How to Learning Journal: The Power of Connections

By David H. Spielberg

Keeping a learning journal is different from keeping a diary. A diary has its place in an individual's life as a record of daily events and reflections. A learning journal serves a different purpose. It's purpose is to create for the student a greater understanding of the material being taught in the classroom. It is an opportunity for a private dialog between the teacher and the student that reveals and encourages connections between the "already" world of student experience and the "new" world of current learning. The private nature of journaling also provides a safe venue for the student too shy perhaps to question or comment in class. While the intent of this little book is promote through journaling a dialog between the student and the teacher, if the teacher participates in such a project, journaling can also serve as a dialog just between the journal and the student, revealing on a wholly personal level the degree of understanding or even misunderstanding. The book provides a detailed explanation of how the brain works when it is learning, how connections that promote recall and understanding are established and how to take advantage of these mechanisms to make learning meaningful. Scaffolding and encoding are described in the context of promoting understanding and retrieval. The goal to move knowledge from working memory to longterm memory is explained in detail as well as how journaling facilitates this. The book discusses the difference between true understanding and the illusion of understanding. Numerous real student examples of journal entries are provided to "prime the reader's pump" to make his or her own entries. I recommend using a notebook rather than a computer for these journal entries. There is something about a computer that immediately removes the writer from the essentially personal aspect of journaling that only handwritten notes can promote. Reading these entries years later has often offered former students of mine rewarding glimpses into their past educational journey.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1973450089
• ISBN13: 9781973450085
• Release Date: December 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 99 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"