Need to engage your students? Use dialogue journaling in your classroom 📓

Are you considering how to increase student engagement in your classes? Dialogue journaling activities can help!

Dialogue journaling is a written conversation between two people or a group of people about different topics that interest them. The conversation can be with students only, or also include a teacher.

These written conversations can help reinforce learning while also developing bonds between learners in a community of practice.

Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

Here's an example of a dialogue journal entry between a teacher and students discussing why learning a second language is important as part of a school project via WhatsApp.

👩‍🏫 Teacher: Why do you think learning a second language is important?

👧 Maria: I think it helps you connect with more people. I can talk to my grandparents better since I started learning Spanish.

👦🏾 Jamal: I think it opens up job opportunities. A lot of careers need people who can speak more than one language.

👩‍🏫 Teacher: Communication and career benefits are two huge reasons. Any others?

👦🏼 Dylan: It’s hard. Sometimes I feel like I’ll never be fluent in another language.

👩‍🏫 Teacher: It is hard. Fluency takes time.

The example below shows a teacher journaling to a student about why they like a particular TV series: Image courtesy of Brennan Cruser and Stacey Ross, via Writers Who Care

Dialogue journaling allows students to express their thoughts and reflections while receiving feedback and encouragement. It is also a useful tool for building communication skills.

Reasons to use dialogue journaling with students:

• Enhance writing skills — encourage students to write regularly and practice grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure in a low-pressure setting. ✍️

• Build teacher-student relationships — build trust and rapport between teachers and students. 🤝

• Improve critical thinking — encourage students to reflect on their learning, goals, and emotions. 🧠

• Develop language skills for English learners — offer a meaningful way for ESL students to practice writing. 🌍

• Give students a voice and agency — provide students with a platform to express opinions and ask questions. 📢

Teacher-Student Journal

A student can write a journal about their day, a hobby, or about a topic they're interested in. The teacher responds with questions, and the student writes an answer.

Role Play

Students role-play a professional interview. They start by asking each other and answering questions for a job position in writing, then they can practice orally.

Question-And-Answer Task

The teacher asks the students different questions about a topic and asks them to write responses.

Debate Club

Choose a topic for students to debate in writing. Students write their arguments and their peers provide a written response. This will help them express their thoughts and ideas while learning how to respond to other people's arguments.

You have some students who would like to practise job interviews. Which of the following dialogue journaling techniques might be suitable to use?

A. Teacher-student journal: Students write about a job they would like. Their peers and teacher respond with suggestions to prepare them for the interview.

B. Role play: Students role-play an interview with each other.

C. Question-and-answer task: The students take turns asking the teacher how to prepare for an interview.

D. Debate club: Students debate the purpose of interviews.

Now it is time to put these ideas into practice and bring dialogue journaling to your classroom!