Learning Logs and Journals

1. Learning Logs and Journals Burke, Chapters 6, 7, 8

2. Teacher Made Tests • Written or oral assessments • Variety of formats • Time-consuming to construct • Often overlook higher order thinking • Tend to emphasize verbal-linguistic skills • Vary from class to class

3. Better Teacher-Made Tests • Are part of an assessment plan • Correlate to instructional objectives • Are prepared prior to instruction • Are adjusted for various learning styles, multiple intelligences, and learning problems of students • Are instructional and ongoing

4. Learning Modalities Visual • Mind strays during verbal activities • Organized • Like to read • Good speller • Memorize by seeing pictures • Find verbal instructions difficult Auditory • Talk to self • Easily distracted • Find written instructions difficult • Likes to be read to • Memorizes by steps in a sequence • Enjoys listening activities Kinesthetic • In motion most of the time • Reading is not a priority • Poor speller • Likes to solve problems by physically walking through them • Enjoys handling objects • Enjoys doing activities

5. What Are Learning Logs? • Short, objective entries • Mathematical problem-solving • Observations of science experiments • Questions about readings/lectures • Lists of reading, homework, etc. • Brief, factual, or impersonal • Formative assessment

6. What Are Journals? • Written in narrative form • Subjective • Deal with feelings, opinions, or personal experiences • Usually descriptive, longer, open-ended, more free-flowing than logs • Formative assessment

7. Using Learning Logs and Journals • Record key ideas • Make predictions • Record questions • Summarize main ideas • Reflect on information presented • Connect ideas • Monitor change • Respond to questions • Brainstorm ideas • Help identify problems • Record problem-solving techniques • Keep track of completed activities

8. Assessing Logs and Journals • Depth and personalization of responses (ex., undeveloped to powerful) • Level of thoughtfulness • Point values based on completion • Checklist or rubric • Peer review • Self-assessment • Select entries for rewriting and grading

9. Metacognitive Reflection • Asking students to think about their own thinking • How did you get that answer? • What did you do well? • What would you do differently? • Allowing students to process what they have done and reflect on their learning

10. Using Metacognitive Reflections • Self-assessment questions • KWL Strategy • Know, what to know, learned • PMI Strategy • Pluses, minuses, what was interesting • Group processing • How can students improve social skills?