Charms Journal: Writing Guide by Mina Lofthouse
written by Mina Lofthouse
In Year One of Charms, all students are asked to keep a journal of their progress in Charms class. It is meant to be a record of thoughts and observations during class, as well as a record of students practising the charms they learned. As many students are uncertain about what exactly such a Charms Journal is meant to entail, this writing guide will be updated with the most commonly asked questions.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
4
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1,014
Chapter 1: General Information
Chapter 1
How To Use This Guide
The following paragraphs will act as a guide to writing and understanding the concept of a journal and the expectations of the journal assignments throughout the year. This section will provide you with general information, while the next pages are a FAQ section that will be updated whenever new questions arise.
What is a journal?
A journal is a reflective form of writing where the author expresses his or her thoughts, feelings, observations and notes regarding anything that they experience in the moment. The purpose of the journal is to keep an account of what you saw, heard, felt in that moment (sometimes considered to be daily / weekly accounts) and allows you to go back to it as a form of reflection on how you’ve progressed over time.
The many synonyms for a journal include but are not limited to:
- Personal Diary
- Log Book
- Chronicle
- Review
- Daily Record
Why do we need to write a journal for the Charms Course?
Charms is a practical course where constant practice of the charms learned helps develop skills and prowess. A journal therefore becomes a record of how you performed at the start of learning a spell, after practicing for a period of time, over a year and so on. It allows you to see how you have developed and acts as a guide on how to improve yourself over time. With the difficulty of the spells as the year progresses, a journal will help you to determine how far you have come.
How do we write a journal?
Journals can be written in any form, provided they serve the purpose of reflecting the thoughts and observations of the author on a relevant topic (topic at hand). The following forms of writing can be used to pen a journal:
- As a role play format
- As a letter to a friend, family member or relative.
- As a series of logs
- As a formal report
- As a story
- ...
Requirements of a journal
A well written journal should consist of the following items:
(1) Well structured paragraphs on ...
... what was learned
... what was extracted from the lesson or practice
... how it affected you, or didn’t affect you
... how you plan to use the information, etc.
(2) Labelled entries that denote which lesson is being talked about.
(3) Appropriate use of grammar and language.
(OPTIONAL) Dated entries to help account for the when and the where.
Avoid unnecessary and unneeded information. The best journals are those that are relevant and precise. Regurgitation of the lesson content will not be accepted.
Journal Plan
Additionally, the first assignment asks that you prepare a journal plan to explain to us how you are going to write your journal entries. The plan does not ask for the entry itself but a short explanation of how it will be written. As the assignment says, do not write a journal entry, just explain how you will be formatting your journal.
If you have any further questions, please direct them to one of the Charms PAs, Head Girl Mina Lofthouse or Professor Virneburg. We would be happy to guide you!
