In a few days, the 2020-2021 school year will begin, and you want to give yourself the best chance to start your new school year on the right foot? So why not start writing a school journal (or school notebook), right from the first day of classes! Have you never heard of a school journal and would like to know what it is? Do you already know what a school journal is but are unsure about what exactly to write in yours? Then the following article should help you discover in detail what a school journal is, and especially how it could become a real ally for you throughout this new academic year.
What is a school journal?
As the name suggests, a school journal is an intimate diary dedicated to everything that will happen during your school year. It can have multiple purposes, depending on the functions you want to give it: it can serve as a school planner to note all the assignments you have to do day by day, you can also record the progress of your various projects, or even the daily anecdotes shared with your classmates. In fact, this school journal will allow you to record your daily school life, so as not to forget anything until the end of the year, and also to keep a written record of everything you will have done and experienced during this 2020-2021 school year.
Diariste is a fantastic place for discoveries and sharing, where the topics are as numerous as personal diaries. Many simply write about their daily lives, while others prefer to focus on a specific aspect of their life, deciding that their personal journal will be a /Diariste.com/posts/travel-journal-why-and-how-to-keep-a-travel-journal">travel diary, a journal of reflections, a food diary, a school journal, or even a combination of these, thanks to the possibility of having multiple journals on your same Diariste account!
And you, tell me, how do you use your journal on Diariste? Perhaps you're still exploring, so I suggest helping you by presenting an example of a journal that you can keep on Diariste today.
Why should you keep a school journal?
The reasons for keeping a school journal are diverse and varied, as it is a fully customizable tool that you can adapt to your desires and needs, regardless of your academic level or class! Thus, a school journal can allow you to:
Write down your daily homework to better organize yourself
Even if you have a planner to note down assignments for the upcoming days, a school agenda can provide you with a better overview of the work you'll have to accomplish in the days or even weeks ahead. By creating a dedicated entry for each day with an assignment, you'll know at a glance what tasks are remaining and their deadlines. This allows for better organization of your work, providing a clear visualization of what needs to be done and when. You can create a daily, weekly, or even monthly schedule based on recurring assignments, subjects to prioritize for revision, and upcoming projects.
It's crucial to have a clear visualization of remaining tasks to avoid forgetting them, minimizing the chances of pulling an all-nighter on an essay planned for two weeks and due tomorrow, but whose return date you completely forgot! (No judgment, we've all been there at least once in our academic journey!)
Keeping your school journal up to date will help you establish a precise framework for your work, aiming to be as efficient as possible throughout the year. Even though it might seem a bit challenging at first, you'll find that over time, you'll develop good habits, saving a considerable amount of time and enhancing efficiency in your revisions. And with more efficient work, you'll have more time for leisure or relaxation, making it a win-win situation for you in the end!
Tracking your academic progress throughout the year
Why not use your school journal to write each day about the subjects or even the topics where you faced difficulties, and those where you feel comfortable? By recording your strengths and weaknesses daily, as well as what you liked and disliked during your day of classes, you'll know exactly what areas you need to work on more and what you already master well, along with what you enjoyed and found less appealing. This allows you to occasionally rebalance your focus, not concentrating solely on your favorite subjects, aiming for consistent academic results across all subjects!
As the proverb goes, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket," meaning it's risky to bet your progression to the next grade or even your diploma by giving your all to the subjects where you excel while neglecting those where you are less proficient. On the contrary, it's better to strive for decent grades across the board, ensuring a smoother continuation of your academic journey.
Moreover, by focusing on subjects you may not initially like, you might have pleasant surprises throughout the year. This could include having a genuinely nice teacher who makes you appreciate the subject again or discovering particularly interesting topics in a subject you initially found dull. So, it's worthwhile to keep an open mind and record everything in your school journal each day to track your progress throughout the year!
Preserving a memory of everything that happens in class on a daily basis.
Beyond the serious and academic aspect of your school journal, it can also serve you to note, each day, all the diverse and varied adventures you experience with your classmates or teachers, all the little anecdotes that happen to you during the day... In short, your school journal can simply become your personal diary dedicated exclusively to your school life in general!
Did your friend Sarah make a great joke today that really made you laugh? Why not jot it down in your journal to remember it later and share this anecdote with her again? 🤣 Did your buddy Flo slip in the corridor while running and fall in front of the entire class? 🤭 Another memory to record in your journal, so you can bring up this embarrassing anecdote to him in a few months! Did your math teacher notice the efforts you've put in and highlighted the progress you've made this semester? Precisely note her words, so you can revisit them in case you feel down, realizing that your efforts are not in vain and will eventually yield results!
It will do you good to reflect on your overall work by rereading your past entries; you'll see that not everything is as negative as you might think at the moment! Beyond the fact that these anecdotes can motivate you throughout the year, you'll also be happy to reread them in a few years when you've finished your studies, entered the workforce, and nostalgically recall all these little everyday adventures by reading your various writings from this period!
How to present your school journal?
Now that you know what your school journal can contain, you're wondering how to present it, what to include, or even how to start it? Here are some tips to help you get started, keeping in mind that your school journal should truly suit you and adapt to your own needs because, like any personal diary, it should please you and you alone. The more you personalize it, the more you'll be motivated to keep filling it in every day!
Start with a general introduction to your upcoming year.
When you purchase a paper planner, you often begin by filling out the small introductory page provided at the beginning. So why not do the same for the start of your school journal? Add a written introduction with the date of the school year, the class and/or program you're entering, the name of your main teacher, the name of your school, etc. You can even take a photo of your school and/or yourself on the first day to start the journal in an inspiring and motivating way, encouraging you to continue it throughout the year!
Choose what you want to note in your journal.
You can draw inspiration from the examples mentioned in the previous paragraph or choose to note additional things (schedule, grades, teacher names, ideas for an upcoming assignment, etc.). The goal is to have a template to replicate daily, forming the habit of writing the same information every day to develop consistency. This way, you can sustain the practice over time and easily find the information you're looking for compared to filling your journal randomly. Regularity and organization are two key aspects of maintaining your school journal, so feel free to use all the text editor options available on our website (underlining, italics, bold, different text sizes and fonts, and various color choices).
Don't hesitate to illustrate your writings as much as possible.
Beyond the written formatting, you can also take advantage of the opportunity we provide to add images, videos, or even audio to your entries to make them more dynamic and appealing for you. Did you have a fantastic outing with your class today and capture photos or videos of the excursion? Add them to your entry to include a nice visual touch to the experience! Did a friend send you an interesting idea for the upcoming French assignment due in two weeks, and you're afraid of forgetting it by then? Add a voice recording of that idea to the section dedicated to the assignment, so you can easily listen to it when you start working on the task!
On Diariste, you can choose whether to publish your entries or keep them private. Therefore, you are completely free to make your school journal public or private. The key is that you feel comfortable writing everything you want inside it, enabling you to stick with it throughout the school year!
If you're accustomed to keeping a school journal, we'd be delighted to read about your experiences in the comments section below, as well as any tips or ideas you have for maintaining this type of journal 😉