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My Personal Journaling Adventure
By Joanne Tolles

Journaling has been my life-saver since I was in my mid twenties. I did not learn about free-writing until I was a graduate student at Cornell University. One day, my methods instructor (I was getting my Masters in Teaching in high school English) introduced me to the work of Peter Elbow. I learned almost overnight that it was not only possible, but also “acceptable,” to write from my heart. I learned that what I put down on paper had incredible power and worth to me – the creator of the writing. I learned that revision and editing was a step in the publishing process, not a requirement for my writing from the heart. I wish I knew what day I actually assimilated this knowledge into my own learning schema because this revelation changed my life.
I spent the next 20 years in the business world. During these years, I found solace in my free-writing. I had journals for writing about my marriage, my job, my family, my friends, and my travels. I also had journals for collecting other writer’s published gems. Many of my journals have been destroyed because of the intensely negative moments they captured.
About seven years ago I decided to leave the business world and finally teach. You see, I had a need to be an English teacher – a calling – a destiny. I now teach English at an alternative high school. Writing is my passion and passing on this passion to my students is my personal motivation.
Sure I teach literature and reading and grammar, but I also teach how to write from the heart. I teach journaling.

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