Setting Up Interactive Notebooks

I think that the hardest part of Interactive Notebook (IN) is actually starting one for the very first time. There is so much out on the internet that it is so easy to get overwhelmed and you end up quitting before you ever got started.  I know this exact feeling I was there just a few years ago. It wasn't until I read an article on Huffpost, I was able to take this IN challenge on. 

"It’s important to realize that there is no right or wrong way to teach [interactive notebooks], or anything else for that matter. Every teacher has his or her own style, which reflects his or her own personality. It’s the right way for you if it reflects who you are, and your students are learning." Frank Breslin

Mr. Breslin inspired me to tackle my fear of IN. It took me a whole summer to create layouts and get all my thoughts together for the upcoming year. Which I'm glad I did cause this is not something that you just wake up one morning and decided to teach it takes planning. To be perfectly honest my 1st IN was ok... but it has nothing on the one that I have built now.  I feel like when it comes to teaching IN there is a learning curve and it gets better as the years go on.

Again there is no wrong or right way to start your IN, but let me show you how I do mine. Maybe it will give you some ideas for your books. There are things that I created in my book (available on Teachers Pay Teachers) and other things that I purchased for my books. I will include all the links to those items.

The most important part of notebook.... is the notebook. DUH. You can't build a house without a foundation and you. I have seen people use several different types of notebook, but you can't beat an old school composition book.  They are cheap and durable. Pictured above is my very 1st IN vs my current one.  When I first started I saw on Pinterest where you could duck tape the edge to help keep your class periods separated.  Not really a necessary thing but, it could work for you. I have little bins that I keep my class period separated in so that didn't really make a difference. However the duct tape did help support the spine of the notebook, when all the guts of the book started bulk up.

When you first open one of my books this is what you'll see.... to the left Interactive Notebook Grading Rubric and to the right a little description about what the book is, what is expected, and how to use it.  I didn't make that I purchased it on TPT from Getting Nerdy with Mel & Gerdy . They have a whole set-up of layouts to help get any content area started. They have so much to offer in that package. I just took what I needed and made it work for my classes. The Interactive Notebook Grading Rubric is something I created and is a freebie in my shop on TPT. It has a place for name, class period, and log in information for their record book.  It never fails when it comes to record books I'm asked a hundred million times "What's my log in?" This has helped reduce the amount of time that I'm asked that question. 

The next two pages are also included in layout from Getting Nerdy with Mel & Gerdy. A notebook wouldn't be complete without a table of contents; thanks to Mel & Gerdy they have created one for you. I really like it, but as you can see I don't use the date column.  I'm going to have to figure out away to use that or I might do something different next year. I have throw the idea around of doing a starter kit just for Ag related courses and I may create a different table of contents in that. It's one of the things on my summer project list.... which may actually get done this year.  On the right side you can see the All About Me page, which I love and it will be a permanent fixture in my IN. It's such a great get to know your students for the 1st week of school.  This is a great foldable it has two parts. The top part has a little person outlined, I tell my students to be creative and create a picture to represent them. Above was my example... some of the pictures I got back were hilarious. Spiderman, cowboys, princesses, fairies, mermaids, you name it I got it! It was fun and cute and the kids really enjoyed it. Which totally shocked me me cause they are high schoolers tooooo cool for fun. 

The inside part of the foldable looked like this.....

There are 3 questions on the inside and of course if I wasn't super specific with my students I would get one liner responses. This is why in the purple I asked 3 questions in each section to make them think a little deeper about their answers.

AND that is how I set my book up. Pretty simple. Interactive Notebooks are overwhelming, but getting started is just half the battle. After a while you get the hang of it... it's all down hill from there.