View Content #18654

by Renée Marshall, CASLS Research Assistant

There are many ways to use journaling in language study. Students can reflect on and practice what they've learned. It can be very structured by the teacher or hardly structured at all. Journals also provide a record of growth and change over time. Journals/Blogs can be used to encourage students to explore and post things that are interesting to them using the target language. For example, if they are very interested in French movies they could give reviews in French about the movies they have seen. Teachers from all disciplines employ journaling to help students synthesize what they've learned and put it in their own words and/or to make the subject matter more personal. In this activity, students set up a Blogger account in order to keep an online language journal.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to create an online journal using the free resource Blogger.
• Students will be able to reflect on what they have learned in the language classroom using their new blog.

Resources: Journaling using Blogger handout

Procedure:

1. Handout the Journaling using Blogger handout to all students.
2. Either in class or at home, have students follow the steps to create their blog. They will need a computer and Internet access.
3. Once their blog is created, you can either assign them tasks to complete or leave it up to them what they do with their online journal.
4. If you want access to everyone's blog, be sure that they give you their blog's web address. If they have their settings set to private, be sure they also send you an invitation to see the blog so that you have access to it.

Note: There are ideas for different ways to use the blog at the bottom of the Journaling using Blogger handout.