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So, in my department, we've wrestled a lot with student organization and resources. Last year, I decided to start using lab notebooks, where students completed all of their lab reports and also did journaling. We created custom workbooks that included all of the worksheets, etc for the unit and had several pages of notebook paper for students to take lecture notes. While this was great because students had all of their notes with them when completing homework assignments, it presented a problem when we got to the end of the semester for finals because all of their notes were in separate workbooks and many students had lost them. I'm trying to find a better alternative but haven't been able to decide. One idea is to have students take notes in their lab notebooks. Has anyone tried this? I like the idea of having one central location for paper, but I generally like to encourage students to leave their lab notebooks in the classroom, which would mean they wouldn't have it for homework. What do you guys think?
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Theo, this is definitely a time honored question we all visit at this time of year. There have been several posts involving Science Notebooks in the past, so I am going to link them here instead of reiterating what has been shared. The advantage is you will be able to see conversations over time. These are the hits that are directly related to your initial question. If you do a search within the Learning Center using the keywords “Science Notebooks”, there are many more hits that will take you to posts that have the word “notebooks” in them that might be of interest as well.
Evaluation and Assessment>Science Notebook
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/default.aspx?tid=YADbCA!plus!hIgc_E#40320
General Science and Teaching>Middle School Notebooking
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/default.aspx?tid=zKy4JMe1cmM_E#38316
Elementary Science>Lapbooking
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/discuss/default.aspx?tid=E5T/0Z49uQo_E#29845
I know one of the technology tools I am looking at incorporating along with the graphing notebook, composition style versus tear out or spiral bound, is the use of One Note. I have been to several conferences where I have seen this used very effectively. The advantages are notes can be synced between devices, notes shared with others, and the ability to access the files immediately. The learning curve is a little high, but worth the time. With Microsoft 365 becoming a reality in many districts, students will have access to information from anywhere as well.
Obviously using OneNote requires technology, but most students have access to it now. The downside is training them to use the program as well. There is another program, Evernote that has been used similarly.
I am attaching my “Science Notebook” collection. There are a variety of articles and resources collected from NSTA publications and conferences. Good luck with your notebooking this year. I am anxious to hear what you decide to do.
Notebooks Collection
(29 items)
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Wow, thanks for the in-depth reply!
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I like your binding idea.
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I use composition books for journaling with my students. They keep weekly "bell ringer" pages, lab observations, data and conclusions, answers to questions from NASA Now videos (I am a NASA Explorer School teacher), as well as all other notes all in this one book.
I have had a few students lose theirs over the years, but is is only 1 or 2 and it becomes their job to get information from lab partners to rebuild their journal in a new composition book.
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I also used journals in my classroom and allowed them to go home, I had very few seldom come back because students new that if they happened not to bring it back they would owe me observation time during a lab- meaning they merely got to observe rather than have a hands on experimental observation and unfortunately they had to stand in front of the observation deck which was the board. All students dreaded this and all it took was one student to set the example and then it almost never happened again. The journals are very empowering to students and they take great ownership of them if given the responsibility.
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I also use the composition books as "science notebooks." I have a 6-cube shelf, one cube for each class, and they are to leave their notebooks there on Fridays for me to grade over the weekend. I have them record a variety of things, including lab data and conclusions, reflections, flow charts, venn diagrams. Today we did the Ob-sertainer activity (Lab-Aids); I use it as an introduction to the history of the development of our modern atomic theory. They recorded their individual "hypotheses" for what was in each "black box," a team consensus on what was in the box and finally what was actually in the box from a key. (I tape the boxes shut so they can't look). Then they had to write a few sentences about how they could determine what was in the box without seeing it. Journals are great for these kinds of activities.
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Another technology option that is becoming popular is Evernote but it works best in a one-to-one environment.
Personally I am a fan of composition books and feel they can be used for everything students do in class. Notes, labs, diagrams, reflections, formative assessments, etc can all be integrated into the journal.
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