The Options

You will collect all of your entries all in a single platform that you can submit to for review. There are three options:

• notebook. If don’t have easy access to a computer for writing journal entries or if you just write faster by hand, this is your best option. I always have a note book going. If you choose this option, you will get a notebook that holds only your journal for this class. I will collect it from time to time, and you don’t want me to have your welding notes.
• Microsoft Word document. If you have ready access to a computer and keyboard quickly but don’t always have internet access, this is a good option.  You can use my Google Doc template to get your Word document set up and then just add to it through out the semester. You will need to learn how to use Word insert a table of contents. I can help.
• Google Doc. This may be the easiest if you type fast and have access to a computer and WIFI all the time. You can just copy and edit the template and you are ready to go.

I will talk you through using my handy Google Doc template in this chapter. If you already use another platform to keep a blog or journal (WordPress, Blogger, whatever) and would like to keep your journal on one of those platforms, let’s talk. You need to make sure that I can access your platform and that I can easily see the required entries for this class. If you are new to journaling or want to keep me well away from your blog, plan to use notebook or my Google Doc template or to convert the Google Doc to a Word file and keep your journal in a Word document.

The Google Doc Template

I have created a template for a very simple Google Doc journal. This video walks through how to adopt it. Here are the details:

Step 1. Get the template.

My template is in my Drive. That won’t do you much good since you can’t access my Drive. At the bottom of these guidelines is a link will generate a copy of the template. You will need to save it to a Drive that you can access. Then you need to decide Google Doc or Microsoft Word. If you pick Google Doc, you can head for Step 2. If you pick a Word document as your platform, you will

1. make a copy of the Google Doc template
2. pull down the File menu in Google Docs
3. click “Download the template as a Word file”
4. find the download
5. move the Word file to a folder you have set up for our class.

Then you are ready to head for Step 2. The video walks through all of this stuff.

Step 2. Name your journal.

Your Google Doc or Word file will be named in a very boring way. Mine is named Lundberg_ENG195_sec626. That is last name_ENGL195_sec#. This name makes it easy for me to move through journals when I assess them, so thanks. Inside my journal, I’ve added a subtitle (“The Iron County Almanac”). You can do that too. You don’t have to. You probably don’t want to use my subtitle. Not sure how to do this? Watch the video.

Step 3. Set up your journal.

Not much to do if you are keeping an electronic journal. Open the Google Doc or Word file and

1. Decide on your title. Remember, you do not need a subtitle, but you do need to delete mine that’s in the template.
2. Add your name where my name is in the template.
3. Done.

If you are using a notebook, you will need to

1. leave room at the front of the journal for a table of contents (3 pages should do)
2. on the first page, name your journal
3. under your name, write “Table of Contents”
4. flip to page 4 and write a title at the top of the page (“Journal Entry 1” might work for now)

Good to go.

Step 4. Start writing in your journal.

You can customize your journal in anyway you wish. Google Docs makes it easy to embed images and videos, insert hyperlinks, and do other bits that web pages do. Notebooks let you draw, staple in extra pages, whatever. Have fun. If you keep a digital journal, make sure that at the least you

• Number your pages (Google Docs and Word make this easy).
• Title your entries so that it is easy for me to give you credit for completing the required entries.
• Write complete entries.

If you keep an electronic journal, you need to decide what order entries will be in: chronological (first entry first) or reverse-chronological (most recent entry first). If you use a notebook, plan to keep entries in chronological order.

Link to template