Individual Teaching Techniques

So Many Powerful Opportunities!!!

Recently I have read about Individual teaching techniques.  When I read the section on notebooks, an idea popped into my head.  Granted, this wasn't a new idea but something I haven't thought about doing during my student teaching until now.

When I present samples of my work to potential employers, I am going to want student samples of work in my portfolio.  So I figured, why not use the notebook as a means of collecting these.  There are so many benefits to this.

1. Students will learn organizational skills.
2. Students will see how units of instruction fit together to make the whole.
3. Taking and keeping good notes promotes learning.
4. Serve as an excellent reference for future use.
5. Students can visualize the progress of their learning as the notebook fills up.
6. Serves as a student completed sample of all the work done in my class.

How awesome is that!  Now I'm just downright excited to present the idea of having all of my students at my cooperating center keep a notebook.  

Now the question is, how can I do this effectively?  Newcomb suggests the following for notebook success!

1. Explain why they want to keep good notes.
2. Teach students how to format, record and use their notes.
3. Refer students to their notes when a question is raised.
4. Allow for students to meaningfully use notebooks as a reference for solving problems and answering questions on quizzes and tests-more likely to be well kept.
5. Require all students to maintain the same type of notebook.

I investigated a little further for samples of teacher portfolios, tips for improving your portfolio, examples of student notebooks and ways to implement notebooks into the classroom.  I found some amazing results and really great Ideas!!  They ranged from a three ring binder, to an online website. 

Here are a few links to some examples:

Sample Teacher Portfolios:

• Elizabeth Bellus' Teaching Portfolio         (e-portfolio)
• Amanda Fletcher's Electronic Portfolio    (e-portfolio)
• Cindy Salib's Portfolio                             (Paper Portfolio)

Teacher Portfolio Tips & Tricks.

• Great Tips and Tools to Create Digital e-Portfolios
• How to Make a Teacher Portfolio that gets you noticed!
• Creating a Professional Portfolio

Implementing Student Notebooks

• Getting Started with Interactive Student Notebook
• Student Notebooks on NAAE Communities of Practice
• The Use of Interactive Notebooks on NAEE Communities of Practice