THE LEARNING JOURNAL

1
THE LEARNING JOURNAL

• Your exercise book is a learning journal.

2
THE LEARNING JOURNAL

• Think of a film. Each shot is short and smartly
  edited. Viewed without sound, the film will
  appear jerky. Some of it might not even make
  sense. Its hard to watch.
• By adding a soundtrack, voices, effects, music,
  the director can glue, as it were, his film back
  together.
• A learning journal is a soundtrack to your
  learning.

3
REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING

• What have you done?
• What have you learned?
• What did you find easy?
• What did you find hard?
• How does this work link with other lessons in
  this subject?
• How does it link with lessons in other subjects?
• What else have you experienced which relates to
  this work?

4
REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING

• Dont be afraid to leave the school work a little
  to one side now and again!
• Was there something about the lesson which
  interested you?
• Maybe something which the teacher left to one
  side?
• Did your friends say anything helpful youd like
  to record.

5
REFLECT ON YOUR LEARNING

• Sometimes, writing something down helps you
  clarify your thoughts and get things straight.
• Sometimes, when you write something down, you
  realise you dont really understand it!
• When you are writing, you must concentrate on
  your writing.

6
WHO READS A LEARNING JOURNAL?

• You do.
• But you should write it in a way which will make
  sense to your friends, to your family and to your
  teachers.
• Keeping a journal like this is not an excuse to
  be rude about people!

7
KEEPING A LEARNING JOURNAL

• The word journal is related to the French word,
  jour?
• What does jour mean again?
• What does this say about when we should write in
  our journals?
• Do you know how much you can write in ten minutes?

8
MAKING A JOURNAL INTERESTING

• Think about your work.
• Write in a style which suits you.
• Sometimes youll want to write to write just
  notes, or bullet-points.
• Sometimes, youll want to write in neat prose.

9
MAKING A JOURNAL INTERESTING

• But sometimes you might want to put a sketch in.
• Or even a print-off from a photograph.
• You might want to cut something from a paper or
  magazine and glue it in.
• The opportunities are endless.

10
MAKING A JOURNAL INTERESTING

11
MAKING A JOURNAL INTERESTING

12
MAKING A JOURNAL INTERESTING
13
MAKING A JOURNAL INTERESTING
14
JOURNALS CAN BE INTELLECTUAL TOO!

• The guitarist Robert Fripp argues persuasively of
  the personal, artistic and creative benefits of
  keeping journals. On the Guitar Craft website
  he makes a careful and long case for such
  journal-writing which includes the following
• Our journal records what we have noticed,
  whether in ourselves (our sensing, feeling and/or
  thinking) our functional activities and what is
  occurring in the world around us. Our noticing of
  both inner processes and external activities
  brings about an engagement between the two. At
  this point, something more becomes possible for
  us. Before we may move to intentional action, it
  is necessary to know the context in which we act,
  and our capacity to act within it. This is not
  possible without noticing. Without noticing,
  nearly everything that takes place in our lives
  is accidental, to a greater or lesser degree.