Burke: 180-202

Journals "provide students with a space where they can take risks; think differently; and, at times, write more honestly than they could if their thinking were public" (181). I couldn't agree more with Burke here. I don' t know why, but I had students write in journals for my first three years of teaching, and since then I quite the requirement. Students were very good about writing in their journals--they liked writing in their journals, and I think this is because of the reasons Burke lists above. Without the journal, in many cases, students would not be doing much writing. My experience with it, though, was that students enjoyed it, and therefore, they didn't see the experience as homework. On collection day, I would tell students they had to submit their journal in one of two piles. The first pile was the pile I would read, and the other pile meant I would only look to see that they completed their journals. Most students put their journal in the read pile. This was very meaningful for students and me, but the fact that there were so many in this pile probably had something to do with the fact that I quit having student complete them; it took a lot of time to read and comment. So much of what I was reading required more than just a sentence or two comment, too. The pros far outweighed the cons, and therefore I should definitely come back to them.

The Six Traits Analytical Writing Rubric:

I don't get how this fits in with all the discussion about journals. The idea of the journal is that it provides students with a place to write freely, without worry about criticism or critique. I don't see how the rubric fits in.

Mandated Reporting: On page 187, Burke talks about how he wants his students to use the journal as their outlet to the world. "Be willing to be honest in your thinking or emotions when you write." I, too, have come across incidents in the journal that needed to be reported. I'm very clear with students that I am required by law to report anything related to physical or mental abuse, or drug or alcohol abuse. Usually students are well aware of this when they write, and when they do post things like this, they are either looking for help, or other people, like counselors already know what's going on.

What to write:

This section got me thinking about writing prompts I provide for students. I, like Burke, have my students write everyday, at the beginning of the hour, or, right after independent reading. I usually try to post a prompt that is relative to the lives of my students to get them thinking about some of the themes for the day's lesson. A lot of the time, what I post is a bit of a stretch, though. I think if I took a different approach, and gave them more freedom in what to write about, or provided them with more variety, students would find it more meaningful. Burke talks about introducing intriguing current events to students and having them respond to that. He also mentions putting a picture on the board, a poem, or a word, and having them respond to one of those. The idea should be that students are writing. If they're given more freedom, they'll be more likely to write more, which means their writing skills are growing. Some ways for students to use their journals:

• Make lists (of words, ideas, characters)
• Draw (images, scenes, clusters)
• Include quotes (from the radio, books, friends)
• Write poems
• Write sketches (from life, art, books)
• Incorporate lyrics (their own, or others)
• Ask questions (of themselves, the teacher, characters)
• Make observations (about life, people, books)

Teachers should model journaling (190). I know this is best practice, but with 40 students in my classroom, in most cases, it's just not going to happen.

See page 99 for prompts to help students get their pens moving.

Reader Response: Burke doesn't exactly lay out what this is, but my understanding is that on one side of a journal/piece of paper, the students writes a quote, or an important piece of information from something being read in class. On the other side, the student writes a response to it. Never mind--this is the double entry journal, which I guess is a form of reader response. Anyway, Burke says, "Unfortunately, many kids burn out on this methoed when it is the habitual practicce of their teacher; teachers need to find ways to mix the exercise up a bit" (194). I couldn't agree with him more. I know many teachers love to giver their students packets to answer while they're reading a piece of lit. Students hate packets! I have found that doing something like a double entry journal is much more meaningful for them. However, like Burke says, you need variety. Therefore, switch up the method of reader response.

Reader Response Writing Options: See pag194-197

I guess I can see how you can use all these different methods of teaching to tie in the six traits, but Burke isn't very specific about how that would be done. It seems as though I need to make the connection on my own, which is fine, I guess. This section was practical, in the sense that there are many ideas and options in here to try out with students.