There’s one thing highly effective about writing issues down by hand.
In a world of shared Google Docs, AI summaries, and convention slide decks that land in our inbox earlier than the keynote even ends, it may appear pointless. However analysis, and my very own expertise, inform a distinct story.
After we write by hand, with pen and paper, and sure, even a stylus and pill counts, we see larger mind exercise. A research in Frontiers in Psychology discovered that these writing by hand had larger ranges {of electrical} exercise throughout a variety of interconnected mind areas chargeable for motion, imaginative and prescient, sensory processing and reminiscence. The identical research urged that “when taking notes by hand, it’s usually unimaginable to jot down every part down; college students must actively take note of the incoming info and course of it—prioritize it, consolidate it and attempt to relate it to issues they’ve discovered earlier than. This acutely aware motion of constructing onto present data could make it simpler to keep engaged and grasp new ideas.
After we take notes by hand:
- We course of info extra deeply.
- We decelerate sufficient to assume.
- We bear in mind extra.
- We make that means as a substitute of simply recording content material.
If typing captures phrases then handwriting captures pondering.
I all the time take handwritten notes each time I’m at a convention or skilled growth occasion. I’m intentional about what, and the way, I write in order that I can bear in mind the important thing factors. I’ll be aware what nudged my pondering, I’ll quote the presenter, I’ll record sources that I purpose to take a look at sooner or later and if I’m watching a PE session I’ll most likely sketch out the exercise alongside my notes. After I return again to high school and revisit my notes, I take a highlighter and establish the knowledge that I plan to motion within the coming weeks.
I’ve written earlier than about my love of notebooks and have fairly the gathering of outdated Moleskine books that comprise my ideas and ramblings all through the years. Hidden in between to-do lists, and notes to myself, are the notes that I’ve taken at PD occasions. And that’s the issue – they’re hidden. Whereas I’d bear in mind the superior IAHPERD session from Adam Metcalf on World Video games, it is likely to be troublesome to find my authentic notes, and that’s why I made a decision to create a single-purpose pocket book that I can put aside particularly for skilled growth be aware taking.
A easy strategy to create your individual pocket book (for those who’ve ever considered it)
I’d seen the social media posts about the way it simple it was to design and print notebooks (ignoring the guarantees that it might additionally make me 1000’s of {dollars} – bahahaha) and was intrigued. After watching this YouTube video and a few trial and error I realised that the method is surprisingly easy:
- Design your inside pages in Canva (or any design device).
- Export as a print-ready PDF.
- Add to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
- Add a canopy, description, and hit publish.
- Amazon prints it on demand when somebody orders it.
That’s it.
What makes my pocket book distinctive, and supreme for HPE lecturers?
Every unfold encompasses a distinctive structure – the correct aspect features a distinctive motivational quote and is lined for conventional note-taking, whereas the left aspect boasts an emotional check-in, plus grid dots, offering a canvas for diagrams, sketches, and arranged lists. However that’s not all – a devoted web page guides educators with a curated record of thought-provoking questions, guaranteeing intentional and targeted engagement all through the convention.
I like seeing my pocket book getting used at conferences (and sharing on Instagram). The dotted pages are nice for sketching #PhysEd exercise layoutsthe check-in emojis are enjoyable, and I admire the distinctive quote on every lined web page.
The true reward of making this pocket book was by no means the gross sales quantity, it was the friction, the pondering, the designing, and the refining. Bringing an concept from a clean web page to one thing lecturers now carry into conferences feels way more significant than any gross sales metric. I’m proud that I made one thing tangible, one thing helpful, and one thing that displays how I take into consideration skilled studying. I like seeing lecturers open it throughout periods, jotting concepts, sketching connections. And perhaps one of the best endorsement of all? I take advantage of it myself. It really works for me, and that’s what made it value creating within the first place.
Convention season is all the time across the nook. Whether or not it’s a state occasion, a district PD day, or a nationwide convention you’ve been trying ahead to all 12 months, don’t depart your skilled studying to scattered pages and forgotten notes. For those who worth reflection, intention, and turning concepts into motion, contemplate ordering your copy of Educator Convention Notes prematurely of your subsequent occasion. Pack it in your bag. Convey your favourite pen. And provides your self a devoted house to seize the concepts which may simply form your instructing within the months forward.
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