Sample Learning-Log Entry

Have a volunteer read the sample learning log entry. Help your students understand that this writing is personal and not graded, based upon the thoughts of the student when learning a new idea. The purpose of the writing is to help students think about and wrestle with new ideas. Words, drawings, and whatever else the writer wants are appropriate.

Provide your students with this analogy: Writing in a learning log is like jogging. When you jog, you aren't trying to get anywhere specifically. You are just jogging. The action is more important than the destination. The same is true about writing in a learning log. It's not about where you end up, but the fact that you did it at all. If you write in a learning log, you become a much more effective and thoughtful student, just as you gain cardio-vascular fitness by jogging.