music and we turned off the lights and just had some late afternoon clouded light filtering through the big windows. Clickity, Clickity, Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap. If the music is low enough I can hear them tapping those keys. I had them write to me about the journaling experience and I got comments like "peaceful," "the twenty minutes flew by," and "I've had so many thoughts crowding my head lately it was nice to have somewhere to put them." I did get a comment that said the music was a little too loud for her, and two kids felt fifteen minutes would be plenty.  But I felt overall they were all positive about the experience. And they all wrote.

REALITY OF JOURNALS: Can we actually respond to them?  Can I read five sections of 2,000 word journals and their formal essays? I can't, but I don't want to ditch the free writing. It's important.

How do I measure their progress or know what they've written? 

A. When they are completed, I do a quick word count and give points accordingly.

B. I tell them to highlight two of their entries in yellow for me to respond to.

C. I tell them if they write something personal or that they want me to read right away, that they need to let me know that day; otherwise, I won't see it until they turn in their journal in three weeks. 

D. Legally, if a student writes something dangerous or disturbing in a journal for our class, we would be held accountable. I try to skim over the unmarked journal entries for anything alarming. Otherwise, I only read and respond to one or two.  I really should only do one.

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Pencil and paper?

Some teachers who have kids journal prefer the pen and paper method. I'm sure there are some students who would prefer that, too. I've heard of teachers buying enough cheap composition books at Walmart before school starts and having kids stash their journals somewhere in the room. That's great! For me, it is just preference. The responding would be tougher for me: I don't want to misplace someone's journal! I don't want to have "in my possession" a bunch of journal entries I haven't (and won't have) the time to read. I don't like to try to decipher kids' handwriting. Kids might feel unsafe about the privacy of their writing. Like many schools, we have Chromebooks--it's easy peasy. 

This is not an a super new idea---having kids do journals; there are years I skip it. However, since I figured out how to do a pretty lengthy running journal that they only hand in at the end with 1-2 entries for me to read,  I have found it manageable! It's also a good excuse for me to write during the school day. :)