Discusses how the active meaning-making process of 10 sixth-grade students was reflected in the written responses in literature journals. Analyzes the responses to determine response styles. Suggests how complex response to literature is for elementary and middle school students. (HB)

Examined effects of structured interactions in conferences and journals on the cognitive complexity of adult educators. Subjects were 11 graduate students enrolled in an educational leadership class (mentors), paired with 11 colleagues selected from student work sites (mentees). Final journal entries revealed evidence of movement toward the upper…

Highlights ways of writing that enhance teachers' performance and professionalism by foregrounding their role as learners. Michel Foucault's research focusing on self-care, an ancient Greek precept, provides context for the discussion. Foucault's description of specific practices, such as self-sponsored writing, echoes successful teachers'…

Discusses ways to make writing enjoyable by making it significant. Journal writing became the means for encouraging students in one English-as-a-Second-Language class to write more. (Author/VWL)

Describes how the author uses reading response journals in her composition classes. Shows how it actively engages students in the reading/writing process, and how students learn careful, active reading and develop confidence generating ideas and formulating opinions via the structure, freedom, enhanced comprehension, critical thinking, and…

Describes how text sets (a group of related texts of varied genres and reading levels) can help meet the needs of the diverse population of students enrolled in community college developmental reading courses. Describes how to develop a text set, and describes four text sets used by the author. Discusses how cooperative learning and journal…

Used narrative inquiry techniques to analyze journal entries of four experienced preschool and primary teachers describing the process of helping special needs students make the transition to kindergarten. Found that, in contrast to "best practice" recommendations in the literature, teachers emphasized personal issues and interpersonal skills such…

Shares how the study of insects became a focal point for cross-curricular convergence in the author's classroom. Describes the design of a unit of study that focused on entomology but integrated academic areas, especially language arts. Concludes that students must develop a sense of interdependence and an understanding of possible relationships…

Examines first graders' demonstrations of audience awareness in the context of Family Message Journal writing (in which children write a message to their families and receive written replies). Finds that the first graders demonstrated a sense of audience when writing for family readers, to get something they want, when prompted by their teacher to…

Describes use of developmental interactive bibliotherapy as a feminist methodology in an undergraduate course on women and education. Students responded to relevant selections read aloud in class, first by writing in personal journals and then by participating in small-group discussions. Analysis of questionnaire responses and journal entries…

Focuses on the use of a Reader's Journal that involves students in writing informal responses to reading assignments for history courses. Explains that the Reader's Journal is used to improve students' reading of assignments. Discusses students' responses to the journal entry assignment and the challenges involved. (CMK)

Describes an exercise for teaching about violence where the students keep a one-day journal about their experiences of fear, use of safety strategies, and analyze their findings. Discusses the students' reactions to the exercise and the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. (CMK)

Examines the extent to which a highly motivated older adult can acquire a new language by focusing on a case study of a 57-year-old woman's endeavor to learn Spanish in an immersion setting. The learner's experiences, as recorded in diary entries, are examined in relation to the literature on cognitive aging. (Author/VWL)

Reviews ideas about critical reflection in relation to the student teaching experience and art teacher preparation. Investigates the use of writing as a means for reflection in a study analyzing 19 final reflection essays in order to determine the role of reflection in student teachers' perceptions of their professional development. (CMK)

Introduces the activity of student-written reading logs as a practical application of reader-response theory in English-as-Foreign-Language literature teaching. Because reader-response theory stresses the synthesis between reader and text, it is proposed that practical applications should be based on the interaction. (Author/VWL)