Confessions from the Couch » Ode to Ms. H. & Interactive Notebooks

Ode to Ms. H. & Interactive Notebooks

I want to send out a SPECIAL thank you to Ms. H of Molding Young Minds. Yes, my friends, she is a GENIUS!

Oh, Ms. H, you’re genius

What a great help to us teachers

Now I can manage the trenches

Now, My students will rise like tenors

Okay, I know I’m not a poet . . .just grateful for her ideas.. .and, hey, I tried!

I have been struggling with kids completing the bellwork, maintaining a decent notebook (a study tool) and just holding onto materials for use at a later time. And the notebook that they were to complete was not working for me or THEM. So, this semester, I decided to do a pilot in my AAH classes. At the suggestion of Ms. H, we have been putting together interactive notebooks made from composition books. And it is working! Here is the process:

Students are required to purchase a composition book.
We’ve made a table of contents out of the first 3 pages.
During bellwork, the class clerk passes out returns. We stop for a moment to glue in things together. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes for everyone to take old stuff paste it. And, YES, in high school, you still have to teach them HOW to work with glue. *sigh*
After bellwork, I tell them what we are going to do that day. We list it on the table of contents. Students write a note on that page in their notebook to reserve for that item, if it is something that they are turning in for a grade on that day.
We made a foldable (a mini-book) that will contain ALL of their bellwork for the unit we are studying. I will take it up at the end of the unit. Students made a pocket in their composition book to keep their journal (the mini-book) in! So, everyday, I say, “Take out your journal, date the next available space and begin today’s bellwork assignment.”
We made a second pocket in our composition books for VOCABULARY. For every vocabulary word they are given, students must make an “index card” from white or construction paper. The front of the “index card” contains the word & a graphic illustration, the back contains the definition. We used a paper clip to ensure that “cards” are secure in the pocket. Also, when I take them up for a grade, it will be easy to manage. And now students have a study tool for vocabulary.
I’ve already started the rightside/left side things. The first assignment was to create a chart of the African civilizations & then write a poem about it. So, on the left side, they have glued in the chart and on the right side is their poetry.
Lastly, I have a place in the classroom where students return their composition books at the end of the hour. Yes, students leave their notebooks in the classroom. Why? B/c a major source of my problem is they don’t bring their supplies to class. Many come to class without paper, book or pen–lets not even start talking about that notebook I required. Basically, they just show up everyday . AND the best thing of all: I’ll have QUALITY WORK to show parents during conferences: “Here is the work Bobby has completed. Here are all of his graded tests. He can improve by . . ..”

The response from the kids has been AMAZING. One student who takes me for both World History and AAH said, “Miss Teacha, why aren’t we doing this WH. This soooo much easier than that big binder you have us keeping up with.” This has helped me realize that I am TEACHING them organization skills with the composition books! We’ve only been using them for 2-3 weeks, so I’ll have to review it again in a month or so and include pictures (here on my blog) to really examine the effectiveness. And at that time, I’ll determine if grades and student success improve!

Issues:

Some students have NOT purchased the composition books I have requested last semester. I offered extra credit if purchased it before the break and left it in the classroom with me. Solution: I will go to Wally World today and purchase about 25 of them. I will sell them in my classroom for $2. Why so much? For the students who simply can’t afford it, I will just give them one. So, they will purchase for themselves and someone else! Also, co-teacher is trying out this experiment and has lost over $10 selling composition books to students b/c she didn’t charge them tax and giving notebooks to needy students.

My student supply and work area has become a MESS!!! A ROYAL mess!!! Today, I am going to purchase a storage drawer system to organize the glue, tape, staplers, scissors, construction paper, white paper. You know a few years ago, Miss CF had a marvelous idea that I will implement next year: make a class set of student packets with ziplock bags-they will contain all supplies 1 stapler, 1 bottle of glue, scissors, a set of coloring pencils or crayons. Basically, students pick up their packet and replace it at the end of the hour. She suggested that I number each packet and the students were to only pick up their packet every day. If something was missing the next hour, I’d know who to blame. If I did this, I’d only have to worry about 1 tub of stuff, not a drawer for each type of craft item.

I am really NERVOUS about letting these notebooks leave the classroom, when its time to study for a test or quiz. The whole purpose of this is so students come to class PREPARED and ready to learn. My students are notorious for not bringing things. Personally, I think it is their way of avoiding work, who knows?

With the help of Ms. H and these websites, anyone can do it. Mind you, I have not followed instructions on these websites to the letter. I have synthesized and mixed it will my own style–what I am doing is not a true interactive notebook. But it’s working!

Overview of Interative Notebooks
Notebook Wiki
A Handout
Ms. Beery’s Handout; the main site
AVID Learning Log. I am using this document to provide reflective questions at the end of the lesson that students respond to in their composition books after completing a lesson.

AAH, Reflections, Teaching Strategies, classroom management | Miss Teacha | January 16, 2010 9:08 am

8 Comments

By Ms. H, January 16, 2010 @ 10:01 am

Thanks for the shout out, girlie!! I am SO glad that I was able to help you out.

I was nervous about letting them take their notebooks with them, but they’ve done really good with keeping track of them. I spent a couple of days in class letting them use scrapbook paper and stickers to decorate them & we covered ‘em with clear contact paper. Since they see their gazette as an extension of their personality, they keep track of it…and are SAD if they can’t find it!! (Score one for me: I bamboozled them into keeping track of a “textbook”!!!)

Maybe if you start building the hype in your other classes about “I want to do these cool notebooks with y’all….but I have to be sure that everybody has their book first. Look how much easier they are to carry…and you can decorate it….oooo, it would be so fun to take with you to college…. but we can’t do it unless everyone has one….”

They’d prolly have their notebooks the next class ..AND make sure they took care of the kids that can’t afford ‘em.

Hahah! Bamboozled!!
By ricochet, January 16, 2010 @ 10:12 am

I have done this for a couple of years with mixed results in my remedial math classes. I have made it “important” by assigning a test grade at the end of each semester for having the notes.

I will be doing this in my threepeater algebra class – and my tests will be based on the book.
By ricochet, January 16, 2010 @ 6:16 pm

I am having trouble opening Ms. Beery’s document.

You might also look at http://transformededucator.blogspot.com/ he did a neat thing with a class wiki.
By theboyzmomma, January 17, 2010 @ 9:20 am

I have been using interactive notebooks for a few yeas now in Language Arts. I now teach grade eight LA, and this has been the best year with them ever. These students actually realize that all they need to know is in there. I see them whipping them out when I don’t even mention them, so when I begin a review the marble pattern begins flashing across the room.

I keep a portion of the room for their supplies: tape, stapler, glue, colored pencils, scissors, etc. They grab what they need at the start of class. Previous years I had students take a caddy to their section of the room, but I have less kids this year.

I did have to act a little crazy to insist that I had better not see their glorious faces in my class, if they do not have their notebooks.They do take them home each night, well or to their lockers. They bring them back, but my dilemma is getting them to study it regularly, so I thought about starting notebook quizzes.
By Ainslie, January 17, 2010 @ 6:33 pm

Love the new site! And love those strategies. Just awesome. I am a big fan of getting students to keep books in the classroom. No excuse for learning then.
By cupcake, January 24, 2010 @ 7:12 pm

That sound you hear is me kissing your and Ms. H’s tootsies for this idea. I’m totally stealing it and using it with my so-called honors classes this semester. We have 90-minute classes, and my students tend to drift and wander – as would I, need I add, because I think 90-minutes is way too frigging long for most students to withstand in high school. These notebooks seem like they will help keep us all on task. My only concern, more so than the possibility of them being lost, is that they seem to require a lot of organization on my part. And, well, that could be a problem.
By TeacherMom, January 25, 2010 @ 9:54 am

I can’t wait to see some pics/examples! This sounds like a wonderful idea! I have seen so many papers falling out of binders – and complete disorganization. This is much neater. Thank you, as always, for the inspiring posts.
By bnberlin, May 19, 2010 @ 4:01 pm

MissTeacha, I’m wondering how you feel about these books now that the end of the year has come. I’d like to hear your final impressions now. I might steal this idea for next year…