Interactive Notebook Follow-Up

So, it is the end of the year and I am reflecting on the interactive notebooks that we used this year. Honestly, I felt the stress of trying to keep each student (and myself) on the same page of each notebook.  At the beginning of the year, I wanted to have every student on the same numbered page with the same notes on that page.  However, that did not happen and it was very stressful for my OCD self! So, I gave up with the strict organizational method and just had each student take notes on whatever the next page was in their own, individual notebook.  So, what started out as a nice, organized Interactive Notebook, was not as fun as I thought and it was not really very "interactive" as I had imagined.  It ended up just being a notebook with note in it.  We did tape some of our things in them, but overall, it was still just a notebook with notes.  It makes me sad now that I think about it, but it did make the class a lot less stressful and it allowed each student to feel less stressed as well.

Here are some of the fundamental problems with the strict rules that I put on my interactive notebooks using the Cornell Method of note-taking:
1. Each student writes bigger/smaller than another one.  Since the Cornell Method calls for certain notes on certain sides/sections of the notebook, if a student's writing is too large, they won't be able to fit all the notes in the particular section.  This stresses the student out.  Then, the student raises their hand and asks what they should do.  What should they do? I am honestly not sure and that is one flaw for using the Cornell method with middle school students.

2. The next issue with this method that causes an issue is that every single lesson may not lend itself to this method of taking notes.  While a lesson should have certain components, this method feels too rigid for me.  It forces me to feel like I have to create certain components that may not really work well with the lesson for that day.  While this might be a good method for other subject areas or even certain ELA lessons, I don't plan to use this method next year because it just felt too rigid for me.

3. At the end of the day with Cornell Notes, the method calls for a question or reflection after the lesson.  In order to check these, I would have to take up the entire notebook. While this doesn't seem like much for one notebook, it gets crazy when you are checking 30 plus notebooks.  It is nearly impossible to tote these home to grade. I always feel like it is semi-pointless if you can't at least look at what the students are doing.

4. Students just do not listen and follow directions perfectly.  Therefore, this method will not work flawlessly because if a student does not get the right notes on the right page, then their notes are not just the same as the teacher's and other student's.

Next Year:
Next year, I get to teach with another teacher.  Usually I am the only ELA teacher for 7th and 8th grades, but I get to share the 7th grade with my best friend this coming year.  Together, we have decided to use a 3-ring binder. This was after some feedback from our students who say they like being able to put pages into the rings without destroying the notebook or without getting it out of order. I like this idea, too. Also, though, I like the idea of a composition book to put journals and other writings in. I think if they put all of their writings in one bound notebook, they will be able to keep up with these and they will be able to easily look at the past writings. I intend to use dividers for them to separate their work because I hand out a lot of things and it actually took up a lot of our class time for students to cut and paste/tape these things into a bound composition book.  The divider tabs will have: article of the week (aow), notes, texts/things we are reading, vocabulary, and misc.

I think having a bound notebook for just writing that is not turned in will be beneficial and I am excited for this! Maybe I can come up with a cute, catchy name for this notebook as well! I hope to have students decorate the front like we did this year.  We will create characters for narratives and begin brainstorming in our writer's notebooks (the bound ones).  We will also practice writing in these and write things that are considered practice things in them. Anything that we have to turn in for a grade will be written on paper that can be turned in easier.

First Day of Interactive Notebooks

Today was the first day of interactive notebooks and I think it was a great success! I feel very confident with the work we have done so far in them.  We actually accomplished a lot in the 90 minutes that I have them.  It was slightly more difficult to get the students' pages coordinated with mine as far as having everything on the same page number and getting it organized correctly in the table of contents, but I know the hard work will pay off when the notebooks are orderly.  I am excited to see how this newfound organization will help my students learn.

It took a little time and a lot of demonstrating with my own example notebook to get our notebooks ready, but we did it!  One class even got finished early and I was able to do an "Example Notes" lesson with them. They were very curious to learn how we would use these notebooks.  The most helpful thing I learned from today is that I am glad I made a "Teacher Notebook" as an example.  It really helped them to see me do it along with them and this is a strategy that I will implement daily in my classroom!

Example Note-Taking Lesson

This is the reading list where
my students will record the
books that they read this year.
I found this gem in the book
Reading in the Wild by
Donalyn Miller.

This is the table of contents that I made for our
notebooks.  After all of my classes had taped it in, a sweet
student helped me realize that...I had misnumbered!
It was a sad moment, but then, we just scratched them
out and corrected them.

I had thought that we would have enough time to decorate our notebooks by pasting clippings from magazines on the front cover (and maybe the back, too), but we didn't get to do this yet! I do still hope to do this.  Maybe on Monday.  Decorating the notebooks really allows the kids to personalize them and I honestly think it allows them to engage with my class more.  It is something that is personal to them and that makes it more meaningful.  I had been told this before, but I had never really believed it until I saw it for myself. Having something of their own, even if it is just a notebook, is important for middle school kids.  I can't wait to see how these notebooks affect my teaching and their learning!

A Day in the Class of Mrs. T's Interactive Notebooks

This summer, I have been researching to learn the best note-taking strategies for my middle school students.  I am going to use my own adaptation of interactive notebooks, (click the link to see the first post about interactive notebooks on this blog) but I will also be using Cornell notes.  Cornell notes is a systematic approach to taking notes that I think will give structure for my middle school kids and will help me plan and teach more effectively and efficiently.  Cornell notes are actually used excessively in law school as well, which really impressed me.

"IN"/ Bell Work
At the beginning of class, the student should open their notebook so that there are two blank pages: one on each side.  Then, they draw a line dividing the left page in half.  They begin the day with a bell work activity.  This is where I am using mentor sentences (click to see post about mentor sentences) and you can see this in the picture below.  A lot of interactive notebooks call this the "IN" portion of the notebook.  I like calling it bellwork, but I can also go with calling it the "IN" because the kids do this when they first get "IN" class.

This is what the notebook should look like
at the beginning of each class period.

THROUGHOUT CLASS
After the kids do their bellwork and we discuss it, we are ready to move to the "THROUGHOUT CLASS" section of the notebook.  Now, I have struggled with this side because, if you really look at it, this one page is not really very big for a day of notes.  But, after thinking about it, it might help me be more concise.  I can only include what is really necessary for the lesson instead of having students take notes that are not needed.  For this section of the notebook, we will be using the Cornell note taking strategies that are pictured here.

This is how I will have my students set up their notebooks for a day of class. 

Once the lesson is over, I will give the students a few minutes to complete the left side of the Cornell notes.  This section is kind of like a reflection where students look at the notes I have given them, and then, they will either write questions about the notes that they will use when it is time to review.  Or, they can use bullet points to capture the most important points in their own words.  It is very important that they do it in their own words because it allows them to read what I give them and then actually think about it, reflect upon it, and then write about it.
At the very end, they will write a few sentences summarizing the lesson, again, in their own words.


 OUT/Closure
At the end of the lesson, I will use the "OUT" or Closure side for a few different things.  The first option is to have a few questions about the lesson to have students use their notes and think about what they have learned.
Another option is to have students write down what their homework assignment is so that they will remember it.  For example, they could write down that they have to read chapter 1. Or that they need to complete worksheet 11.
A final option is to have students write down the questions they will need to do for homework so that they will have them ready beside of their notes to do.

The main benefit that I see in using this method is that it will allow students to have an organized approach to taking notes in your class.  There is accountability and I honestly think it will help them learn to be more organized since they really don't have anyone to teach them but us.
While we do take many notes in my class, I know that there are days that we don't take notes, but, instead, do an activity or some group work.  If that is the case, I will not have the students use the Cornell notes, but I will still have them do the Bellwork and the Closure.  In the THROUGHOUT CLASS section, I will have them use this section to do the activity.  I think it is really important that they have all their notes together in this one bound notebook.

Let me know what you think.
I will be updating you soon when we start back to school in about 10 days!

I Love Notebooks and I Cannot Lie!

In about 2 weeks, school starts back and, while I will miss the warm summer days at home with my kids, I am really excited about some interactive notebook ideas that I will be using in my 7th and 8th grade classes this year.

The Notebook

I am going to have students use the composition books without the spiral binding so that there is no spiral to get crushed in their bookbags when they take them home.  I would also love for the notebooks to be college-ruled paper, but that is just my preference.  The main thing that is important to me is that each student will have a notebook.  If someone is unable to bring a notebook, I will just buy some extras and give them one!

The first day, we will save a few pages for the table of contents that we will include to help keep our notebooks organized, and then we will number the pages in the notebook. Yes. Every page.  Seems time-consuming, but I think it will be worth it to be able to use these numbers to find certain notes when needed.  I am thinking about printing off a table of contents and having the students glue it in their notebooks to make this portion neater and easier for them (and me).  I am also going to let my kids decorate their notebooks the first week so that they will be able to "make it their own."  I always love this and I think it allows them to put their own personality into it.  I have also heard that they really do value it more when it represents them.  I plan to decorate a notebook along with my students and I think it will really help as an icebreaker activity.

We are also going to create a few lists in our notebooks.  So far, I want them to include the books they have read (starting at the beginning of school) and the books they want to read.  I think they will like this list idea and I might add more as the ideas come along. 

I have been doing some research about interactive notebooks and notetaking in general, and I think I have a plan for how these notebooks will work in my classroom quite well. I really like the idea of having a specific spot for each portion of class, so I am going to be using the "Input/Output" method, but with my own twist. 

Each day, students will have their notebooks open so that there is a clean page on the left and the right.  I am going to have my students draw a line dividing the left side of the notebook in half hamburger-style).  The top portion will be the Bell Work that we will do each day.  I will be using mentor sentences from our literature selections for our Bell Work.  I found out about mentor sentences during an in-service this summer from TNCore and I am IN LOVE with mentor sentences to teach grammar through writing.  I have always heard this is the best way, but I was unsuccessful with integrating it into my class. Until now.  (More on this later.)  So, the bell work will be the left top and then we will move to the right hand side where we will take notes or do whatever the blunt of the lesson calls for that day.  At the end of the lesson, we will move back to the left bottom side and it will either be a reflection for the lesson or a place for students to either write what the homework is (if it is too lengthy to do in this small space).  If the homework is short enough to complete in that space, they will complete it there.

While I do plan to use some foldables and to have students tape in some note pages as the year goes on, I think these notebooks will really help keep everything together for me (and my kids).  The past few years, I have many notes to give, but I have been horrible at keeping them accountable for their notes; I think this notebook will help them keep it altogether and research shows that, by taking notes, students will retain the information better.  (I am also going to use Cornell notes, which I will share soon!)

The Folder

After thinking about this interactive notebook, I realized that I do need my students to have a place to keep the occasional handout and any other loose papers.  Middle school students need someone to teach them organizational skills, and I think these notebooks and folders will help with that.  So, I am also going to have my students use a folder with the prongs in the middle and the two pockets on the side.  I am going to have them put blank papers in the center prongs and this is going to be their dictionary for our vocabulary words.  Each week, they will record the words and definitions in this portion (between the prongs).  I plan to have them create a page for each letter of the alphabet so that they can record the definitions dictionary-style to create their own, personal dictionary.  On the left side of the folder, they will keep work we are currently doing.  This is usually just for that specific week since I will take it up on Fridays to grade it.  Then, on the left side, they will keep work that has been graded.  We will clean this all out as needed (probably every 3 weeks) and I plan to have a folder with each kid's name on it in  my filing cabinet.  When we clean it out, they will put their graded work in this folder and I will have this to show parents the wonderful work we are doing in class. 

I am currently working on some example notebooks to show my kids on the first day (and to post on here), but I am very excited for this interactive notebook integration this year! I think it will help students be more organized and it will allow me to be more organized as well.