Teaching Diverse Type of Notebook Entries:

 I'm a first year writing teacher and a few techniques that I've noticed my students do well in when writing is writing about memories and writing about things they visualize or see. 

Reaching into memory: A notebook entry should be personal. I don't think it should require students to write about the lesson or instruction.  A notebook gives students a voice, they're able to think about and express their valid feelings on a piece of paper. It should be there safe space. Memory of our lives and experiences that we deal with on a day to day basis. Most prompts like this are tailored for students to tell us things they've experienced in the past and how it affected them in a positive or negative way. Somethings could be difficult to let out, but this may be an outlet for students to talk about it and release their feelings. This is one of my stronger points in my content area. Most of my students do not struggle to right about things that they are familiar with because of the simple fact that they have so much to express and talk about.

Writing only with your eyes: I take this to be literary writing. Taking what you see from another persons perspective and writing about it in your own eyes or how you visualize it.  This helps students write only what they can see. It can be very interesting and unique to see how people are able to take one thing they see and write about it from their point of view. You will then see that most students see things differently and express their thoughts in different ways. 

Intentional Strategies VS. Assignments: 

Throughout a writing process within the notebook, not all journal entries should be structured. Why? A journal should be a safe place for students to produce and draft out thinking content. These thoughts can be shaped into, crafted and revised into a professional essay. These small strategies encourage students to be more open to writing. If students feel free with their writing, they are more likely to produce good content. This doesn't mean that it will be perfect.  Of course you will need to do some shaping, editing,  reflections and other tips to make their essay more formal, but this is a step to create a more open classroom culture as it ties into writing.