ABSTRACT
Note taking and journal keeping expand the thought processes and provide means of personal exploration and reflection. A journal's very privacy, intimacy, and personal content make it a powerful avenue for learning. Because each individual decides what he/she will enter in the journal, the experience is customized, allowing for and inviting different perspectives, different senses of what really matters, and a unique opportunity for each person to express those things that have the greatest individual relevance and meaning. There is an alternative that works rather well. In place of a written record, students can benefit from keeping a scrapbook of what they are learning and how they are doing. The scrapbook becomes an important resource for student, parents, and teacher. Higher student achievement ought to be the goal in any educational situation. As students begin to act on the basis of genuine interest, as they sense the unlimited opportunities available in the classroom, and as they practice reflective self-assessment.
