Once the journal habit exists, the next question is quality — and quality in a journal entry comes down to one word: specific. A strong entry could only have been written by you, about this class, on this day. A weak one could have been written by anyone, about any class, from the hallway.
Side by side
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| ”Rehearsal went well." | "Priya now counts three before moving, and the freeze stopped collapsing." |
| "I was nervous but it was fine." | "My hands shook in the hot seat, so I sat on them." |
| "Our group had problems today." | "Nobody would say the real issue: Dev did not want to be lifted." |
| "Their scene was really good." | "Their smallest performer stood highest, and the meaning flipped.” |
Read the weak column: nothing happened in it. The strong column is the same day, remembered properly — a person, a moment, a cause. The Dev entry went on to say the group argued for ten minutes, he finally named it, and the fix then took two; the argument, not the ending, turned out to be the thing worth recording. Notice the strong versions are barely longer than the weak ones. Specific is not the same as long.
Feelings are welcome — anchored to moments
The journal is not a lab report; nervous, proud, embarrassed, and thrilled all belong in it. The rule is that a feeling arrives attached to the moment that caused it. “I felt frustrated” floats free and teaches you nothing at the end of the course. “I felt frustrated when we restarted the scene for the fourth time because I was the one forgetting the cue” is a feeling with an address — you can go back to it, and next time you reread it you will know exactly what it was about.
This is the same describe-first habit as Writing About Drama, turned on your own days instead of someone else’s scene: say what happened, then what it did, then what you make of it.
Curriculum connection
B1.2
interpret short drama works and identify and explain their personal response to the works (e.g., analyse fairy tales, myths, or legends to clarify the feelings or motives of primary and secondary characters; use journal writing, writing in role, group discussion, and/or teacher-guided reflection to identify and clarify their ideas and opinions about a variety of drama works)
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