Interactive notebooks are my ride or die classroom resource. It is easy to find things to fill your interactive notebook with, but it is a struggle to find information on how to put them together or implement them. I wish I had a resource like this to use when I was learning about them so I made one for you!
I got hired 2 days before the school year started as a DSAP (aka I had no clue what I was doing and hadn’t even finished school yet). So of course I quickly googled everything I could think of relating to becoming an 8th grade math teacher. After a few hours, I found @mathequalslove (BEST math blog ever!!) and became obsessed with interactive notebooks (INBs). I still use some of her resources and puzzles to this day. She offers everything for free and is an amazing human! My first INB was a spiral bound notebook, some notes were hand written, some were printed out all organized by a table of contents. Putting them together was a learning curve because I had no idea how important teaching procedures to properly use supplies was. I didn’t have pages planned out for more than a day in advanced but hey, it was a great year and an amazing introduction to the interactive notebook learning curve for me!
Year two I found @maniacsinthemiddle and thought wow! She makes this look so easy, what can I do differently to make these work better in my classroom. I still used spiral bound notebooks, I still had students take them home with them, I still used a table of contents, and using INBs still took up more time than it should have. The one thing I did get better at was setting up routines and procedures for how to get, use, and put away supplies.
Year three I changed to composition notebooks, unit tabs, had great procedures supplies already set up and there was not as much chaos. The notebooks were starting to come together, but year three also didn't really count because of well...COVID. Everything was dropped and we were using digital notes. This year I did find @iteachalgebra and she saved me for 2020 teaching (thank you Rory!!).
Let’s fast forward to year five (this year), since year 4 consisted of cohorts and more crazy COVID teaching things. These are things I have learned over the years and implement now in my classroom to make using interactive notebooks quick, painless, and important to student learning!
Composition notebooks are a must! - I have found these notebooks hold up best for the entire year. I use half sheet shipping labels to print covers for all my students. I print them in color to differentiate which color class they are in. I have three sections (pink, green and blue). Click to purchase the labels I use.
Module dividers help students find pages quickly and track student learning.- I have used table of contents, tabs and dividers but like dividers the best. I color code each unit and put unit learning targets on them so students can check them off as them master the skill. Click here for a FREE editable unit divider.
Individual student supply boxes make the process quick and painless. - This is a feasible option for me since I only have about 65 students. In each supply box I include a pencil, a dry erase marker, a glue stick, a roll of tape and a pair of scissors. When I had over 100 students I had a ten drawer rolling cart that I kept supplies in. Click to purchase the supply boxes I use.
Use guided notes. - It takes middle schoolers forever to write things down. They also miss important information. I create my own notes with blanks to fill in and examples, based off of the curriculum used at my school, that students cut out and out in their notebooks. I print them out at 80% in order to fit in the composition notebooks. You can find many INB resources on TPT or google. Click here to see my notes on TPT.
Tidy tubs help with clean up. - I pass out 4 small plastic bins that students can put small scraps in when cutting out notes or activities. This saves time and chaos because every student does not have to get up and throw their scraps away. Click here for the bins I use.
Give specific directions on how to cut and glue. - In the beginning of the year I remind students they don’t need to use a whole roll of tape or entire glue stick for one page. Click here for a FREE google slide on how to glue and tape.
Keep them in the classroom. - The first two years I let students take notebooks home with them. Talk about a HOT mess, students would constantly forget them or they would be falling apart by December. I’ve somehow gotten lucky and have always had shelves in my room. I dedicate one shelf to each class. Since my classes sit in rows I have the person who sits closest to the shelf grab the pile at the beginning of the class and pass them to the right. At the end of class, each row passes their notebooks back to the left and the person closest puts them on the class shelf. This process, after being practiced, takes one minute at the beginning and one minute at the end of class.
Have a plan for absent students. - I keep a digital notebook on google classroom which has a copy of all the teacher notes. This way students can use the notes to study or complete homework assignments. I also have a teacher notebook I keep in the classroom for students to copy down notes when they return. I try to have the notes already glued/taped in for them so pages don’t get messed up or lost.
Most importantly, using interactive notebooks in conjunction with guided notes, foldables, or activities that have to be cut out and glued/taped in provides a built in break/talk time for students!
Just because something didn't work for my classroom doesn't mean it wont work for yours. If you like an idea test it out, things might work differently for you!
Want my free check list on what to plan for before implementing interactive notebooks in your classroom?
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