Melville, First, as to how to create new habits, another important piece is having the desire and drive to want it. That, along with repetition ought to achieve the wanted goal. Journals in the classroom are highly personal and individualized as to format and inclusion. For me, most often, it's been a reflection of the activities of a class that are memorialized. For instance, a student question not asked before, a new example or analogy that came to me spontaneously, or perhaps an area of emphasis that was new. My curriculum binders are organized by topics, and laden with post it notes, comments in the margins, clippings from...wherever. The journal part is sheets I've added to the back of a topic section where I'll make comments, terms or equations, observations about myself or students reactions or behaviors, and ideas about needs, or ideas about improvements needed. I review all of my notations as I prepare to discuss that topic. Others have adopted other methods, this is how mine has evolved. Barry Westling