Weekly Teaching and Learning Email - Using Post-it Notes

Using Post-it Notes

6th February 2015

Dear Colleagues,

This week the focus is on some practical ideas with Post-it notes. They can be a quick and easy way of assessing lots of things and they are available from Ana in the library. Here are some suggestions for using Post-it notes in the classroom:

When reading difficult passages from technical texts, teachers can encourage students to summarise what is being stated on a Post-it note and then place the note in the margin so it sticks out a bit to make it easy to find in the future.

Students use Post-it notes to organize their folders, study cards and notepapers (Pat in Year 12 showed me this).

Students storyboard their writing with Post-it notes so they can be moved around. This matches the idea that not all of us think sequentially, and allows students to take advantage of ideas spawned out of order.

Some students (particularly boys for some reason) when they get a pad of Post-it notes seem to always want to draw the antics of stick men on the bottom of each one so that when they flip the pages, it appears that the stick men are moving. This actually requires planning and higher order thinking and could actually be used productively in the lesson.

Students comment on other student papers or work and give suggestions for improvement and compliments on Post-it notes.

Students use Post-it notes to identify things in the classroom, label items in a target language, or categorize items by type.

Gallery walks in which students analyse poetry, quotes or philosophies by placing their responses on Post-it notes.

Teachers use coloured Post-it notes as disciplinary measures, green notes being exemplary behaviour, and red ones warning of impending discipline if behaviour doesn't change.

After book marking put Post-it notes on pages where students have to respond to questions or acknowledge feedback.  This way you can quickly and easily review their response by finding the Post-it note next time you collect in books.

At the end of a lesson ask students to note any outstanding questions they have on a Post-it note and this can be used to inform planning and as a starter for the beginning of the next lesson.

Here's an Edutopia video that shows how one middle school teacher uses Post-it notes to help her assess her students.

I hope these ideas help, if you have any other suggestions on good ways to use Post-it notes please comment below.