My Interactive Math Notebooks and Guided Notes

I have blogged previously about my Interactive Math Notebooks and how they have evolved over the years.  After tweaks and adjustments I have finally found the most effective way for my students.

The last few years, I used a team pencil boxes to hold the color pencils. This year I invested in plastic slider pencil boxes and color pencils for each of my students.  This was by far my best investment ever. The students' guided notes are printed back to back and kept in three-prong folders.

I have created all of the Math 8 Common Core Guided Notes for my students.  They are designed to be filled in and color-coded by the students as I explain the concept.  These type of guided notes are effective because they are not very time consuming and the students are able to use them as a valuable study aide.  The color-coding helps the students to see the connections between the vocabulary and the diagrams, and this helps with their understanding of the math concepts they are learning....  :o)

Here are examples of my students taking guided notes this year.

Here are examples of my students' Interactive Math Notebooks.  The first page is A Letter to my Students.  Then they have the Collaborative Team  Roles, Problem Solving in Math &Writing about Math and the Student Friendly Standards for Mathematical Practices.

Here are examples of my students' Interactive Math Notebooks and their color-coded guided notes.

My Interactive Math Notebooks

Linking up with Passion in Portable Land for her:

My teaching style with Interactive Math Notebooks has evolved over the years.  I started creating my own "Guided Note" pages that were based on color-coding to help the students see the connections in the concepts.  After the first year of implementing my new method of giving notes and seeing the difference it made in their understanding of the concepts, I knew this was the way to go.

I use 3-prong folders for my Interactive Math Notebooks, which I buy at the beginning of the school year. Each period has the color that corresponds with their period.

I also buy class sets of color pencils for the students to use for the color-coding part of the notes.  After making the copies of the guided notes for each class, I hole punch the notes. This makes it easy, the students know, if it has holes, it goes in their IMN.

I love my ActivInspire Flipcharts and my MimioPad because it makes it so easy to give my "Guided, Color-coded" notes.  My MimioPad also lets me be mobile.  I can give the notes from anywhere around the room.

I make a key of my color-coded notes prior to my lesson, so as I am giving the lesson I can focus on the explanation of the concept.   I am able to put the guided note page into my Flipchart and use the MimioPad to easily explain and fill out the notes with the students.  At the end of class I can erase my annotations and start over with the next class.  The students love taking notes this way and it makes it easier for them to understand what I am explaining.

I love the ActivInspire Flipchart because it has a lot of annotation tools. The Flipchart page scrolls and the annotations scroll with it. My MimioPad and ActivInspire are definitely my #1 duo I can't live without.... :o)

Here is an example of what the students would see on the ActivInspire Flipchart.

The students love their IMN because it becomes their own personal math journal that they have created.   And they love the color-coding because when they are looking back at their notes as a resource, the color-coding helps them easily make the connections.

Here are some sample pages from my students' Interactive Math Notebooks.