Finally got some of my stuff together to show you what I'd attempted this past school year. It really isn't all that much but it's something.
First off, I did use a table of contents. Here are my thoughts on this- by the end of the year, due to the size of my students handwriting, we were all on different pages so the TOC was a pain to have synchronized. Ms. Haley showed me how she does a pocket fold for each new unit and then she makes a tab by putting duct tape on the lower right hand side. Rather than having her students reference the TOC, they just count the tabs until they get to the unit they need. If you are using the journals daily, then I can see how kids can memorize the units and know where to turn, thereby causing the students to internalize what is in their journals. Just for kicks, here is a picture of the TOC I did. If you'll notice, I didn't keep up very well.
This upcoming year, I will avoid doing a TOC and try Ms. Haley's method instead.
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My first year of teaching, I tried a table of contents and it turned out like yours-unfinished with dates and page numbers a mess. I feel that those few pages can be used for content! I love completing a journal from cover to cover!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm aboard with your "index" idea. Plus it would be a great way to finish up the year. The kids would still be working but not in a stressful way.
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