A Collection of Thoughts by Elementary Teachers

• The lessons take so much time, I don�t have any left for notebooks. Where do I find the time?
• ESL students/or any at risk learners find the notebooks very difficult. How do I work with second language learners to get them started in their notebooks?
• I have a high absentee rate. What do you do when someone has been absent?
• I find that I am not using them daily. Should I be?
• How do you get around to grading them or scoring them to match the district report card (4,3,2,1)?
• My perforated spiral notebooks are falling apart. What should I be using instead?
• My students get very lost in their notebooks. It seems to take them forever to find the right place. Is there some way to mark the pages or something?
• How do you write critical comments to students who can�t read those comments?
• Where do you get your notebooks?
• Little ones have such a difficult time writing in notebooks about anything. Can you suggest a way to make it easier for kindergarteners and first graders?
• I don�t feel that I know how to give critical feedback. Could we have an inservice on this?
• How do you get students to write reflections in their notebooks?
• How often should I be scoring or commenting in notebooks?
• How important is the glossary?
• I have the worst time trying to keep the Table of Contents current. What can I do to make sure the Table of Contents is done by students each science class?
• Should I use post-its? Should I write right on their page?
• I'm getting lost in a sea of notebooks. I have one for each subject and it is killing me. Can you help?
• Where do I find scoring guides for notebooks?
• The entries are getting sloppy. How do I continually raise the bar?
• Should everything be on a copied data sheet?
• I need materials for doing notebooks. How do you get the stuff?

A Collection of Thoughts by Middle School and High School Teachers

• Time! How do you find the time to correct them?
• How is technology incorporated into the notebooks?
• The entries begin to look really shoddy after awhile. How do I continue to keep the kids reaching a higher standard?
• What is the standard? What should they look like?
• It is so hard to get to them during a lesson.
• What do you do when students are absent?
• The notebook itself falls apart due to poor quality. What is the best quality notebook to use with students?
• I have the worst time just getting kids to write.
• I have trouble staying caught up. What are some strategies to keep on top of the grading?
• Who pays for them, the kids, the teacher, the Science Materials Center?
• How do I assess them? What should be graded?
• What should be included in the science notebooks?
• Should I keep a "master" copy of the contents and the page numbers?
• My students always want to just rush through the notebook part. How can I get my students to slow down and really concentrate on their work?
• The notebooks end up in various corners of the room. How do I manage the keeping of the notebooks?
• I have the worst time getting students to remember to bring them to class each class period. What are teachers doing to make sure the notebooks are available for each lesson?
• How do you correct 150 � 180 per week?
• The kids don�t manage their Table of Contents well. What are some strategies for making sure the Table of Contents is done well?
• What do I do about the range of readers and writers in the classroom so that it doesn�t create a management problem?
• What do I do about the student who takes another�s notebook and writes other things in the notebooks not pertaining to Science?
• Where do I make comments? Should I write on their papers or on post-it?
• What does a good critical comment look like?
• What kinds of things can a Science teacher and a Language Arts teacher collaborate on when it comes to strengthening the writing done in Science?
• What strategies are teachers using to assist the students in marking where they leave off?
• How can data be more easily put into the notebook?