I don't like journals. There's something about being required to write down my innermost thoughts and then having to show them to a teacher that bothers me. It's too much to ask. It's downright unreasonable, and it's too much to ask. When I taught public school I promised my students they would never be forced to keep either a Personal or a Response Journal - I've never heard such a heavy sigh of relief from so many people at once.
Some journals are downright useful.
Others are not. The most common journals, of course, are the Personal and the Response Journal, both of which vary in terms of requirements and design. Usually the Personal Journal is unstructured, and can therefore cause little more than an inconvenience for a student. Often Personal Journals go unread - teachers simply look to see that something has been written on a certain page, and then put a check mark in their grade books. Let me tell you something.