(Made with Canva)"Keep a diary and someday it will keep you."
Attributed to Mae West, this quote reminds me of the important place of journaling in my life. I write when I am feeling down, when I am struggling with a problem, and when thoughts come and I just need to capture them before they escape. Journaling has helped me process my emotions, but it has also cultivated my writing skills. What is the place of journaling in learning?
There are lots of benefits to writing in a journal and here I want to mention two that are particularly relevant in the teaching and learning context. Writing regularly in a journal improves (1) writing ability and (2) mental health.
Writing skills
Like any skill, writing improves with practice. The more you write the better you become. This is true for everyone: children, language learners, and career writers. Like an exercise routine trains your body, writing in a journal trains your writing muscle. Furthermore, since a journal is a private space, it can help you take risks and try new things without the pressure of writing for someone else. This can set your creativity loose as you are not limited to a blog topic or a certain style.
A journal doesn't need to be an account of daily events. The graphic below contains some of the things in my journal and may provide inspiration.
A journal (or a writer's notebook, if you prefer) can become a source of writing material when you're not sure what to write. A couple of examples from my own experience:
- Some thoughts at the end of a hard day became the seed of a blog post
- A funny phrase became the beginning of a short story
You don't need to face a blank page when you've got a journal rich with material.
A helpful journaling tip comes from a fellow participant in a fiction writing course I am currently taking.
When I don't know how to move forward with my writing I write ABOUT my writing and it's often the thing that gets me back into the writing mode.
You can write about the difficulty of writing or about a plot that doesn't come together or an essay that you're stuck in. Lead by example and show students the possibilities of journaling for improving their writing. Share your own experience with them. Ask students to set their own journaling challenge (for example, "I'll write one thing in my journal every day") and then discuss the results after 2 or 3 weeks.
Mental health
Writing in a journal can also have significant positive effects on the journal writer's mental health. There are studies that point to decreases in stress, anxiety, minor depression and increases in self-awareness and sense of well-being. Mental health has become a pertinent topic in education, even more so when isolation is a factor. I've seen students begin talking more about mental illness and sharing their own struggles increasingly over the past few years.
Encourage students to write through their emotions, perhaps using prompts like these:
- What am I feeling right now? What could be causing those emotions?
- What would I tell a friend who is feeling this way?
- How have I grown over the past year?
- Write 5 things that make you feel happy
- Write a letter to one of your fears
- Write a story with a character who has the same anxiety/depression/struggles you have - how do they handle it?
Find more prompts here and here.
One specific kind of journal that also encourages rapport between teachers and students is the Dialogue Journal which is a notebook passed periodically between teacher and student where an ongoing dialogue builds up through writing. Of course, this kind of journal does not have the same level of privacy as a personal journal.
Whatever way you do it, journaling has the potential to improve writing and provide relief from mental struggles. Why not try journaling if you aren't currently writing one? And inspire your students to do the same!
- Do you journal? How about your students?
- What has been your experience?
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