Suggestions for Using Journals in our Foundations Class





What is a Journal?

A place to practice personal expressive writing; an individual record of educational experience; a writing workshop; a technique to reflect upon experience to give it deeper meaning.

                    Diary-------------------------------Journal -----------------------Class Notebook
                    (“I”-subjective)                                (“I/it”)                                     (“it”-subjective)

What should I write?

--personal reactions to College 101 readings (one required each week), class, writings, students, teachers, UVM
--informal notes, jottings, clippings, scraps of information
--explorations of ideas, theories, concepts, problems, paper topics
--reviews of articles, movies, books, CD’s, DVD’s
--descriptions of events, places, people, objects
--records of your thought, feelings, moods, experiences
--whatever you want to explore or remember

What shouldn't I write?

--hurtful thoughts or strong negative criticism of others in our class are not welcome 
--whining or excessive complaining about this or any other UVM course is not appropriate
--do not post about drinking, drugs, or sex.

When should I write?

--at least two times a week
--early in the morning, late at night before bedtime
--when you have problems to solve, decisions to make, the need from clarity out of confusion
--when you need to practice or try something out

How should I write?

--however you feel like it, but legibly
--don’t worry about formal language conventions
--take risks and explore your own voice
--freely, expressively, openly

How do you measure Quality in Journals?

TA’s will review your journal, looking for:

1. Language Features:  personal, conversational, informal, emotional, experimental, candid.
2. Cognitive Activity:  observation, speculation, confirmation, doubt, questioning, self-awareness, connection, digression, dialogue, information, revision, problem posing and solving.
3. Formal Features:  frequency of entries, length of entries, self-sponsored entries, chronology.