Learning Log

1. FORMAT:  Establish a format students will use for their learning logs.  

2. TEACH STUDENTS:  Define learning logs for students: open-ended, non-threatening writing tasks that help students grapple with ideas in a tentative, exploratory manner. Review the characteristics of a learning log with students. Since some students are intimidated by writing assignments, they need to understand learning logs are informal pieces of writing. 

3. ARE THEY GRADED?:  Explain how learning logs will be graded. This is an important step to address with students. Students need to feel free to record their thoughts in a quick, fluent manner; so typically, learning logs receive points for participation or completion.

4. ASSIGN:  Assign learning logs daily or at regular, frequent intervals. 

5. SHARE SAMPLES:  Duplicate or read aloud anonymous learning logs on the same topic but expressed in different ways. Students can see the varieties of ways others are responding to the questions and prompts and understand there are many ways to be “right.” Students may not write much at first but fluency will increase as they see and hear many examples.

6. COLLECT:  Collect learning logs on a regular basis. Initially, respond to the logs to encourage students and ask genuine questions about what they have to say. This will encourage students to write more and with more honesty. 

Regular/Frequent Learning Logs

• Allow 2–4 minutes at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a lesson. Learning logs are effective at the beginning of the class as students are settling in or as exit slips to wrap up the learning that took place during class.

Short Learning Logs

• Short, timed writing sessions work best. It is better to leave a few students wanting to express more than to have most of the class struggling with nothing more to say. Build confidence by beginning with short increments of time that can be increased as students become more proficient and comfortable with the reflective process.

Minimally Structured Learning Logs

• Encourage students to write what they really think, not what they think the instructor wants them to say.

Academic Learning Logs

• Students should focus on an academic challenge or issue.

Uncorrected Learning Logs

• To encourage honest responses and reduce apprehension, do not “correct” the writing in a learning log. Instead write comments and genuine questions in a conversational manner.

Graded Learning Logs

• Students receive credit for each completed learning log. Set the standard at the start that a certain amount of writing and thought is expected as a minimum. The general expectations, the class environment, and the reinforcement of the importance of the time spent on learning logs should help reduce the tendency for some students to waste the time.

Shared and Responded Learning Logs

• To learn the most from their writing, students need both an audience and appropriate models. Sharing learning logs provide both, allowing students to see and discuss a variety of responses as well as reinforcing the lesson’s concepts. Responses to entries may involve oral sharing in pairs, small groups, or a large group, as well as direct comments from the teacher. It is important that teachers inform students prior to writing whether the learning logs will be shared and how that sharing will occur. Spending time in class on learning logs emphasizes the importance of writing, validates the students’ reaction to the lessons, and provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their own learning and thinking.

• Learning logs take time: time to think, time to write, and time to share. Another concern for teachers is the time it takes to read and respond to the writing. Do not read everything students write.

  • • • • • Ask students to star entries for the teacher to read. 

          • Skim entries until there is something to respond to, and then comment or question briefly. 

          • Have students share logs in pairs or small groups and then lead the class in a discussion of the ideas expressed. The time spent sharing and responding becomes even more valuable than a written response because the dialogue helps to clarify ideas.

          • Have students keep their learning logs in the classroom for easy review. This allows for learning logs to be used as a measure of student progress and growth.

Basic Learning Log Questions:

• What did you do in class today?

• What did you learn?

• What did you find interesting?

• What questions do you have about what you learned?

Analyzing a New Idea

• What were the main ideas?

• What did you understand best?

• What questions do you still have about this information?

• How will you find more information?

• How does this idea relate to what you have already learned in class?

"Showing" Vocabulary or a New Concept

• Words or concepts learned in class and never used again are meaningless. Making new words or concepts part of your vocabulary builds your academic language skills and allows you to make connections between concepts.

• Write an unfamiliar word or concept and the sentence you found it in.

• What does the word or definition mean? Add an authentic definition.

• Represent the word in a nonlinguistic representation (without using words, numbers, or letters).

Connecting to the World

• Choose an event occurring in the world and connect it to what is being studied or learned in class.

1. Describe the current event in detail.

2. What topic/theme/content does the event relate to and why?

3. Where do you stand in relation to the event? Which side are you on?

4. Why is this event interesting to you?

5. What do you think the outcome of the event will be? Why?

Connecting to Self

• How do the concepts/ideas/themes you have learned connect to your life? Why does this topic matter to you? (Example topics might be: gravity, democracy, a written language, multiplication, mitosis, etc.)

Creative Solutions

• Take a real-world problem that connects to what is being studied in class (air pollution, global warming, racism) and come up with a creative solution for this problem. Let your solution be outlandish and imaginative, as that is often how real solutions are found.

Learning Log Quickwrite

• Write non‐stop for two to five minutes on a specific topic that you are studying. The purpose of focused writing is for you to find out what you know about a topic, to explore new ideas, and to find out what you need to learn about a topic.