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Making Thinking Visible: Journaling in the Classroom
Making Thinking Visible: Journaling in the Classroom
In the classroom, learning is key. Yet, how often do we give students a space to pause, reflect, and consolidate their learning?
Enter journaling, a simple but powerful practice that can help students synthesise their learning, document their ideas, and even protect their own creative process!
Journaling for Lasting Learning
Journaling helps students make their thinking visible. It allows them to capture their thinking process and helps them solidify what they’ve just learned.
After a hands-on lesson, giving students time to journal helps them reflect on what they learned and helps them piece together the lesson.
Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla all kept detailed journals. Their greatest discoveries didn't happen in a single moment. They were built sketch by sketch, note by note.
Journals are safe spaces for students. They are a place to brainstorm freely and sketch quick ideas and notes. Journaling can help a student refine or expand on an idea and on their learning process. It can even help students keep a running record of their progress. Students can look back and see how their ideas have evolved, which can give them a powerful sense of growth and mastery. The bonus for you as a teacher is that student journals can give you insight into where they need more support or what lesson concepts you need to retarget.
That’s why we include journal prompts with every standards-aligned Makedo lesson.
- To help students connect making with thinking
- To give every learner a space to process and reflect
- To help students synthesise hands-on learning in their own words
- To encourage idea generation beyond the build itself
- To support recall and deepen long-term understanding
How to Bring Journaling into Your Classroom
Journaling is a tool that helps students make sense of their world, build creative confidence, and see themselves as thinkers and problem solvers.
Ready to get started?
- Start simple and dedicate just 5-10 minutes a day for reflection.
- Mix words and visuals by having students annotate sketches and write a reflection.
- Use prompts and questions to give journal entries a focus.
- Celebrate and share journals to inspire others and build classroom community.
Lessons featuring journaling
Exploring History with Cardboard Costumes
Animal Adaptations with Animorph Costumes
Cardboard Arcade: Engineering Games that Move (Ages 9 +)
By incorporating journaling into your classroom, you are not only strengthening students' reflective practices but also deepening their understanding and building creative confidence. Visit the Education Resource Hub to explore how we integrate journaling into all of our standards-aligned lesson plans and see the difference it makes for your learners.
