Beginning the Year with Math Journals

Last Monday marked the first day of my 2015-16 school year. It’s been an amazing week but I’m glad the weekend is here. Yesterday my school had its annual PTO picnic and I now have some time to write. I feel like I need time to process and reflect on the whirlwind of events that’ve happened over the past week.

Last Tuesday I planned on giving student their journals. Before passing them out I decided to cover a few ground expectations. I had a discussion with the students about what the journal will be used for. In the past, students used the journal to reflect on different assessment results.  This year I want to add more goals related to journal use. Primarily, the journal will be used by and for the student to reflect on math experiences and answer prompts. I told the students that I’d be writing feedback or ask questions related to their journal responses throughout the year. Most students were relieved when I said that the journal wouldn’t be graded. I indicated that it may be used during parent/teacher conferences or to show growth over the year. The students didn’t seem to have a problem with that. I ended the brief conversation reiterating that the journal was for them.

One of my priorities this year is to have students write more in math class. I read a book this summer that exposed me to research related to connections between the brain and math.  In particular, I found that students need adequate time to process and rehearse mathematical information for it to be retained.  I feel as though newly acquired math concepts can be processed through reflections and the writing process.  I intend to have students explain their thinking and view of certain mathematical concepts. I’d also like to give students time to process what they’ve been experiencing and document those events. I feel like students, just like adults, need time to process and reflect.I feel like the math journaling process can lead to the rehearsal of math concepts. In a sense, students are practicing what they’ve been learning and personalizing it through their journal writing.

So, this week all the grade levels that I teach had an opportunity to start their math journals. All classes participated in the Marshmallow Challenge and that event related to their first journal entry

Tell me about your marshmallow challenge experience.

The first response was more geared towards helping students recognize the teamwork involved as the classroom was, and currently is, building a community of learners. The second journal entries were content specific

How do arrays help me multiply?

What’s the difference between rays and line segments?

Students gave me a variety of responses. Some were lengthy with many pictures, while others barely scratched the two sentence mark.

Regardless of the length, I’m finding that some of the students’ math understanding is revealed in their writing and pictures. I’ve already been able to find misunderstandings through student journal entries that might have taken longer to expose using other means. Also, writing feedback to the students gives me an opportunity to extend understanding by asking questions that lead students to question their responses. This year I’m attempting to use math journals more regularly and so far (only 5 days) we’re off to a decent start.  At some point I’d like to have student complete a journal prompt related to how they use my feedback in their journals.