Journal Writing

Posted by Tammy Andrew Aug 20, 2008

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to improve students’ writing skills. Whether formal report writing, technical writing or brainstorming I’ve found many students who don’t think that it matters as much if they are not in English class. I think the key lies somewhere within the thoughts of having more writing assignments in classes not traditionally associated with writing and using technology, such as Web 2.0, to encourage better writing skills.

A question from Lynne Myavec, a middle school principal, turned my thoughts in a new direction: using journals as a professional development activity for seasoned teachers. We as teachers can use journal writing, a tool for teaching students, to improve our own teaching. It can be self-reflective or collaborative. It can be in a notebook or a blog; kept to ourselves or shared in some way.

And, who knows, perhaps that journal could help spark some ideas to use in the classroom in order to improve the writing skills of students.