This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 49 of the Cult of Pedagogy podcast.

In this episode, I'm going to talk with my guest, Liz Galarza, about how dialogue journals can be an outstanding tool for building relationships with students.

How well do we know our students?

I mean, they sit in our classrooms five days a week.

We certainly spend lots of time with them, but how well do we really know them?

How well do we know their thoughts, their worries, the things they obsess about?

And how well do they ever get to know us beyond our role as a teacher?

I've been hammering away at the importance of the teacher student relationship for about as long as Cult of Pedagogy has been a thing.

But every now and then I come across something new, a method or approach that can really help build those relationships more effectively.

And that's what I want to talk about today.

My friend Liz Galarza, who teaches middle school writing in New York, has been telling me for ages about these dialogue journals she uses with her students and how

transformation all the journals have been in building her relationships with students.

The journals had such a profound impact that Liz made them the focus of her doctoral dissertation.

Having done something similar with my own students with similar effects, I have experienced the power of these kinds of journals.

So I invited Liz to share her system in this episode.

Before I play the interview, a quick thank you to everyone who has left a review for this podcast on iTunes.

Every review brings more listeners to the show and I read and love every single one of them.

So if you've been enjoying this podcast and you haven't left a review yet, take a few minutes, go over to iTunes and tell me what you think.

Okay, let's learn about dialogue journals.

Liz, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

And Liz, if you would just please give us a quick description of just who are you?

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