Journals and Quick Writing In Math

Getting many students to write can be quite difficult.  I spend time asking my students to justify their answers so they can work on improving their reading and writing skills.  One way to increase reading and writing is via the use of journals or learning logs.

Journals or learning logs help students clarify their thinking in much the same way as talking about it with others.  It also helps students improve their communications by giving them an opportunity to organize their thoughts and utilize mathematical notations within their communications.  Furthermore, the journals offer an opportunity to assess their understanding.

Journaling allows students to record their discoveries, reflect on new concepts and ideas, and provides a place to record any questions or concerns they have about their learning.  Other possibilities for journal questions include things like asking which part of the homework was challenging, or what two things would you like to know more about, or summarize what was learned today.

Another way to increase writing opportunities in class is to implement quick writes.  A quick writing is defined as a something short written in response to a specific prompt.  During a quick write, students are expected to write as much as they can, as fast as they can, as well as they can.  Quick writes usually last from one to five minutes.

Some possible quick write questions include things like "What do you know about this concept?" before you begin a new topic so you know what they already know. When you know what they already know, you can adjust your lesson to begin where they are at, rather than deciding where they are.   This technique can also be used to bridge old knowledge to new knowledge.  You might also ask if they've solved a problem like this before and if they have, how did they do it.  Quick writes can easily be used at the beginning of a lesson, the middle or end of a lesson depending.

Since quick writes are quick, it makes a students thinking more transparent, and visible.  It also helps a teacher identify misconceptions students have, and it helps students keep an eye on their learning.  It is also a place where they can express hat they liked or disliked about the lesson, or monitor their understanding of the concept taught.

One nice thing about quick writes is they don't have to be grammatically correct, rewritten, or graded on language usage.  The writing just flows from the mind, and is informal so it is less stressful for the student.  Furthermore, quick writes do not have to be based on a statement or question.  It could be based on a picture or a photo. Show a picture, then ask students to do a quick write on what they see, or create a word problem based on what they see.

It doesn't take much to begin using quick writes in class. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.