Your journal will be graded by the number (and regularity) of entries that relate to the assigned readings. You must write a double-entry on at least two of the Diverse Voices readings each week, and these must be emailed to me no later than Monday of that week. At the end of each unit I will give you a graded assessment of your unit's journal to that point (up to 50 points possible each unit). At the end of the term, you should print the completed journal out as part of your WS portfolio. No entries can be turned in late since you are expected to keep your journal up to date each week.

Guidelines

• to create a summary of the main points the author makes (the class will define what main point means for each reading) and to identify the areas of the text hardest to understand; and
• to react to, to contemplate in writing, and to create a context and connections for these main points.

1. Write regularly and informally. This task will be much easier for you if you write your entry at the same time of day. Use a comfortable style: use abbreviations or incomplete sentences if you want, knowing that this is just a time for reflection, and not a formal paper.
2. Record the date and time each time you work with the text.
3. Skim the entire reading assignment, and watch for particular texts you wish to analyze further.
4. Read the first selection you wish to write about, and when you have finished, summarize the main points of the section. Put your summary points under the title of the selection you have chosen (and date/time you are reading). Label this part of your journal entry, "Author's Main Points."
5. If you do not understand a particular part of the text, quote the portion of the reading which you are having difficulty interpreting for yourself and send it as a question to your team member(s). If you don't know a word in the text or if the author is using the word in a new way which you think is important, quote the sentence and underline the word. This is a good way to get your team members to learn more effectively too since they might not have noticed something that you did!
6. As you work through the text, designate on the left-hand side where you move to a new page in the selection.
7. When you have completed the summary and/or quotations, review it and the section you are reading once again. Begin a new section in which you will record what you think about the section or your summary. These comments may be in the form of questions about what the author is saying or connections you can make with other things you have read or other examples of the point the author is making or speculations about where the author is going with the thought process. If you write down questions about parts you don't understand, then, later as your reading continues you may return to those questions and find that, after further reading, you do know the answers. Use this section of the journal to react intellectually (or emotionally) to the reading and to reflect on its meaning. Define any terms or words which the author seems to be using in a special or unusual way. If they seem important, define words that you do not know. Label this section, "Critical Thinking."
8. When you have finished reading/analyzing/reflecting on the text, read your summary and your comments, questions, and/or reflections. Add any new thoughts that you have from this new perspective of reading your own reflections. Analyze the effectiveness of the process for this study period. Each work session needs to have a summary of this sort under the section "Critical Thinking." Critical thinking is the ability to think about one's own thinking in such a way as to recognize its strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, to recast the thinking in improved form. This journal will record your work in this vital part of your college education.
9. Do the same steps for a second selection from the Diverse Voices text. Email both double-entries to me (and your team members) by Monday of the week the selections are assigned.
10. Periodically, write a double-entry for a chapter or two of your team's outside reading. Share it with your team members also.

WS201 Journal Evaluation Checklist per Unit

Pts Possible	Criteria
15	Completion: How complete/thorough is the journal? Have you read all assigned selections and written in the journal about all of the main points of at least two selections per week?
15	Critical Thinking: Have you delved into these readings as far as you can? Are the thoughts/reactions/questions contained in the journal reflective of college-level academic work? Have you made a good faith effort to complete this assignment's requirements for higher level thinking?
20	Technique: Have you tried to use all of the techniques suggested in the guidelines? Each double-entry should include: summary of the selection; term definitions; quotations; other examples of what the author means; speculations about the author's thesis; comments/reactions/reflections (both intellectual and emotional); questions; connecting with class work or 5 Guiding Themes; other readings; passages in same readings; analysis of the reading/journal process overall

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Posted August 24, 1998
email: dolph@pop.uky.edu
http://www.bluegrass.kctcs.edu/LCC/WS/201/journal.html