Coming into the new school year, I knew that we needed to carve space for SEL. I wanted to use the morning time to make it a reflective, peaceful routine for students to set intentions and prepare for the day. So I thought that journaling would be a good tool. A mix between diary and scrapbook, our SEL journal was born.
The beginning was rough, I thought that a broad topic would suffice to open my student's writing. I found resistance. I thought kids would jump into the idea of drawing, and writing, but no, they stared at the pages. I realized we had to scaffold their thinking. Thankfully, our wonderful counselor jumped in to save the day. She started developing a Prompt Calendar and it became part of our morning routine. Students would come into the room, read the prompt, and respond in their journals. I would go around the room reading their answers, commenting, agreeing, and asking questions. It became a way to connect, to build rapport.
From the beginning, I wanted this journal to be a memento for kids, a place they could save their achievements, and their progress. Throughout the year, I kept an eye open for opportunities to recognize students' character: kindness, generosity, effort, resilience, and attitude. On those opportunities, I would write a Kudos Note, a Card, or give an Encouraging Sticker for their journal.
We also saved a section for goals and celebrations. Here students would paste their XtraMath Trophies, the Reading Bookmarks, and 7Ups. We used the journal to reflect and set goals after conferencing at the end of grading periods, after DCPs, and others.
Some students are a bit more diligent than others, but I hope that this experience is the first step into a more self-reflective practice.
I will continue implementing an SEL journal next year. I want to brainstorm with the 3rd-grade team and see how they used it to build upon that.