Journal Entries vs Weekly Writing Assignments: Creating Safe Places to Explore Diverse and/or Difficult Topics

by Jessica Allee

Journal Entries vs Weekly Writing Assignments: Creating Safe Spaces to Explore Diverse and/or Difficult Topics

Purpose: Provide a safe place for discussing difficult topics

Writing Activities: I learned my first semester of teaching that students often feel overwhelmed by the amount of writing that is required of them in English Literature and composition courses.  I also discovered that some assignments are best graded on participation rather than composition merit. To reduce stress and anxiety of weekly writing and encourage my students to think more creatively and honestly, I incorporated journal entries into the curriculum my second semester teaching. I still had my students participate in the same number of activities as the prior semester; however, half of the writing activities were journal entries, and the other half were what I termed “weekly writing assignments.”

Grading Differences Between Weekly Writing Assignments and Journal Entries: Journal entry grades were based on participation, and any journal entries not completed by the end of the semester received 10-point deductions from students’ total points earned in the class. Weekly writing assignments were graded on several factors including following instructions, the depth and breadth of how students answered the writing prompt or questions, punctuation and grammar, and if they turned it in on time (beginning of the next week.) Weekly writing assignments were typically associated with portions of a larger writing assignment and often included developing outlines for major assignments, revising portions of a larger assignment, or trying their hand at writing about a new concept introduced that week.

Advantages: Journal entries allowed me to ask students questions about topics that are sometimes sensitive in nature, such as diverse reading topics. For instance, after teaching my students how to write an abstract, I had my students read a report about Asian discrimination in the United States. For their journal entry, I asked them to do three things: 1) Write a sentence about something that should have been included in the abstract that was not, 2) describe “othering”, and 3) tell a story of a time when they experienced othering or when they were excluded from participating with a group.

Results: Journal entries allowed my students to focus on content rather than punctuation, grammar, and other grading criteria that sometimes stifles creativity and honest answers. Furthermore, these journal entries helped me, as their instructor, get to know my students better, to be able to understand them personally, and know how to help them academically. I was then able to create further discourse in the class that built off of diverse readings or directed me away from topics that may have been too sensitive for some of my students to discuss. Furthermore, I provided comments on journal entries. In doing so I was able to establish rapport with my students that helped them feel they had a safe place to discuss difficult topics and approach me with various questions.