Ideas about middle school math journals

Ideas about Math Journals

Hello!
I would welcome feedback on my latest adventure: My background is in special
education, and this fall I am beginning a new job as a regular education 6th
grade math teacher in an inclusion classroom. I would like to include math
journals, in which the students reflect (at the end of the class) on what they
have learned on that day, using math symbols as well as vocabulary and
language appropriate to the topic. After I correct, comment in the journals,
and return them to the students, they could use the journals on the test on
that subject.

Am I totally nuts? I am thinking that it would give me a good gauge as to
what students are understanding, how the clarity of my teaching is going, and
would encourage students to keep a good journal. And - a little writing
practice is always good!
Any of your comments would be appreciated.
Thanks! Joyce Vanderleeden
(6-30-98)

Joyce,
This is what I have posted in my classroom, and xeroxed in small
versions for students to glue in front of their journals. It may give
you a place to start. You can tell an awful lot from them, but they do
take a lot of time--and you need to demonstrate for a couple of days,
and have the students work in partners for awhile.

Math Journal
Date your journal. Number each section and skip lines between them.
1. Tell what your task was (include all parts).
2. Do your task, then tell how you got your answer--use words and
pictures, graphs, charts, etc. Describe the steps it took to get your
answers. Show all work.
3. Tell what you learned.
4. How do you feel about this problem? Why? Did you enjoy doing this
task? Was it difficult or easy? Is there something else you,d like to
learn, something you wonder about or want explained again?
Barbara D. Martin

Joyce,
When I was student teaching, I was placed with an exceptional middle
school math and science teacher. Like you, she also used math journals
in her daily lessons. I was so amazed at how precisely some of the
students responded in their math journals. In addition, the teacher also
placed in the journals some very challenging math problems, The students
could work in cooperative groups or on their own. When these problems
were solved, the students only got credit if they explained (in writing)
how they went about solving the problem. The students gained better
communication skills in both written and oral forms. In addition, the
teacher could evaluate where the studens were in understanding. I was
very impressed with this method and I am planning on implementing this
into my math curriculum next fall.
Kim Hill

Joyce,

Gary Tsuruda's book, "Putting it Together: Middle School Math in
Transition," addresses using journals and other forms of writing in the
middle school math classroom. It's an inspiring book with lots of very
applicable ideas. It's available from Heinemann.
Kris Rouleau

Here are some other Heinemann K-8 mathematics titles