5 CREATION MISTAKES THAT CAN AFFECT YOUR STUDENTS’ SUCCESS WITH DOODLE NOTES

12/22/2017

When creating Doodle Notes we are all susceptible to some mistakes; I’m guilty too!  Looking back at the first ones I made, I realize they can be improved upon.  And I’m sure I will feel the same way a couple of years from now about the ones I create currently.  I’ve learned as I go, and am trying to always make them better and better for students.

We all know the benefits of Doodle Notes; it’s important to use them the best way possible, so you gain all of those benefits!  I’ve compiled a list of some of the most common mistakes when creating doodle notes and how to correct them. I hope this helps you to perfect your doodle note creations!

Too Many Fonts

A common mistake that can create an overwhelming doodle note sheet is using too many fonts on one page.  It can create a busy page that doesn’t draw in your students.  A good rule of thumb when creating a doodle notes sheet is choose simply two fonts; it’s good to use one fancy font (preferably one they can color), and one basic font.  This will help your doodle notes look aesthetically pleasing; your students will love them!

Stick to key words and ideas for the color-in font.  The goal is to make certain areas or concepts stand out.  We don’t want them coloring all day to fill in every less significant word on the page!

Be sure the basic font is readable.  Fonts like Century Gothic and Berlin Sans work well here.

My favorite fancy / empty fill fonts are:

• KG Second Chances
• KB Stick to It
• The Bubble Letters

My favorite basic fonts are:

• Century Gothic
• Dom Casual
• Berlin Sans

Review the font suggestions list and download free fonts here.

Not Enough White Space

Another common mistake is not leaving enough white space.  Not only does it make your page less overwhelming, but also your kids may need it to add extra notes of their own!  If your students are motivated to write something down, you want to allow space for that.  So, next time you’re creating a doodle notes sheet, be sure to keep this in mind!

(I am still working on this one!  It’s so hard to resist the urge to include EVERYTHING!)

Misused Graphics

The third common mistake on my list is misusing graphics.  Whenever adding a graphic to your doodle note page, be sure there is enough room for your students to write inside whenever possible.  For example, if you wish to create a Venn diagram, make the circles a little bit bigger, so students can write in them with ease!

If you choose to include a graphic analogy or lesson-specific image, increase its size to make it a focus.  See a specific example here.

Too Much “Fill in the blank”

Many of us are guilty of creating doodle notes with too much fill in the blank.

Mix it up with other student tasks.  There are so many ways that the kids can interact with a page using just their coloring and doodling tools.

Some suggestions are color-coding, sketching, labeling, and lettering.  Check out a variety of options here.

Disproportionate Images

One last common mistake with a simple, quick fix is using disproportionate images.  Whenever you resize a graphic, be sure to resize from the corner, so it’s not too tall or short, or wide or thin.

If you’re anything like me, you will sit for a while (maybe on a Sunday afternoon while lesson planning) trying to plan out your next doodle note.

You sit and think it through, but no creative ideas for a visual memory trigger or graphic analogy happen to come to you.  Your brain feels completely in standard lesson plan mode, and not at all creative.  It can be so tricky to get the inspiration flowing.

We know that the best doodle note pages come from a creative brain, but how do we activate that in order to develop stimulating and interactive sheets?  It requires getting into a creative mindset.  Once we get the imagination flowing, we can develop unique student tasks, a great graphic design, and a layout that allows for visual memory boosters.

How can we help get ourselves (and our students) into that inspired, creative place?

HOW TO GET THE CREATIVE SPARK IGNITED:

​Is it true that people are inherently creative or not?  Are some of us born with creative minds and others just lack that certain creative touch? Or is it more that all minds are creative and and we just need to know how to nurture the creative mind in order to harness its full potential?

Creativity is thought to come mostly from the subconscious mind. And it may be true that some people have a more natural ability to “tap” into that creative layer, it doesn’t mean that everyone doesn’t have it.

How does a creative mind spark? 

An article from Psychology Today puts it this way, “The reason we are often unaware of creative, inspirational and spontaneous thoughts is generally because the surface of the mind is constantly moving. The busy-ness of the mind creates ripples on the surface, in just the same way as throwing a stone into a pond creates ripples on the surface of the water. The problem is, most people get so caught up in the appearance of these ripples that the water never has a chance to settle. Again, just imagine looking into a pool of water… The calmer the water, the clearer the reflection. Again, the mind is no different, when the surface-thinking settles, it becomes much easier to see the contents of the mind – and therefore become conscious of the creative thoughts which you were previously not conscious of!”

This would easily explain why we seemed to get “struck” with creative thoughts when we are having downtime like walking, taking a shower, or relaxing. This is because your mind is quiet.  There aren’t a lot of other thoughts cluttering your mind and blocking your creativity (source).

So, how do we nurture this creative side of our minds? 

• Do imagination exercises – Complete creative a challenge every day. It can be as simple as a game where you pick a random word and a then a random medium. Then you have to create something using both of those parameters. For example, take a word like “flower” and then a medium like “pipe cleaners.” Then see what it is you can make with the two ideas.

 

• Take time for meditation and reflection – Meditation and creativity go hand in hand. Meditation helps to calm and clear your mind, allowing those creative thoughts to flow more easily. Your intuitive awareness is increased, and that helps you nurture your creative side.

 

• Get plenty of sleep – A good night of rest ensures that your mind is running at full capacity the next day. You are less likely to get bogged down in thoughts because you will be sharper and be more open to creative thoughts during the day.

 

• Spend time with nature – Getting out in nature is one of the best ways to nurture the creative mind. A simple walk in the park or your neighborhood could be enough to harness your creative side.

 

• Pursue hobbies and interest that energize you – Picking up a simple hobby that you’ve always wanted to try will help you enjoy some downtime. They don’t necessarily have to have a goal or special outcome; but certain activities, like yoga or Tai Chi will help connect the body and mind. Whatever it is, you want to make sure to make time for yourself. This will improve your intuitive awareness, leaving you more creative than ever.

 

​It is great to know that we all have the ability to be wildly creative and imaginative. While some people have a more natural inclination to connect with creative thoughts, it’s something that is inside all of us. With a little bit of practice and relaxation, anyone can tap into a more creative place.

So this week, instead of sitting down to plan your next page, just quickly look over your content for an upcoming lesson, then switch gears and jump in the shower, enjoy a hobby, or take a nice walk.

As you go, just let your brain wander into a creative place, and hopefully the ideas will start flowing!  I often get out of the shower (or home from a walk) and have to immediately draft out my next doodle note page as soon as possible.  I call it a “brain dump,” where I get my flow of ideas out in a quick layout before I forget.  I hope this method works for you too!  Feel free to comment and share your own tips for getting the creative spark ignited.

 

This example is a case study of a doodle note page created by one of our members, Jennifer.

We wanted to share the before and after of her visual trigger with you so you could see a step-by-step example of improving on a visual analogy.  (Remember, these are graphics that help a big-picture concept really stick in your student’s brains.)

First, check out Jennifer’s first draft of her page:

BEFORE:

She did an awesome job embedding a variety of student tasks (fill in the blanks and a “try it” sample question, plus plenty of opportunities throughout to color and doodle).

She also has some really great graphics included.

The key change she made to her page was to maximize her visual for the big idea.  Notice that in this “before” version, she has a small bridge as a graphic under “Reasoning.”  It says, “Reasoning forms a bridge that connects the claim and the evidence.”

Since this is the main idea that helps students understand the connection between the key parts of the scientific explanation, Jennifer turned it into a larger visual analogy (see the “After” picture below).

This “bridge” idea is the key to understanding the relationships and then being able to write a clear scientific explanation, which is Jennifer’s main goal for her students during this lesson.

AFTER:

Now, the graphic takes a bigger role, plus it has become a student task!

Student Interaction with the Bridge Analogy:

The students can now interact with this visual analogy, transforming it into a stronger memory trigger.

The answer key (shown up close, above) displays a sample of how students can use lettering to complete the graphic in a way that helps them connect the ideas and retain the information.

Jennifer had to shrink down the shield-shaped container for “reasoning” to fit this, but it worked out great!

Need more detail?  Here’s how we made the new graphic:

First, I grabbed the following images from openclipart.com (public domain, so feel free to use them!)  I specifically narrowed my search by looking for images that could be written inside of, to allow for student interaction with the key terms.

   

 

I tend to download any options I think may work, and save them to my desktop, so I grabbed two bridges at first.  As I played around with the graphics, I decided I liked the idea of having students write one letter per wooden board on the bridge, so I trashed the second bridge image.

I chose hills, but the bridge could have also been between two towers, two trees, etc.  If you have a preference based on your lesson, choose your own graphics based on that.  Otherwise, just use whatever graphics you can find and edit easily.

To create the bridge for the final graphic, I cropped a couple of wooden boards off of both ends of the first bridge to allow for 9 letters (the number of letters in “reasoning”).

Then, I converted it to black and white.

When I inserted the hills on each side, the black and white option did not turn out well.  I wanted an empty center for students to write and/or draw inside of.  So instead, I used a greyscale from the recoloring options, and added a black glow around it.

I selected all three images and saved as a png to insert onto the page.  This whole process took about 3-4 minutes.

Hopefully, this example will help you with your own next page.  If you can think of a great analogy or graphic for your lesson (like Jennifer’s “bridge” idea), make it a goal to stretch that one step further into a graphic like this one that allows for student interaction beyond just coloring.

This way, you can form your own visual memory trigger that also has a student task embedded right into the graphic.

Thanks so much to Jennifer for being willing to share this particular example to help those who sometimes get stuck in the same way!  This page on Scientific Explanations is available in the Share Zone for those who teach this topic (Thanks again to Jennifer!)  Enjoy!

TIPS FROM JENNIFER – COLORING TIME, SUPPLY ORGANIZATION, AND MORE…

I have been interested in doodle type notes for a while since I started using interactive science notebooks a few years ago.  We do some sketching of diagrams already in the notebooks, but some students don’t enjoy drawing.

Many students also struggle with traditional note-taking so I have been looking for a way to incorporate information with visual reinforcement to really help cement some of the science concepts that can be really challenging.

I have only used Doodle Notes a few times, but the students definitely seem to like them.  I am by no means an expert.  I would say that the doodle notes pages shouldn’t come right at the start of the unit, but somewhere in the middle to help synthesize the information or towards the end as reinforcement/review.

I just started the Doodle Note Club a couple of weeks ago as I was looking for something on TPT to help reinforce Gravitational Forces and I couldn’t find anything that I liked.  I had heard about the Doodle Note Club earlier in the year, but I didn’t sign up then as I didn’t think that I would have the time to utilize it as we have a brand new science curriculum this year that is aligned with NGSS.  I have made 2 sets of notes and I feel like I am getting the hang of it, but I don’t have many tips or tricks yet as I haven’t watched many of the videos yet or tried many advanced things.

I do have 2 separate templates set up, one for landscape and one for portrait style notes.  I am trying to learn how to take a “less is more” approach and try not to clutter up the page too much and allow students room to add extra details or ideas that they might want to add.

I like the Intro to Matter page that I just made the other day as I feel it is pretty simple and straightforward, but it also contains clear and concise information that is easy to understand.

I have noted that some of the kids’ faces do become a bit more animated when we use doodle notes and many like to make them “pretty” or make them their own.  Since I already do interactive notebooks, I have bins with supplies like scissors, tape, colored pencils, and hand sharpeners on the tables so that the supplies are readily available and students aren’t wandering around to get what they need, I think this is very important.

I have table groups with 4 students per table.  I also don’t give the whole class period to color.  We start the coloring in class, I show an example of a completed page on the board, and then I tell students to finish the coloring as homework.  I also encourage them to underline, outline, or highlight key pieces of information to really make them stand out.

I really love teaching science and I am always looking for ways to help my students understand it and love it too!  I think that adding the Doodle Notes pages to my list of tools will be a great addition!  I really look forward to watching the rest of the video lessons and really getting creative over the summer break – last day of school is June 21st.

TASKS FOR DOODLE NOTE ENGAGEMENT

It’s important to have students engage in a variety of tasks, and mix in as many as possible that will integrate both hemispheres of the brain.

This increases the brain’s ability to process the information and convert it to long-term memory to recall later.  To boost student retention, try incorporating some of these types of tasks into your own doodle note lessons.

It can be a challenge to develop a good set of student tasks for each different lesson, but use these to inspire you and get brainstorming!

COLOR CODING

This doodle note page on subject and predicate has students color-code in the practice area as they identify the parts of the sentences. (Shared in the Share Zone)

When practicing the new concept of scarcity, students color code to identify which items are scarce.  (shared by Wendy in the Share Zone)

FILL IN THE BLANKS

Filling in the critical information helps students to identify and focus in on the key ideas.  Ideally, they print these words in a fun lettering style.  Teach your students to really engage their right brains as they write in the vocabulary words or key ideas.  This will help them recall the important terms and concepts later!

(This page on Hurricanes and Tornadoes is shared by Dawn in the Share Zone.)

Get creative with your fill-in tasks!  Some can be blanks, some key terms can go inside of shapes, and some can be in empty spaces.  (Converting measurements doodle note set is available here.)

SKETCHING

Leave some blank spaces or boxes for your students to add their own sketches.  This will help them with their own understanding of the big ideas.  If they can sketch it, then they probably get it, but more importantly, they will remember really well what they drew for themselves.

Encourage them to try their best – it’s ok if the drawings are not fancy or perfect.

Here, students sketch out the main concept of intersecting, parallel, or identical lines to help them grasp the big picture of what is going on for each situation of solutions of a system.  (Shared by Glennan in the Share Zone)

LABELING

By using creative lettering, colors, and doodles within the label shapes, students can identify each part of an expression. (Shared by Jennifer in the Share Zone)

Students can do fun, colorful, artistic lettering to label or classify items.  This engages the right hemisphere of the brain and also builds the potential for retaining the information. (States of Matter page is in the Share Zone.)

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

Including sample questions, tasks, or problems is always a great idea during notes.  It offers practice and helps students actually start to apply a new idea to the situations in which they’ll be seeing it.

Try creatively blending other task ideas into your practice examples to boost student engagement, focus, and memory of the material.  This example (German page on Nominative vs. Accusative Case shared by Jen Gray in the Share Zone) allows students to label subjects and objects in sentences, then write key terms in the circles.

This creative example (shared by Katherine in the Share Zone) allows students to interact and then do a quick practice writing sample.

This practice task requires students to use color and pattern to show that they understand nets and the difference between pyramids and prisms.  You can also sometimes allow students to set up their own pattern and color classifications and make a key to allow for more creativity.  (Nets page shared by Jennifer in the Share Zone)

“TO-DO” / “TO-DOODLE” LIST

Have students interact with a diagram, drawing, or graphic by giving them a “to-do” list.  This can require them to label, color/shade, answer questions, sketch a doodle, or anything that works for your lesson!

In this page on Combining Like Terms, students have to interact with the terms in the blender.  The to-do list includes adding helpful invisible parts, then classifying with colors and patterns, and embellishing key ideas on the page.

REFLECTION / FREE DOODLE

To sum up or bring information together, you may want to include opportunities for free doodles, additional sketch notes, or other student input.  Try leaving a little extra space for students to add their own creative take on the lesson.  They can each build their own visual memory triggers!

This sample (sermon notes – shared in the Share Zone by Dawn) allows students to sketch, do lettering, or combine both into graphics that will boost their brains through Dual Coding Theory!

Hopefully, these samples will get your wheels turning as you try to develop your own student input areas on your next doodle lesson page!  Thanks so much to everyone who has shared such inspiring and creative work!