F E A T U R E S U M M E R 2 0 2 3
Paperless
HARNESSING THE POWER OF DIGITAL NOTEBOOKS FOR LANGUAGE CLASSES
by Catherine Hayward I enjoy organizing .
Everyone has a character flaw , and mine involves colorcoding and a constant search for efficiency . The education profession offers a multitude of opportunities to develop , perfect , and sometimes toss methods that maximize workflow for both teachers and students .
As language educators , we often teach more preps than our colleagues -- and that can require a different system for organization .
With every year of teaching , I encounter new challenges to staying organized . My biggest challenge : keeping track of paper . If it is on paper and in my possession , it will soon disappear . I remember as a first year teacher losing a student ' s entire test ! ( Don ' t worry - we found it eventually ). I began to take steps to ensure I didn ' t lose track of paper : making copies in advance and keeping them in binders labeled for each unit guided notetaking in composition books limiting homework assignments to workbooks utilizing letter trays ( like this one from Ikea )
These solutions required planning and did not account for spur-of-the-moment activities or resources . To share a new article or print a fresh passage of Latin required another trip to the copier . Simply sharing a document online did not allow for annotation and was less engaging .
The math teachers demonstrated their solution : one digital notebook , maintained by the teacher .
You may alreay be familiar with Microsoft OneNote . It wasn ' t always very impressive . OneNote began as a computer program for notetaking , but it was difficult to see the benefits in a time before tablets .
The OneNote of today has quickly become an essential part of my teaching practice .
EASY CLASS NOTEBOOK SETUP
If your school has a Microsoft education account , you already have access to this tool . The simplest method is through Microsoft Teams , although one can set up a Class Notebook other ways ( here are guides from Microsoft ).
While many teachers do not use Microsoft Teams after remote learning , it still syncs with a school ' s roster and creates a " Team " for each class . By selecting Class Notebook within a Team , a teacher can quickly create a notebook that duplicates for each member of the class . You can determine sections and tab names in advance .
My colleagues in the math department were encountering a similar situation . For years , seventhgrade students required a 2-inch binder to hold the paper notes , worksheets , and tests they received . While many of us remember the days of carrying large binders , it presented familiar challenges : excessive use of paper increased weight to carry increased likelihood of missing assignments
P R I M A | 1 2