Interactive
student notebooks are a great way to get students engaged in class and can keep
them organized. The following includes some of the steps I took when I first started
my interactive student notebooks, some lessons I’ve learned while using them,
some tricks to make things easier for you and some ideas of how you can use ISNs
in your classroom. Although I teach math, these notebooks can be adapted to any
subject area! Please leave any questions or comments below.
Getting
Started:
I highly suggest using a composition
notebook over a spiral one or any other kind where the pages may be perforated
and tear out easily. I buy each of my students a composition notebook at Target
around back to school time for about 50 cents each, minus my 5% red card
discount of course. If you have a student population that would buy their own
or school budget to purchase them, then I would suggest that.
You also need to have a pair of scissors and glue for each student that is easily accessible. When students are cutting or gluing it is much more time efficient if each student is completing the task at the same time. I have table groupings in my class and a basket of supplies for them to use. I also include a roll of tape and mini stapler for each group, not individually.
Having a teacher sample notebook
will be the key for you create to the formatting, determine how many pages the
notes will take and students to use as a reference. How you display the notes
for the students to copy will be up to you and depend on your resources. I
personally use an ELMO document camera to project the notebook and foldables
for students to copy and then have one completed ISN for each class. Some
teachers use the same notebook to project or use a smart board to have students
follow along with. So, create your sample notebook first and decide how you
will have students see what theirs should look like.
Formatting decisions will also need
to be made when creating your sample notebook. I personally have my students
write notes, vocab and formulas on the left side of the notebook and complete
example problems on the right. Other options would be to mix them together,
have students take notes on the left and complete homework on the right, or any
other way that works best for you and your students.
ISN Set Up:
I spend the whole second day of
school having students get their ISNs ready to be used for notes the next day. On
the very first page I have students glue in the syllabus so that it can be referenced
when needed, as well as any other pages they may find useful such as the ISN grading
rubric, the standards, helpful formulas, vocabulary, etc… Then we reserve a certain
number of pages to be used for the table of contents, which I found from Sarah
at Math Equals Love. Then we number. We number every page in
the book from 1 until the end. This helps with students writing on the wrong
pages, skipping pages or tearing any out. The last optional idea would be for
students to tape in a long string at the end of the book to be used as a book
mark in their ISN, this can help with grading.
Grading:
To grade the notebooks, I collect
them while students are taking their unit test so that I can grade, record and
pass them back within the period. Students earn 5 points for having their table
of contents complete and then 5 points for each set of notes. I know what pages
should look like so I take off points if students are missing titles, notes or examples.
I then write their total on the last page so they can see their score after they
are finished with their tests. The book mark mentioned above is helpful for
having students place the string where the notes for that unit begin.
Helpful
Hints:
1) Use
school glue over glue sticks. Although they may seem easier they are actually messier,
get on the desks, dry out and end up costing more in the long run.
2) Teach
the 5 dot method. Have students only apply 5 dots to anything they are gluing
in, one in each corner and one in the middle.
3) Color
coding. I color code the table of contents and any pages we glue in for that
unit by copying them all on the same color. I then use felt tip markers in
those colors when writing the notes with my students in the ISNs. It helps
students visually see different units during a quiz or final exam review time.
4) Do
not overwhelm yourself with foldables and graphic organizers. Start out with a
few good ones and add over the years. Not every set of notes is going to be
100% fantastic and let yourself know that that’s ok.
5) Don’t
reinvent the wheel. Find foldables from other teachers on teacher blogs, TeachersPayTeachers
or from colleagues at your site.
6) Let
students use them on quizzes. Students need to find their notes valuable and
worth taking, so by letting them use them on quizzes they have a reason to make
sure they are all filled in and easy to read.
7) Have
extra notebooks on hand for when a student transfers into the class, or a
student loses their notebook. (which honestly has only happened twice)
Reasons
why they’re great:
Organizational skills are not always
explicitly taught in school but “disorganization leads to lower grades and
achievement” (Gambill, Moss & Vescogni, 2008, p. ii). If we want our
students to be organized, we need to model it for them and one way to do this
is with ISNs. Students who take notes on loose leaf paper end up losing them, throwing
them away or never even taking them at all. I have had former students come
back saying they still use their notebooks in their next level of math class
because they are easy to navigate and have useful information.
Not
all students learn the same way but “the ISN is one way for the teacher to plan
lessons which will meet students’ varied learning styles” (Green, 2010, p. 3). By
getting students using their hands to cut, fold and write they are more
involved in their learning. The notebooks are a great tool when completing homework
to use as a reference and some teachers have students complete their homework
in the notebooks so they have the resources they need right there.
Closing:
I beyond highly recommend using ISNs
in any subject and I hope that some of my experiences will help you consider
starting one in your own. Students interact with their notes, engage with the
notes and refer back to them when they complete them in this manner. Students
learn how to organize using the table of contents and by organizing the pages
how you choose helps them know where to find anything they are trying to
reference. Feel free to leave any comments or questions, I would love to
connect with other ISN enthusiasts or those who want to be.
References
Gambill,
J. M., Moss, L. A., & Vescogni, C. D. (2008). The impact of study skills and organizational methods on student achievement. Online
Submission.
Green, T.
(2010). The effects of the interactive
student notebook on fifth grade math and science achievement.
