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Using a Digital Notebook to Stay Organized
by Grant Zimmerman


 

 Last night I was mulling over the idea that having digital assistance to stay and keep organized is indeed a good thing. Along with putting my students through the regular paces required by testing, local, and state standards and the more rigorous learning that is a natural product of authentic learning units, the students in the Zoo (the affectionate nickname given to my classes) learned how to stay organized.
This all started on the first day of class. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t begin teaching your students how to get organized because it’s February. Just make tomorrow your first day. Consistent talking and thinking about the attributes of being organized makes this program work for all of your students. Follow these simple procedures:
1.      Everyone uses one 2”-3”, three ring binder notebook. OneNote screen clip of the document, Table of Contents.
2.      Have a section (tabbed dividers) for each class.
3.      Use a numbered lesson Table of Contents to keep track of daily/weekly work for the practice activities. For example, if today’s math lesson is complementary and supplementary angles and is the sixth lesson in this unit (in preparation for sailing across the Atlantic—see my previous blog about Virtual Geometry and Geography), then complete the Table of Contents with the lesson information.
4.      For the first couple of months, make ten minutes, twice each week, to check the notebooks. Look for completed Table of Contents, are the students’ papers ordered according to the Table of Contents, loose papers are repaired, etc. Students know that organizing is important because you are making the time to learn and practice organization. These checks demonstrate living skills that curriculum writers seem to forget about.
Microsoft® knows and understands the importance of being and staying organized. Microsoft packages OneNote with the Teacher/Student edition of Microsoft Office. Create Notebooks and Sections to hold your ideas and work. OneNote also offers embedded video and audio capabilities. Turn on the recorder and capture your ideas while working in groups. Move Pages and Sections using the familiar drag and drop action. Use the pen feature with a Tablet computer to take notes with the stylus, or use the keyboard to type in your notes. Complete versatility is the hallmark of OneNote. You can even change your handwriting into text.
I use the Clip feature in OneNote almost every day. This feature allows you to create a screen clip. Suppose you are conducting Internet research and an important dialog box appears. That pop-up disappears when you try to print the page. With the OneNote Clip, you are able to start OneNote, choose Clip, and collect the screen image that includes the information. The image is pasted into a page along with a time/date stamp that includes the URL.
I organize all of my Internet receipts in OneNote. Just the other day there was some warranty information that I needed to print from a web site. The only way I could get the information and keep that data organized was through OneNote. Have the page you want to keep on the screen, start OneNote, Clip, and move the page to the desired section.
OneNote’s structure and underlying wizardry uses the Notebook (binder) and Tabbed sections to get and stay organized. If you have the Teacher/Student Office edition, you have OneNote crying to help you organize your ideas and work.
Grant Zimmerman is a Program Associate and National Faculty Member of the National Paideia Center at the University of North Carolina. He leads educators in Professional Development sessions on the Paideia Seminar and the Paideia Project. Grant is also a Senior Education Consultant with Knowledge Network Solutions—Leaders in Technology Integration in schools. You can reach Grant at gzimmerman@northcarolina.edu.        

 

  • Anonymous on Thu, 02/18/2010 - 16:37

    Hi Grant,
    Great article. I have been using OneNote for a few years now for a variety of purposes including research notes and organizing information. I like the flexibility that is provided, as it allows me to fully customize it to organize the information the way that works best for me. I work in K-12 education and unfortunately, too few educators (that I know) are aware of it, which is a shame because I think they would find it very useful.
    Thanks again for sharing your ideas,
    John

  • Anonymous on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 10:55

    This organizer works well for large multiple segment projects as well. Meeting notes, ilustrations and voice notes all right where you need them in one place.

  • Anonymous on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 11:22

    Nice post Grant. Here is a quick pointer to some "prepared" sample OneNote Notebooks and slick OneNote to Web add-in. There are both Teacher and Student examples Notebooks, and if you poke around the site further, some short how-to videos.

    Also, you can save OneNote Notebooks to web pages and they maintain the same navigational structure as they are presented in OneNote. A great way to share a model notebook. You do need this little add-in installed first: http://www.codeplex.com/ONWebber

    Sample notebooks:
    http://www.microsoft.com/education/products/office/onenote/default.aspx#...

    Regards,
    Rob Bayuk
    Microsoft Education Teams

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