Trying to get 9th graders (especially boys) to keep up with notes and actually use them is a battle that I knew I was going to have to fight when I found out that I would be teaching Alg. 1 this year. I had already been looking into the idea of doing a sort of interactive notebook and decided that it was worth a shot. Like everything else I do with my kids, I had to take in information from a lot of different places, decide what would work for me, and make it my own. This means that my take on the Interactive Notebook idea is different that what a lot of people do, but so far it is working for me. One major difference is that I decided not to try to include practice work, daily/HW assignments, graded work, etc. Our notebooks are for notes, resources, and informational handouts. I told my kids that we are 'making our own textbook'. One of the reasons I set it up this way is that I want them to use their notebooks as a reference, therefore the information in it needs to be correct. By limiting the content to notes we complete together I am able to get as close to making sure the information in it is correct as possible. Also, we do a lot of activities and daily assignments in my class. If everything went into the notebook it would, quite honestly, just be too many pages and too much pasting. Another is that I decided to use spiral notebooks rather than composition notebooks. I listened to the arguments on both sides, but eventually decided that the spiral notebooks would serve my purposes better than the composition books.
So far I am LOVING these notebooks in Alg. 1. Win #1 - My kids have them every day. Seriously - they bring their notebooks to class every day. We're not talking honors students here. Most of my babies struggled significantly in 8th grade and have been identified as needing extra support to be successful in Alg. 1. These are not the students who are typically able to put their hands on notes from the day before with any level of consistency. The fact that the notebooks are traveling with them to class has been nothing less than amazing to me. Win #2 - My kids use them in class. Yes, you read that right. When we are practicing or working on a class activity their notebooks are out and turned to the page with that information on it. Win #3 - There aren't loose notes in their bookbags, binders, folders, pockets, or any of the other places they like to stash things. It drives me crazy when a kid unzips their bag and out falls 278 random papers from all 7 of their classes and they spend the next 20 minutes trying to put their hands on the 1 page they need from yesterday. Since all our notes are pasted into the notebooks this has become a non-issue (not that the information from their other classes is organized, but at least they can find what they need for my class). Win #4 - My kids like them. I've asked every one of my Alg. 1 classes what they think of the notebooks and they all have responded that the notebooks are helpful and worth the time it takes to make sure everything goes in them correctly. The kids have bought in. This, in my opinion, is the most important thing.
I will admit, that occasionally the cutting and pasting gets a little old. We have had to have multiple discussions about the importance of closing the tops on the glue, that too much glue makes the paper wet and then you can't write on it, and that scissors should not be spun around on your fingers. Overall though, my kids have done really well and at this point I would say that the notebooks are worth the time and effort.
My next post will be pictures of how I set up the notebooks and some of the pages inside them.
