40 Journal Prompts for Students

Which class do you look forward to most right now, and what makes it different from the others? quick

Describe your favorite place to study. What do you see, hear and smell there? quick

What is one small thing you want to get done today before your last class ends? quick

Write down three things from today's classes that you want to remember tomorrow. quick

What is the best question someone asked in class lately, and why did it stick with you? quick

How did you feel walking into school or onto campus this morning? Name the feeling in one or two words, then say where it came from. quick

What is one subject you used to dislike that you see differently now? quick

Which supply, tool or snack makes a long study session easier for you? quick

Think of a teacher or professor who explains things in a way that clicks for you. What do they do that works? quick

What would a good school day look like tomorrow, from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep? quick

List the deadlines you have coming up this week. Which one feels heaviest, and which one feels easiest? quick

What is something you did well this week that nobody else noticed? quick

Describe how you actually studied for your last test, not how you meant to. What would you keep and what would you change? reflective

When do you focus best: early, midday or late at night? How does your schedule match that, or work against it? reflective

What does your phone do to your homework time? Write about one recent study session from start to finish. reflective

Write about a grade that disappointed you. What happened in the days before it, and what do you know now that you did not know then? reflective

Who do you study with, or who would you like to study with? What do you get from learning alongside other people? reflective

What is one goal you set at the start of this term? Where are you with it now, and does it still matter to you? reflective

Think of a time you asked for help with schoolwork. What made it easy or hard to ask? reflective

Which activity outside class, such as a club, team, job or hobby, gives you energy? Which one drains it? reflective

What do you do when you get stuck on a hard problem? Walk through the last time it happened. reflective

Describe a day when school felt like too much. What helped, even a little? reflective

What is a topic you would study on your own even if it were never on a test? reflective

If you could redesign one class you are taking, what would you change about how it is taught or graded? reflective

What is one habit you picked up this year that makes school easier, and one that makes it harder? reflective

How do you talk to yourself after a mistake on an assignment? Write down the exact words, then write what you would say to a friend instead. reflective

Whose expectations do you carry into your schoolwork: your own, your family's, a teacher's, a friend's? Write about where each one shows up. deep

Write about the moment you first felt you were good at something in school. What happened, and how has it shaped what you believe about yourself? deep

What would you study, or do after school, if no one else had an opinion about it? How close is that to your current plan? deep

Describe a time you failed at something academic and kept going. What did you learn about yourself that a good grade could not have taught you? deep

How do you measure whether you are doing well as a student? Write about where that measure came from and whether it is fair to you. deep

Think about the student you were two years ago. Write that younger you a letter about what school has taught you since then. deep

Where do you feel you belong at school or on campus, and where do you feel like an outsider? What makes the difference? deep

What is the hardest part of balancing school with the rest of your life right now (work, family, friends, rest)? Write honestly about what is giving way. deep

Write about a time you compared yourself to another student. What did you see in them, and what did that comparison leave out about you? deep

Imagine the last day of this school year. What do you hope you will be proud of, and what would need to happen between now and then? deep

What do you want your education to give you beyond a diploma or degree? Write about the kind of person you hope to become while you are learning. deep

Is there a pressure you feel at school that you have not told anyone about? Write about it here, and about one person who might be willing to listen. deep

Picture yourself five years from now looking back at this year. What do you hope that future you will understand about what you are going through now? deep