Process Journal | Journaling Your Journey

As you journey through Ideation Phase (and the remainder of your project), be sure to continue recording your ideas in your process journal. The process journal is a generative text that documents your evolving thinking about a project. It is the place where innovators record brainstorming, successes, missteps, changes in ideas, thoughts on end product. While it is important that reflection takes place in the written language, it also happens through images.

This journal can take many forms based on your topic, your creation, your discipline. In general, the process journal is:

• A place to plan and brainstorm - mind maps, open + closed questions, written pitches
• A place to record interactions with sources - research, annotations, notes from educators + peers, thinking routines
• A place to explore creation - storyboards, sketches, poetry, quotes, choreography
• A place to document academic discipline - proposal outline, science reports, engineering logs, historical research, writing process
• A place to reflect on goals, learning

Friday, October 20, 2017 | Process Journal + Research

Needs

• materials for a Parking Lot

Gathering (no more than 15 minutes)

Headlines: Create a headline that publicizes your thoughts on the topic you have been researching the past several weeks. Publicly document headlines for reference later in project block. Whip Around to share headlines.

Writing Studio (30 minutes)

Journal Prompt

As many types of research continues to happen in project block (professional models, scholarly journals, media articles, etc.), reflect once again on the learning that is happening through this research.

Respond to the prompts below directly in your process journal. While there is not one way to write or approach these prompts, you should use specific details in order to make your reflection clear and your ideas understandable. Remember that you will be looking back at this writing and thinking in order to create your essay.

• What makes you say that? What is your current understanding of the topic? What are your individual ideas about the topic? What makes you say (or in this case write) that? 
• I Used To Think...Now I Think? How did the research change your perspective about the topic? 
• So What? Based on your current research, why is your topic important? What is important for your audience to learn from your topic? What are your next steps in the research process?

ELA Standard
Today’s reflection standard is SO WHAT?

Last week we asked you to consider the evidence you were recording throughout the research process. This week, please answer so what?. What understanding do you now have because of the research, that goes beyond the research? What has the research helped you understand about….topic, culture, problem-solving, society, human nature (just pick one!).

Friday, October 13, 2017 | Process Journal + Research

Needs:

• Mini-Sticky Notes

Gathering (no more than 15 minutes)

PREP List

Write down your To Do List for the research phase on the sticky notes provided. Only write one task per sticky note. Review and rework your To Do List using the PREP method.

• Prioritize: Sort the tasks into three groups in your Process Journal under the labels Research, Creation, People - Place the tasks that are essential to your research under the Research label. Place the tasks that are essential to your creation under the Creation label. Place the tasks that require you to communicate with other individuals (i.e. pblock advisor, ELA advisor, partner, professional, etc.) under the People label. 
• Reorganize: Predict how much time the two most important tasks will take to complete (doesn’t matter which labels these task are under). Write in a day of the week on those two sticky notes. Separate those sticky notes in your Process Journal. These are the two things next week you will make sure you do by the day you just wrote on the sticky note. 
• Eliminate: Separate two sticky notes that are either unrealistic expectations for the week or things that won’t have a negative impact on your life if they don’t get done. Place these sticky notes under a long-term To Do’s label.
• Plan Ahead: Forecast three important To Do’s that you know you will need to schedule time for in the weeks to come. Also, place these sticky notes under a long-term To Do’s label.

Share out the two most important research tasks you will focus on next week in a Whip Around.

Writing Studio (30 minutes)

Journal Prompt 
Respond to the prompts below directly in your process journal. While there is not one way to write or approach these prompts, you should use specific details in order to make your reflection clear and your ideas understandable. Remember that you will be looking back at this writing and thinking in order to create your essay.

What makes you say that? What is your current understanding of the topic? What are your individual ideas about the topic? What makes you say (or in this case write) that?

I Used To Think...Now I Think? How did the research change your perspective about the topic? 

So What? Based on your current research, why is your topic important? What is important for your audience to learn from your topic What are your next steps in the research process?

ELA Standard
Today’s reflection standard is EVIDENCE.

• How did you gather evidence about your topic? What mediums did you use and why?
• How did you use the evidence you gathered? (i.e. define of topic, summarize topic, support argument, suggest a solution, etc.)

Friday, October 6th | Process Journal 3

Gathering: For today’s gathering, students will reflect on their habits using three “Are you more like…” prompts. Begin each prompt by collaboratively discussing the characteristics of each bullet point. Students then move to the side of the room designated by the bullet point they identify most with. Discuss with others. Share out reasons why.

Are you more like….

Sustain focus - goal is to find a project that engages and motivates

• Hunting dog….laser focused on a specific goal
• Sloth….vulnerable and slow moving without a purpose

Work independently- goal is to be self-directed and feel confident and comfortable in your project direction

• Taking the stairs….developing plans independently
• Taking the escalator….developing plans with some assistance and some independence
• Taking the elevator….developing plans by relying solely on outside influences

Seek to understand - goal is to eventually have clear boundaries for your project.

• Puddle….thinking has been small and shallow
• Lake….thinking has been deep but shorelines provide boundaries
• Ocean….thinking has been deep, vast, endless

Journal Prompt

Respond to the prompts below directly in your process journal. While there is not one way to write or approach these prompts, you should use specific details in order to make your reflection clear and your ideas understandable. Remember that you will be looking back at this writing and thinking in order to create your essay.

• THINK: about your use of time...
• What have you spent the majority of your time working on this week? (ideation, research, creation, etc.)
• How successful have you been with your use of time? Why?
• EXPLORE: consider the learning that took place...
• What have you learned about yourself as a learner these past weeks?
• How can you connect what you are learning about yourself to your process? To your life? To your audience?
• PUZZLE: explain future investigations...
• What new questions do you have based on your work these past weeks?
• What are your top priorities in the coming weeks?

ELA Standard

Today’s reflection standard is COMMUNICATING.

What does it mean to communicate?

What does good communication look like? Sound like? Feel like?

How did you communicate your ideas within your process journal? What did you do to make sure your ideas were clearly explained?

Process Journal #2

Process Journal #2

Friday, September 22nd | Process Journal & Elevator Pitch

ATTENDANCE: Please continue updating the spreadsheet.

PROCESS JOURNAL: We will begin today by completing the first reflection in and for the Process Journal. Please keep in mind that this is a piece of writing intended to synthesize thinking, decisions, research, and all of the experiences that have influenced your project this week.

PROCESS JOURNAL #1 (educators)
PROCESS JOURNAL #1 (innovators)

Copy the document linked above digitally or into your physical journal.

ELEVATOR PITCHES:  The intention of this exercise is to rapidly test out an idea....most importantly, you will learn whether or not the "why" resonates with you enough to move forward with the idea for the rest of the semester.

• Take about 5-10 minutes for practice or rehearsal (depending on time available). 
• Select a timer, who will set a 1 minute timer with a noise of some kind to indicate the end of time. 
• One by one, have each individual share their 1 minute elevator pitch: Sharing what, how and why for one project idea. 
• This is difficult. Celebrate everyone for doing the best possible version of this they can. We are just beginning to build these skills. Please do not provide critical feedback for each individual...there is not time...and in this case the most valuable feedback is the experience of seeing/hearing many of these all at once. 
• At the conclusion of all of the 1 minute elevator pitches, reflect:
• Identify patterns. What trends did you notice across all of the pitches?
• What was especially effective? (Example: Sharing a personal story related to the topic.)
• What stands out as an area of concern for the projects in the room? What suggestions do you have for the group to address the area of concern? (Example: I noticed a lot of people talked about creating projects, but very few talked about how their project would be innovative or different from projects that already exist in the world. I think we should define innovation and make it part of our proposal criteria.)