Desktop Notes

Every unit that my students study, I print out a note packet for them to follow and fill out. I have found that this helps them with homework and studying for the unit test. Since I decided to spend a week creating a paperless classroom, the notes on paper just wouldn't do. When the students arrived to class, I had them all grab a dry-erase marker and clear everything off their desks. The concept for the day was Multiplying Polynomials. I started with a brief review over the past couple lessons: Multiply exponents and combining like terms. After we had discussed these concepts for a few minutes, I wrote an example on the board. I had the students put their markers down and just watch and listen. I wanted their complete attention. After I solved the problem, step-by-step, I wrote another example on the board and told them to solve it on their desk. They all looked at me like I was crazy and I actually had a couple students say they always get in trouble when they write on their desk. I told them that after we finished with the lesson, we would wipe down the desks and no one would ever know what we had done. I don't have any other teachers in my department that would have students write on their desks. Most of the students that I am teaching this semester came from different teachers. I only have a handful of students back from last semester due to schedule changes. We continued to work out problems on the desks and I noticed that some students were reaching for their phones and taking pictures. I asked them what they were doing and was told that they needed some way to keep their notes. I thought it was great that they took the initiative to record their work for the day even though I wasn't requiring it.

At the end of class, I asked the students if they enjoyed doing their notes like this and they said that they liked it better then regular pencil and paper. This amazed me so I had to dig a little deeper and find out why. Here were some of their remarks:

•  I really liked doing notes on our desk because I felt like I had time to pay attention and then work out the problem.
• I like being able to write on desks. I think I learned more without having to take notes. I wasn't worried about writing everything down and could listen better.
• I want to do this everyday!
• If we did this for notes, how would we be able to get help at home on our homework without a note packet? (comment from one of my ESL students)

I loved that the students gave me so much feedback about taking notes on the desks. I didn't have a single student gripe or complain about what we were doing. I'm not going to lie, I was really surprised. Since when did teenagers not have something negative to say about math? I will be trying to think of how to incorporate this method of note taking again.

Hope you try this with your class!