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How to structure paragraphs using the PEEL method

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How to structure paragraphs using the PEEL method

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How to structure paragraphs using the PEEL method

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You may have heard of the acronym PEEL, but what exactly does it mean? And how can it help you? We’re here to explain it all, plus give you some tips on how to nail your next essay.

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Research Guides: Organizing Academic Research Papers: Academic Writing Style

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Skip to Main Content It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

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Click here if you have already written a paper, but need help getting it organized. Organizing Before Drafting
Organizing before drafting occurs when brainstorming is structured and focused into an organized essay.
Thesis
The first step in organizing any essay is to create a thesis statement.

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Everything you need to draw any type of process. Our template library will have you creating impressive, easy-to-follow flowcharts in minutes. Make a Flowchart 99% of the Fortune 500 trust Lucidchart to keep teams on the same page. Make a Flowchart "Lucidchart offers very nice flowcharts, which helps clients better understand insights.

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Learn how to use concept maps to navigate your knowledge!

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The 11 Best Note-Taking Apps in 2021 – Evernote, Notion, and More

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The 11 Best Note-Taking Apps in 2021 – Evernote, Notion, and More

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Taking notes used to be so simple. You'd take out a sheet of parchment, dip your quill in ink, and get to writing.

Then a bunch of nerds got together and started inventing things - and that's when note-taking got complicated. Suddenly we had to choose from different models of typewriters and competing keyboard layouts.

Later the computer showed up, and with it, we got GUIs and dozens of different writing applications. And then the Internet came along, bringing cloud syncing into the mix.

In 2023, we're faced with a dizzying array of tools and apps for taking notes. How do you choose which one to use?

Luckily, we've done the research. After putting dozens of apps through their paces and testing every feature - from the writing experience to shortcuts to sharing capabilities - we've put together this list of the best note-taking apps currently available.

Read on to find out which tool is the right one for you, your devices, and your price range!
Looking for tips on how to actually take your notes? Once you've chosen your app, check out our guide to the 6 best note-taking methods.
The Top 11 Note-Taking Apps of 2023

Overview: Offers a powerful, database-driven note-taking experience that's unlike most apps out there.
Pros:

Flexible pages. Notion has a template engine that allows you to turn pretty much anything into an easily-duplicated template, including a multi-layered collection of pages. It also has great media embedding and previewing tools, including a gallery view for photos and videos.

Powerful tables. Tables in Notion aren't just charts; they're databases. Think of Notion's databases as Google Docs + Google Sheets. Every row in a table is its own Notion page that you can go into and update.

Nested hierarchical organization. You're probably tired of this. But Notion does this. You can even turn a set of text into a dropdown so you can roll it up when you want non-immediate information out of the way.

Hybrid editor. Notion lets you write in Markdown or use normal keyboard shortcuts and UI elements to format your text.

Free personal accounts. As long as you don't mind the 5 MB file upload limit, Notion's free plan offers everything you need to take notes.

Cons:
No offline support. Currently, you need to have an internet connection to use Notion. The team is working to change this, but it's a big limitation at the moment.

Price: Free

Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Web

Overview: Evernote is a cross-platform note-taking app that's great for processing hand-written notes and clipping articles from the web. The price, however, could be prohibitive on a student budget.
Pros:

Multiple file formats. If you're on a paid plan, Evernote can hold anything your professor throws at you: PDFs, PowerPoints, the 3 different sheets of requirements for one project. One fun extra: If you paste a Google Docs link, Evernote creates a Google Drive icon in-line and changes the URL to the name of the doc.

Scanner for mobile. You can use Evernote as a scanner to take photos of pages of books when you don't want to pay for photocopying. It also has optical character recognition.

Web clipper for browsers. Great for saving those New York Times articles that are hidden behind a paywall so you can use them for your essay later. You can pick how much of the page you want to capture: everything, just the article text, or a highlighted selection of text.

Cons:

Limited organization. Imagine your study area's desk: You have notebooks lying around that contain class notes, random doodles, and frustrated journal entries. You can pile up semi-related notebooks into stacks. You can put sticky notes or flags into pages of the notebook that contain certain topics you want to refer to. That's the extent of organization with Evernote: stacks, notebooks, notes, and tags.

No Markdown support. If you typically write in Markdown to speed up your writing process, you'll find its lack of support in Evernote frustrating.

Pricey. If you use Evernote to scan documents and save research papers as I do, the 60 MB included in the free plan won't cut it. And if you want to use it with more than 2 devices or use optical character recognition, you have to go Premium. At least students get 50% off Premium for a year.

Price: $7.99 / month

Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Web

Overview: Microsoft's free cross-platform note-taking app gives Evernote a run for its money, though the interface leaves something to be desired.
Pros

Totally. Free. It has everything Evernote can do, but there's no premium tier. So you get the full feature set out of the box.

On basically all the platforms (for free). Just had to emphasize this: With OneNote, you get unlimited devices - a feature that other note-taking apps, like Evernote and Bear, keep behind a premium subscription.

Freeform. Unlike Evernote, you can put text boxes everywhere on the screen for OneNote. You can draw. You can even change the background to look like a ruled notebook!

Cons

Even less organization than Evernote. It lacks note sorting options, such as sorting notes by newest created or newest modified.

Messy interface + Limited tagging capabilities. With OneNote, you have notebooks and dividers within notebooks. Then you can also indent notes within notes. But it's all over the user interface: notebooks on the left, dividers up top, then notes on the right. I'm a messy note-taker myself, but c'mon.

Price: Included with a Microsoft 365 subscription (starting at $69.99 / year). Check if you have free access through your school or company.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Web

Overview: Roam Research takes a different approach to organization than most note-taking tools. You can instantly link one note to another to create a web of information, doing away with the need for tags and folders.
Pros:

Delightful writing experience. Roam has strong support for Markdown, and the app is set up so that you can immediately begin writing when you open it.

The setup of the app encourages daily journaling. The default page when you open the app is a "Daily Note" for the current day. I've found this encourages me to journal in the course of using the app, which often leads to new ideas.

Fluid note-to-note linking. One of the core features of Roam is how easy it is to link notes (what Roam calls "Pages") to each other. After you get the hang of the syntax, you'll find yourself automatically linking notes (and ideas) together.

Easy to visualize the connection between notes. Roam features a "Graph Overview" that shows the connections between your notes as a web. It's an interesting alternative to the hierarchical view that most note-taking apps use.

Cons:

No offline capability. Roam currently works only in the browser, and it requires an internet connection to access your notes. However, the founder claims an offline version of Roam is in development.

Learning curve. Roam is very powerful once you learn how to use it, but expect to spend a few hours learning the syntax and overall philosophy of the app.

Expensive. Access to Roam will cost you $15/month - more than any other tool on this list. Roam's fans passionately argue that the tool's design innovations more than warrant the price. We'll leave that up to you to decide.

Price: $15 / month (after a 31-day free trial)

Platforms: Mac, Linux, Windows, Web

Here's an overview of Roam Research from our founder Thomas Frank:

Overview: Bear features powerful Markdown capability and an excellent writing experience. The only downside is its lack of Windows support.
Pros

Hybrid Markdown editor. You don't have to imagine what your formatted Markdown will look like after you write because Bear formats text as you type.

Simple organizational system. Using "#" and "/", Bear lets you tag each note and nest those tags within each other. #NestedHierarchy

Archive feature. A small but time-saving feature. Archiving a note takes it out of search and organization without deleting it.

Clean writing experience. Bear looks good out of the box - writing is readable, simple, and clean. The Premium version gets you a half dozen free themes that look even slicker.

Cons

Just Mac and iPhone. If you have a Windows setup...sorry.

Limited organization After a few weeks of using Bear, I started bumping up against the limitations of its organization system.

Price: Free for most features. Upgrade to the Pro subscription ($1.49 / month) to sync your notes between devices and get additional export options.

Platforms: iOS, Mac

Overview: Apple Notes offers solid organization and formatting features, though it lacks Markdown support and is (unsurprisingly) only for Apple devices.
Pros

Free. If you have an Apple device, you have access to Apple Notes.

Good-enough formatting tools. You get the usual bold, italics, and fonts.

Allows cross-platform editing via the browser. No need for Google Drive/Dropbox workarounds. Just log in to your iCloud account from a browser and you can pull up your notes on a PC.

Can create nested lists of hierarchical folders. This is surprising, given that some paid apps don't have this feature. Well played, Apple.

Cons
No hybrid Markdown. You can't have it all in a free tool, can you?

Price: Free

Platforms: iOS, Mac

Overview: Google Keep offers a basic, cross-platform note-taking app that plays well with other Google tools. The only downside is its lack of organizational features.
Pros:

Free. All you need is a Google account.

Simple. Imagine how you use sticky notes, and Keep will make sense to you. You write something on the note, stick it in a place you'll remember, then (ideally) transfer it somewhere permanent. The Google Keep interface even looks like a wall of stickies.

Cons:
No hierarchical organization. There's only one level of tags. Depending on how much organization you need, this may not matter.

Price: Free

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Overview: Standard Notes takes security seriously and has powerful search features. The only downside is its lack of in-app image hosting.
Pros

Most security-focused. Everything you write is encrypted by default, and only you can access it.

Free (mostly). The free version of the app includes most features. But you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan if you want support for rich text and Markdown.

Powerful search. Custom tags are infinitely nestable, similar to Bear. You can also define and save custom searches based on different criteria.

Supports all major devices. Including Linux.

Cons

Limited image support. It can't host in-app. You have to save your images elsewhere before you can save them in the app.

Can't drag-and-drop notes between folders and tags.

Price: Free for basic features. Upgrade to the Core Plan ($29 / year) to get rich text, Markdown support, and other features.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Web

Overview: Obsidian combines customizable knowledge organization features with a Markdown editor that's a delight to use.
Pros

Simple. Obsidian is based around Markdown and a simple (local) file/folder structure. This means that even if the app eventually disappears, you'll still have all your data in a universally readable format.

Highly customizable. If you have the skills, you can write your own Obsidian plugins. You can also turn features of the app on and off to suit your needs.

Powerful organizational features. Obsidian lets you create links between pages, helping you to expand upon your previous work. It also lets you view the connections between your notes on a graph (similar to Roam).

Cross-platform. Obsidian is available on basically any platform you could want.

Works offline. You never need an internet connection to use Obsidian since all of your data is stored locally. In fact, you don't even need an account to use the app.

Cons

Limited image support. While it is possible to embed images within your notes, you'll still need to use the Markdown syntax. You can't drag and drop images into notes as you can in Notion or other apps on this list.

Text-based. If you like highly visual notes, Obsidian won't be for you. We recommend an option such as Notion instead.

Syncing notes is a paid feature. If you want to sync your notes across devices, you'll need to pay for Obsidian Sync (currently $10 / month).

Price: Free (for personal and educational use)

Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows

Overview: Ulysses is great for both note-taking and writing long-form essays or articles. But it lacks a free version and only works on Apple devices.
Pros:

A fully-featured writing app. If you want an app that you can use throughout your entire writing process from research to writing and printing, then Ulysses is your pick.

Focus mode. Many authors write books in Ulysses. But unlike some other heavy-duty writings apps, Ulysses gets out of your way with its Full-Screen focus mode.

Customizable. Ulysses has themes, including Dark Mode. You can also choose from several different markup styles and publishing formats - it's really quite flexible.

Publishing to WordPress. After writing, editing, and formatting an entire blog post within Ulysses, I don't have to log in to my WordPress dashboard to publish it anymore. Ulysses allows me to format images, tags, categories, and meta-data and upload all of them from the app.

Cons:

Pricey. It's $5.99 / month with no free plan, but you can apply for a student discount for 6 months and get it down to $1.99 / month.

Mac and iOS only. As with Bear, the Ulysses app is exclusive to Apple devices. But if you just want to edit your files on a Windows computer, you can save them in a synced Google Drive or Dropbox folder and then edit the rich text file it provides.

Price: $5.99 / month

Platforms: iOS, Mac

Overview: Typora is highly customizable and works on all major operating systems, though it lacks online and mobile apps for working on the go.
Pros:

Hybrid Markdown editor. It formats text as you type, and it's faster than Slite.

Focus Mode. It dims the text you're not currently working on.

Table of Contents mode. Like Slite, it allows you to zoom into headings and outlines.

Themes. Lots of themes that you can customize with CSS - a language that lets you dictate exactly how you want your content presented.

Cons:

No in-app storage. Since it's just a Markdown editor, Typora doesn't store notes in the app. Files are actually stored in your computer's file system, meaning you can't move notes around in the app.

Desktop-only writing app. Typora doesn't have a mobile app, but you can always complement it with a Markdown-editor mobile app such as iA Writer.

Price: $14.99 (one-time purchase)

Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows

Take Notes Your Way

There are a lot of note-taking apps out there. And as with most recommendations, you have to figure out what works for you.

I hope that this list will help you decide on your note-taking app, whether it's on this list or not.

Bonus: If you want to ensure that the rest of your productivity system is optimized as well, you might want to check out these guides:

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The 11 Best Note-Taking Apps in 2023 - Evernote, Notion, and More

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Taking notes used to be so simple. You'd take out a sheet of parchment, dip your quill in ink, and get to writing. Then a bunch of nerds got together and started inventing things - and that's when note-taking got complicated. Suddenly we had to choose from different models of typewriters and competing keyboard layouts.

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The simplest way to keep notes. Light, clean, and free. Simplenote is now available for iOS, Android, Mac, and the web.

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The Evidence Logs strategy provides a place where students can centralize and organize evidence they collect over the course of a unit. Creating these logs is particularly helpful when you introduce a writing prompt that students will be revisiting. Collecting evidence is an important part of essay writing because it allows students to weigh different sides of an argument and eventually craft theses that they are able to defend. By organizing evidence in a central location or structure, students are able to review the information they've collected and pick clear and relevant reasons to support their thinking. You might also use this strategy to help students organize evidence they find that is related to a unit or lesson's essential question.

Introduce Evidence Logs
Introduce one or both of the evidence logs in the accompanying handout to your class before you start studying a history. Explain to students that as they study different documents and watch different historical footage, they will record textual evidence to use when they respond to a writing prompt. Explain that the goal is to collect evidence from multiple perspectives and keep it in their notes to use throughout the unit. Students will later review the variety of evidence and use it both to determine and support an argument in response to the prompt.

Students Collect Evidence
As they collect evidence, make sure that students are recording the details of each primary or secondary source. Model for students the type of information they need to include about each source (author, title, publisher, date, page, type of source). You might want to keep a poster on the wall to remind students of these details or give them a handout they can tape into their notebooks. The following are helpful resources (both of these sites post information about MLA and APA styles):

Note: The handout below contains two evidence logs. We anticipate and hope that you will modify, adapt, and create evidence logs to best fit the needs of your particular students and classroom context.

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The Evidence Logs strategy provides a place where students can centralize and organize evidence they collect over the course of a unit. Creating these logs is particularly helpful when you introduce a writing prompt that students will be revisiting.

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The Top 3 Most Effective Ways to Take Notes While Reading

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The Top 3 Most Effective Ways to Take Notes While Reading

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There are three steps to effectively taking notes while reading:

At the end of each chapter write a few bullet points that summarize what you've read and make it personal if you can - that is, apply it to something in your life. Also, note any unanswered questions. When you're done the book, put it down for a week.

Pick up the book again and go through all your notes. Most of these will be garbage but there will be lots you want to remember. Write the good stuff on the inside cover of the book along with a page number.

(Optional) Copy out the excerpts by hand or take a picture of them to pop into Evernote. Tag accordingly.

***

I've been asked to how to take notes while reading a lot. Often what people are really getting at is how can I better focus, retain, and use what I'm reading. And taking notes while reading can supercharge all of these things if you do it right. However, when we're taught how to read read, we're not allowed to write in books. So we never really learn a system for taking notes that we can use as adults.

The first step to taking notes is to figure out why you are taking notes. If you're studying for an exam your notes are going to look different than if you're reading for entertainment. The way you take notes depends on the reason you're taking notes.

Learning something new as an adult is a function of consuming information ( what you read and how you read), the information you retain, and your ability to put what you learned into practice (recognize patterns). For this, I use a simple three-step note-taking process that scales up to 150 books a year.

Like almost everything in life, there is no magical answer that fits everyone. You'll have to do a bit of trial and error and take what works for you.

Taking Notes While Reading

Step One. The first thing I do when I pick up a book is read the preface, the table of contents, and the inside jacket. Often, I'll glance over the index too. This doesn't take long and often saves me time, as a lot of books do not make it past this filter. Maybe it doesn't contain the information I'm trying to gain. If it seems crappy, I'll flip to a few random pages to verify.

This filter is a form of systematic skimming. This isn't my term, Mortimer Adler, a guy who literally wrote the book on reading, came up with it. Adler says there are four levels of reading. I tend to blend inspectional reading and analytical reading together for most books.

This way, when I start reading a book, I have an idea what it's about, the main argument, and some of the terminology involved. I know where the author is going to take me and the broad strokes of how they will bring me along. That's very useful information.

While reading, I take notes. I circle words I need to look up. I star points that I think are critical to the argument. I underline anything that strikes me as interesting. I comment like a madman in the margins. I try to tease out assumptions, etc.

Essentially, I'm trying to engage in a conversation with the author. Maybe my questions will be answered on the next page or in the next chapter. Maybe I'll need to find another book to answer them. Who knows. But I write them down.

At the end of each chapter, I write a few bullet points that summarize what I've just read. When I'm done, I write a brief summary of the entire book and then I do something few other people do. I let the book age.

I put the book on my desk and I won't touch it for anywhere from a few days to a week. This is very important.

Step two.
When I pick the book up again, I re-read every scribble, underline, and comment I've made (assuming I can still read my writing). Sometimes I can't.

I'm not the same person I was the first time I read the book, two things have changed: (1) I've read the entire book and (2) I've had a chance to sleep on what may have seemed earth-shattering at the time but now just seems meh.

If something still strikes my interest, I write a note in the first few pages of the book, in my own words, on the topic. Often this is a summary but increasingly it's ways to apply the knowledge. I index this to the page number in the book.

Sometimes, and this depends on the book, I'll create a sort of mental summary of the book's main arguments and gaps. Sometimes I'll cross-link points with other books.

Step 3 (optional but highly effective).
Wait a few days. Then go through the book and copy out excerpts by hand and put them into your repository or commonplace book. I use these notes to connect and synthesize ideas as I read.

To aid recall, connect the ideas to something you already have in your mind. Is it a continuation of the idea? Does it replace an idea? Is it the same idea in a different discipline? I add these connections to my notes and percolate them in my mind. Often I turn out to be mistaken but that's the process.

Most of the time, you get to see the ideas on Farnam Street. You can see how I connect and contextualize ideas, linking them across disciplines. I find writing about the ideas really helps me develop my understanding.

Even if you don't share your thoughts with millions of people you can do the same thing with Evernote, which is searchable, easy to use, and free. Personally, I do not use technology as a substitute for the non-technological approach mentioned above but rather as a compliment.

I rarely listen to books but if you are listening to a book, create a new note for that book and type in notes as you are listening. I know a few people that do not take notes as they are listening because they listen in the car on the way to work. They find that sitting down right away when they get to work and typing up notes is an effective way to improve recall although the notes are less accurate.
If you liked this article, you'll love our helpful guide to reading better.

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The Top 3 Most Effective Ways to Take Notes While Reading

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There are three steps to effectively taking notes while reading: At the end of each chapter write a few bullet points that summarize what you've read and make it personal if you can - that is, apply it to something in your life. Also, note any unanswered questions.

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About the Lotus Diagram template

What is a Lotus Diagram?

A Lotus Diagram is a brainstorming and organization tool. It helps define key concepts or parts of a broader picture. The center of the diagram represents the main idea, with eight surrounding boxes representing ancillary concepts.

Brainstorming can be a frustrating experience. Sometimes, your team comes in with a thousand ideas they're ready to share. Other times, the well runs dry. A Lotus Diagram can empower you to run smoother, more effective brainstorming sessions.

How to use a Lotus Diagram template

Start with a central idea or theme, and then expand outwards with solution areas or related themes in an iterative manner. The technique encourages you to have a fully fleshed-out idea space before you consider the idea completed.

What are the benefits of using Lotus Diagrams?

Benefit 1

Have better brainstorming sessions. Lotus Diagrams encourage lateral thinking. If people get stuck, you can return to the diagram to generate ideas that might be tangentially related to your main topic.

Benefit 2

Promote logical thinking. In using a Lotus Diagram, you're constantly filing topics according to their relationship to the main topic. That makes it a helpful tool for keeping your meetings focused and on task.

Benefit 3

Foster creativity. A Lotus Diagram encourages you to ask critical, incisive questions about the main topic, generating new ideas for discussion.

Benefit 4

Break down complex ideas. Lotus Diagrams can be useful for discussing complex topics with many moving parts. By uncovering related ideas, you can better understand the main idea at the center of the diagram.

Getting started with Miro's Lotus Diagram template

When you use Miro to create the Lotus Diagram, you can:

Customize and fill out the Lotus Diagram template as you go along. Change colors and add sticky notes and arrows to experiment with different ideas.

Upload documents and images to make your collaboration and ideation session more visual and vivid.

Save your completed Lotus Diagram in .JPEG or .PDF to always have it ready to view.

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Lotus Diagram Template | Free Lotus Template Online | Miro

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A Lotus Diagram is a brainstorming and organization tool. It helps define key concepts or parts of a broader picture. The center of the diagram represents the main idea, with eight surrounding boxes representing ancillary concepts. Brainstorming can be a frustrating experience. Sometimes, your team comes in with a thousand ideas they're ready to share.

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Cornell Note Taking — The Best Way To Take Notes Explained

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Cornell Note Taking — The Best Way To Take Notes Explained

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Cornell Note Taking — The Best Way To Take Notes Explained | Goodnotes Blog

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Cornell notes are one of the best note-taking methods, and for good reason. Here’s why and how you can take Cornell notes.

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How to summarise a text - Summarising material - KS3 English Revision - BBC Bitesize

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When summarising texts 'skimming' and 'scanning' are the key skills needed to find information.

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In my current Grade 7 Unit, Future City Designs, we have lots of videos for inspiration to watch throughout. I decided to use this as an opportunity to practice different note taking methods. I...

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People make all sorts of visual notes. An army of sketchnoters is out there, and everyone has their own style. Some do amazing sketches and lavish letters. Some translate complicated concepts into easy-to-grasp diagrams. But for the sake of this article, let's keep it simple. Making your notes more interesting doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. It's not like learning to play the piano or taking up diving. If you think sketchnoting looks fun, Elisabeth Irgens has some tips to get you started.

Have you ever seen someone make creative notes at a conference and wished that your own notebook was more presentable? It's probably much easier to do than you think. You don't have to be an aspiring lettering artist, and you don't need to develop top-notch drawing skills.

Making your notes more interesting doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. It's not like learning to play the piano or taking up diving. If you think sketchnoting looks fun, I have some tips to get you started.

Creative Note-Taking For Anyone

People make all sorts of visual notes. An army of sketchnoters is out there, and everyone has their own style. Some do amazing sketches and lavish letters. Some translate complicated concepts into easy-to-grasp diagrams. But for the sake of this article, let's keep it simple.

The laser show at the Smashing Conference in Oxford earlier this year.

It doesn't matter whether you call it sketchnoting or doodling or scribbling or simply "adding some joy" to your notes. Just aim for something visual that takes your notes to the next level. Combine this with an effort to slow down when forming letters, and I'll bet you will surprise yourself at the difference it makes. The goal is to create something that you would want to take out again and look at - and, hey, perhaps even show others.

Me at the Smashing Conference in Oxford. (Image credit)

You Are Your Own Target Audience

Sketchnotes done live over 45 minutes can't capture everything. They won't be a perfect structured summary. My notes are not intended to stand on their own feet. They have value for me and perhaps other attendees at the conference.

Make the notes for yourself first. Share them if you want - other attendees will probably love to take a look. Sketchnotes can spread the word to the outside world about an interesting talk or about the conference itself. But people who have not heard the talk can't expect the sketchnotes to carry much meaning on their own. I mention this because people sometimes misunderstand their purpose.

Keeping this in mind will help you get started on your own sketchnotes. You don't have to try to "instantly" explain everything or worry that you'll miss one of the speaker's key points. It's OK - they're just your personal notes.

A Bit More Useful And A Lot More Fun

So, why bother with any of this? Because the act of writing stuff down helps you to remember. This is a basic study technique. The sound bites you capture from a talk will jog your memory when you flip through the notes later. By drawing something to create connections, you will increase your ability to remember. Notes that combine words with sketches are more useful than text alone. Chances are you don't even hang onto boring old regular notes anyway.

Making something you will look at later might be the most helpful benefit. But all in all, you could do worse than to have "fun" be your main reason for taking sketchnotes. When the primary purpose is fun, you'll let yourself play around. Write something silly, draw objects that talk, and in general don't be so serious. I reckon fun is reason enough.

Stationary Geeking

We all know that it's not about the tools, but so many wonderful pens are out there, waiting for you to try them. You can find a lot of motivation in a set of shiny new pens that have perfect nibs and a long way to go before drying out. I hereby grant you permission to go nuts in the pen aisle.

You have had plenty of ballpoint and rollerball pens, but have you tried a fineliner? Its tip is made of fiber or plastic, like on a marker, and it comes in a variety of widths and colors. Any brand is fine. My handwriting looks a lot more neat with a fineliner than with any type of ball tip. This might not be the case for your style and scale of letters. Try!

You can start by getting two different widths of black fineliners to create contrasting lines. (I've been using 0.4 together with 1.0 a lot lately.) You will also want to get tools for coloring and shading. You can add shadow with a light-gray marker, which does wonders for elevating your doodles.

A handful of different hues are enough to add a splash of color. The daring may want to venture outside the primaries and secondaries of the basic color wheel. Look for color names like salmon, asparagus and raspberry for a more elegant touch than your basic red and blue.

Paper Can Inspire, Or Scare, You

Choose the paper that will inspire you the most or - if more relevant - scare you the least. Do you like the idea of starting a new notebook and filling it with sketchnotes? Then go find a nice big expensive one to start your collection.

My favorite at the moment is a spiral-bound notebook with a format somewhere around landscape A4. These sketchbooks are a pain to haul around, but I like the large pages of thick paper and how it folds to lie flat on my lap.

Does a softer start with training wheels sound more appealing? Blank canvases are known to distress, so we need to outwit ourselves. Some alternatives for less daunting paper:

a clipboard with single sheets of paper,

a cheap notebook with a million thin pages,

any scraps of lined or squared paper,

a very small sketchbook (use several pages instead of just one!),

the back of something you found in your swag bag.

Cheating With The Content

Remembering something that was said while continuing to listen as you're spelling and sketching is impossible. My trick is to draft notes in another notebook and to snap photos of certain slides. It sounds like extra work, but this is the only thing that works for me. My brain can't perform all of those tasks at the same time; I have to "switch" between them.

It might look like multitasking, but I am shifting my focus back and forth from draft notebook to sketchnote. (Image credit)

By jotting some words on the side, I can zip back to sketching what I was working on. Lettering something already written down elsewhere makes it easier to keep listening because I'm just drawing one letter at the time. When I get stuck for content, I refresh my memory by checking Twitter to see what other attendees have commented on. You can always count on finding the funniest quote of a talk via the conference's hashtag.

Solving The Layout Puzzle

People often ask me how I plan a layout without knowing the structure of the talk. The truth is that I almost always either run out of space too soon or have trouble filling the page. Some speakers list the topics they'll cover. Pay close attention if they do: This is a sketchnoter's gold. A lot of times, though, you can't plan much of anything - you just have to wing it.

If you're sketchnoting live, you really only have the scheduled duration of the talk to go by. Has the speaker reached about the halfway point at the same time that you have? Also, save space for any excellent closing points. If you end up with too much empty space, go ahead and put something huge in the bottom-right, or draw a sun. I tend to cram too much onto the page and should remember that white space is not the enemy either.

Preparations For The Conference Pro

I noticed once that I was stressing a lot to avoid certain mistakes. Speaker names, Twitter handles and talk titles: You want to get those correct. To make this easier, I prepare a cheat sheet with this stuff - one talk per page, all ready for my draft notes on the side. I write down the title, too, because that first slide might disappear before you're ready to start. (And watch out for changed titles!)

Want to publish your notes as soon as they're done? Prepare a list on your phone with the speaker's Twitter handle and talk title. Rather than searching for the correct spellings for your tweet, you could spend this saved time on your notes or taking a coffee break.

Another problem for me was wasting precious time pondering which colors to use. The finished product often ended up looking less than harmonious, too. So, before the Smashing Conference in Freiburg, I planned a color scheme. I picked a series of nine matching colors, one key color for each talk, with touches of the previous and next colors as accents. Just going through the colors in order during the two days made things easier.

Bootcamp For Perfectionists

Sketchnoting is excellent training to combat those pesky perfectionist tendencies. I know you've got plenty of them, and I know how detrimental they can be. I used to suffer from illusions that I could go home and "finish the notes later." This never happened. Ever. Now I photograph my notebook right there on the floor of the venue, and that's it. No completing tomorrow, no fixing spelling mistakes, no retouching when I get home. Tweeting your notes right away is very much optional but highly recommended! For me, deciding that the page was done there and then made all the difference.

There is no right or wrong way to take sketchnotes at a conference, and you should absolutely make your own rules. Some people like to get a head start with an elaborate title or a caricature of the speaker. Some people scan their notes later and color them digitally. You don't have to cover the entire talk either. Snippets are excellent and give you much more freedom. Figure out what works for you, change the rules as you go, and give yourself some sort of a deadline.

"Sounds Great, But I Can't Draw!"

Sure you can. You can draw arrows, smileys, stick people, browser windows, mobile phones, boxes, stars and clouds. Practice at your desk with an online talk first, and I'll bet the result will be a lot better than you expect. Now, go get yourself some new pens!

Other people are technically better than us in a whole range of things. Don't let that get in your way. We could look at a master writing calligraphy and feel we are not worthy of even holding a pen. Sketchnoting should be like running, cooking and photography. It's for anyone and everyone who wants to try, have fun and improve as they go along.

Further Reading

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How To Get Started With Sketchnotes - Smashing Magazine

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People make all sorts of visual notes. An army of sketchnoters is out there, and everyone has their own style. Some do amazing sketches and lavish letters. Some translate complicated concepts into easy-to-grasp diagrams. But for the sake of this article, let's keep it simple.

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Ensure students’ reading comprehension by emphasizing a purposeful reading and rereading of a text.

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The Two-Column Note-Taking strategy encourages students to identify important information in a lecture, film, or reading and to then respond to this material. You can use this strategy to prepare students to participate in a discussion or begin a writing activity. Having students take two-column notes is also an effective way to help you identify students' misconceptions and questions about a topic and to evaluate students' understanding of material.

Prepare
Make sure that students have a journal, notebook, or graphic organizer to use to record their notes. The page they record notes on should be divided in half with a line or fold. The left side should be labeled "Key Ideas" and the right side should be labeled "Response."

The "Key Ideas" category often refers to the main points of the text, but it can also include supporting details. Inform students about the depth and breadth of note-taking you expect. Prompts you can use for the left column include: What ideas are most important to remember? What new terms or concepts have been introduced?

The "Response" category refers to questions, interpretations, and connections. Prompts you can use for the right-hand column include: What questions does this information raise for you? What other ideas, events, or texts does this information remind you of? Why do you think this information is important and/or relevant to your unit of study? How does this information connect to your own life? What do you think of these ideas?

If this is the first time students have engaged in this kind of note-taking, you should discuss what is meant by "key ideas" and "response" and then model this technique with them.

Students Take Notes
While listening to a lecture, watching a film, or reading a text, have students record information in both the left and right columns of their charts. It may be difficult for some students to record information in both columns at the same time, especially during a lecture or film. You might recommend that students first record information in the left column. Then, once they have finished hearing, reading, or watching the text, they can record their responses in the right-hand column. When possible, encourage students to review a text to check the accuracy of the information they recorded and to pick up ideas they may have missed.

Students Share Their Notes
Sharing notes with a partner or small group can help students retain information, give them feedback on their note-taking skills, and provide them with an opportunity to add to their notes with information they may have missed.

Give Students the Opportunity for Self-Assessment
Many teachers assume students know how to take notes. But often, students are never explicitly taught how to take thorough notes in an efficient way. To help students recognize their strengths and needs as note-takers, give them the opportunity to reflect on how this process is working and not working for them. What is easy about note-taking? What is difficult? Then you might have a class discussion in which students present their own note-taking strategies and questions. You can include the following tips:

Abbreviate.

Underline new vocabulary.

Skip lines between new ideas.

Draw lines between ideas or facts that connect to each other.

Take notes using symbols and drawings, not just words.

Don't worry about spelling as you take notes. You can check for proper spelling later.

Use bullet points to list sub-points.

Place a star by main ideas.

Place a question mark by anything you do not understand.

Alternative Headings: You can choose any headings for the two columns that meet the needs of your activity or lesson. Other possibilities include:

Important Quotation / Meaning of Quotation

Pro Argument / Con Argument

Facts / Opinions

Argument / Supporting Evidence

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The Two-Column Note-Taking strategy encourages students to identify important information in a lecture, film, or reading and to then respond to this material. You can use this strategy to prepare students to participate in a discussion or begin a writing activity.

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JavaScript is not active on your browser. This webite requires JavaScript in order to function.

The Cornell note-taking system provides a format for condensing and organizing notes. The paper is divided into three sections. The cue section on the upper left is for writing keywords or questions. The notes section is larger and is for writing the main ideas and other important information. At a later time, the bottom section should be used to summarize the notes for reinforcement.

There are many ways to adapt the Cornell notes format for various topics. You can select different backgrounds to help improve the usability of the notes for different areas of study.

Copyright © 2002-2023 WorksheetWorks.com All Rights Reserved.

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teaching materials worksheets printables math fractions handwriting geometry homeschooling classroom teachers parents geography spelling language puzzles

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The Cornell note-taking system provides a format for condensing and organizing notes. The paper is divided into three sections. The cue section on the upper left is for writing keywords or questions. The notes section is larger and is for writing the main ideas and other important information.

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Example 4

To view the various elements of this example, please use the icons at the side of the screen.

When asking students to either skim texts to gain a general overview, or to scan a text to elicit specific information, teachers should get them first to think carefully about the common structural and linguistic elements typical of the text. If students are aware of the main structural and linguistic conventions of a text, it will help them:

have a clearer idea of the purpose of the text

know where to look for key information within the text

predict the sorts of language they might find (for example, persuasive devices in an advertisement or argument).

In a student's recount, teachers may expect to find out about the main participants in the plot (the people and places involved) and the sequence of events in time (temporal conjunctions).

One of the documents provided in this example is a series of questions students could use to prepare them for skimming a text. Under each text type are questions to help focus students' consideration of structural and linguistic elements.

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Approaches to learning, inquiry and service teacher support material

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To view the various elements of this example, please use the icons at the side of the screen. When asking students to either skim texts to gain a general overview, or to scan a text to elicit specific information, teachers should get them first to think carefully about the common structural and linguistic elements typical of the text.

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Learn how to use quotes or when to summarize to paraphrase, not plagiarize!

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Teach students to carefully read material by having them underline key words, write margin notes, and summarize main ideas.

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Suggested Resources
Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing

Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing

Give examples of several points of view on a subject

Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with

Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original

Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own

Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here, using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.

Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.

Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.

Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Summary:
This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to:

Provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing

Refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing

Give examples of several points of view on a subject

Call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with

Highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original

Distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own

Expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

In his famous and influential work The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page #), expressing in coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the "dream-work" (page #). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (page #).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the essay found here, using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.

Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.

Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.

Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages.

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Style Guide Overview MLA Guide APA Guide Chicago Guide OWL Exercises This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved.

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How to visualize one part per million - Kim Preshoff + The TED-Ed Community

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How to visualize one part per million - Kim Preshoff + The TED-Ed Community

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What is measured in parts per million, parts per billion, or parts per trillion? Take a look at some concentration analogies here. Commonly, substances thought of as contaminants or toxins such a PCB's, lead, mercury, and pesticides, are measured in these small concentrations. Need a bit more about exactly what is meant by a ppm or ppb? This article will provide you with some more examples and explanations, as will what does ppm or ppb mean?

If you think parts per million is small, try imagining parts per billion. Parts per billion is a common measurement used for toxins in drinking water such as lead and mercury. Do you realize how minuscule of an amount that actually is? For lead, anything over 5 ppb is considered dangerous. That would be 5 parts of lead in a billion parts of water is cause for concern! This is how toxic Flint's water really is gives some great visual examples and comparisons to take a look at, based on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. There's been a lot of news about lead in drinking water and the potential harmful effects. But, how much lead is too much? Watch and scroll through this Washington Post infographic and find out more about Flint, Michigan. The Center for Disease Control is another place to find out valuable information regarding lead in drinking water applicable to anywhere in the world.

Climate change is another topic where the term "parts per million" is discussed. This article: Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are showing a startling increase is a great resource to learn more.

Have trouble understanding large numbers? Well, you are not alone. Humans have great difficulty conceptualizing large numbers. This video from the SciShow: Understanding the Most Extreme Numbers in the Universe suggests some ways to start to understand vast distances measured in the universe.

Another way to increase your understanding is to scale things down. How to Develop A Better Sense of Scale-Better Explained, describes a very effective method of communicating large numbers in understandable language.

Ginormous Numbers Could Create a Mental Black Hole also gives some insight into the difficulty of large numbers to the human brain. How could the fact that we don't really comprehend large numbers affect us? Read this article: Large numbers are dehumanising, so should big data worry us? to find out! Would a book help? Try Richard Evan Schwartz's book: Really Big Numbers. Click here to watch a trailer about it.

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How to visualize one part per million - Kim Preshoff + The TED-Ed Community

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"Parts per million" is a scientific unit of measurement that counts the number of units of one substance per one million units of another. But because it's hard to conceptualize really large numbers, it can be difficult to wrap our brains around what "one part per million" really means.

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Where do math symbols come from? - John David Walters

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Where do math symbols come from? - John David Walters

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An excellent summary of historical information about the origin of many common mathematical symbols is the Wikipedia article on the subject. For those who want to dive deeper, the classic study by Florian Cajori is a great source.

More information about the life of Robert Recorde can be found at the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.

Part of the inspiration for this lesson came from Richard Feynman's fascinating anecdote about inventing his own mathematical notation in high school. It is found in one of his essays, titled "He Fixes Radios by Thinking!" collected in Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman.

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Where do math symbols come from? - John David Walters

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Math is full of symbols: lines, dots, arrows, English letters, Greek letters, superscripts, subscripts ... it can look like an illegible jumble. Where did all of these symbols come from? John David Walters shares the origins of mathematical symbols, and illuminates why they're still so important in the field today.

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The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling

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The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling

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The best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling

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You've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called "developing world."

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An excellent way to better understand the Ladder of Inference is to work in a small group and talk about a pattern of behavior that everyone can relate to. Some examples (in addition to the parking lot example) include: someone cutting in front of you in a line at the store; a friend or family member who is always annoyingly late; or someone who leaves you disappointed because he/she breaks more promises than he/she keeps. As you each share your experience, focus on what assumptions are at play, the conclusions you are each drawing from those assumptions, and what emotions you feel as a result. What are you seeing and learning as you hear how different everyone's ladder can be?
On one half of a sheet of paper, draw your own version of a ladder (make sure it has 7 rungs!) and label it with the terms that have been presented. On the other half of the paper, answer the following three questions to help you recognize when you are your own Ladder of Inference. When I am experiencing something negative, undesirable or uncomfortable:
What are the emotions I feel? What are the physical reactions I experience in my body? How does my behavior change?
If you're comfortable doing so, share your list with close friends or family and ask them to remind you when they see you climbing up your Ladder of Inference, and use this as a cue to stop, step back and examine what is going on.
Action Science - the research approach used by Chris Argyris http://www.actionscience.com/
The Fifth Discipline - a foundational text on organizations that relies significantly on the thinking and work of Chris Argyris http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm
Chris Argyris is an American business theorist, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Argyris
Assistant Professor Trevor Maber gave a TED talk at the TEDActive 2012 Conference in Palm Springs in early March. During the TEDUniversity session, Maber spoke on the Johari Window, applying it to personal and professional relationships. http://blog.ted.com/2012/03/01/from-robot-twins-to-buggy-brains-tedyou-session-2/
Award-winning author Ed Muzio describes Chris Argyris' "Ladder of Inference" model and how you can use it to avoid making incorrect judgments. The Ladder of Inference causes us to move from data within our perception to beliefs and actions based upon our assumptions. Avoiding these jumps improves workplace communication and increases the likelihood of productive coworker relationships. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9nFhs5W8o8

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Every day, we meet people and process our interactions--making inferences and developing beliefs about the world around us. In this lesson, Trevor Maber introduces us to the idea of a 'ladder of inference' and a process for rethinking the way we interact.

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How and Why We Read: Crash Course English Literature #1

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Chunking helps students approach challenging texts by breaking down content into manageable pieces.

English & Language Arts

History

Social Studies

Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools.

- Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY

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Chunking helps students approach challenging texts by breaking down content into manageable pieces.

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The Secret to Business Writing: Crash Course Business - Soft Skills #3

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Are you podcasting in your classroom? Podcasting is a great way to provide deeper learning for students and empower them to have their voices heard and shared with a wider audience. And students love to engage with audio content!

Podcasting also hits speaking and listening goals and is a cross-curricular activity. Best of all, you don't need a lot of equipment to get started. The tools you need to help your students create their own podcast stories are in their pockets or their laptops. This guide will help you select the technical tools your class will need and part 2 of the blog lays out a curriculum of how to teach them to write like a public radio reporter.

See below for some student podcast samples, and a checklist of equipment to get you set up to start creating!

Listen to Mr. Godsey's Class Podcast emulating the podcast Serial
Find other podcasting project ideas and listen to other student podcasts and teacher reflections on their podcasting projects through the Student Podcast PODCAST (on Spotify, Sticher, and iTunes).
Anchor is a great app that is a great place to get started with all the basics of podcasting, or here are some basic equipment and software (including your computer) to help you get started...

Basic Podcasting Equipment for Classroom Podcast Lessons

Essentially you need a recording device, audio editing software and a plan to publish the podcast - and you can find low to no-cost options for each.

Recording Device

Many computers have built-in microphones. The easiest way to record audio on a desktop or tablet is by using Vocaroo, the free audio recording service. Otherwise to get a better quality recording of the student/reporter's voice you'll want a portable mic. Students can use their smartphones or you can purchase recorders and microphones.

Smartphone: If you don't want to buy a microphone, you can have students record content on their smartphones in a couple ways:

Quick Voice - easy to record and share and FREE

Voice Memo Recorder FREE (on every iphone)

: If you want an external mic for better sound quality here are some options (Note, if you are using a USB microphone with an iPad, you will need Microphone a lightning to USB adapter to give you the USB interface you need to plug in the microphone):

iRig Mic Cast ($40 - works with iOS and Android, also Apple laptops)

Plantronics 655 Audio Headset ($34.99)

Audio Technica ATR 2100 USB mic ($68) - professional quality

Blue Microphone Snowball (50$)

If your classroom wanted to invest in a higher quality recorder, here are some low cost mobile sound recorder options:

Digital Voice Recorder by Yemenren ($29.99)

Audio Editing Software

Audacity - FREE download onMac or PC

Soundtrap - (Mac, PC, Chromebook, iPad) FREE trial, low cost subscriptions for schools

Garageband (FREE on Mac only) - GarageBand comes pre-installed on most Apple computers. Also free on ipads.

Software to Publish the Podcasts

If you are looking to go deeper with podcasting professional development submit your interest for a PD course put on by Soundtrap and Listenwise.
All the software is quick and easy to learn, but here are some useful Audacity tutorials for beginners:
If you are creating podcasts in your classroom using different technology and tactics, please share ideas with us in comments!
Want to dig deeper? Check out our Podcasting Part 2 blog for ways to help you think about best practices for preparing interviews and stories, and structuring the format and content of your podcast. Find more podcasting resources on our teacher support center.

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Podcasting hits speaking and listening goals and is a cross-curricular activity. Best of all, you don't need a lot of equipment to get started. The tools you need to help your students create their own podcast stories are in their pockets or their laptops.

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Digital Citizenship Poster for Middle and High School 

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Digital Citizenship Poster for Middle and High School 

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Top 10 things to think about before you post

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Top 10 things to think about before you post

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Is This Story Share-Worthy? - Lesson Plan

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Is This Story Share-Worthy? - Lesson Plan

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Students answer questions in an informational poster to gauge the value of a news story and decide whether it deserves to be linked, shared or retweeted. (Poster also available for download in Spanish, Japanese and Ukrainian.)

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Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

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Networking for the networking averse - Lisa Green Chau

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Networking for the networking averse - Lisa Green Chau

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178,226 Views

22,627 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let's Begin...

Networking can seem so hard -- but not if you have the right advice. Try taking advantage of weak ties; you never know what friend of a friend of a friend can aid you in your dreams. Lisa Green Chau outlines how being proactive and always saying yes can lead to future opportunities.

Create and share a new lesson based on this one.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

More from How Things Work

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Networking for the networking averse - Lisa Green Chau

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Networking can seem so hard -- but not if you have the right advice. Try taking advantage of weak ties; you never know what friend of a friend of a friend can aid you in your dreams. Lisa Green Chau outlines how being proactive and always saying yes can lead to future opportunities.

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What Would You Do? Media Ethics Scenarios - Lesson Plan

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What Would You Do? Media Ethics Scenarios - Lesson Plan

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What Would You Do? Media Ethics Scenarios

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This activity helps students apply journalism standards of accuracy, fairness and clarity in deciding how to report the news.

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Access to high quality primary sources (art, artefacts, etc) to analyse from Google Art and Culture

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Access to high quality primary sources (art, artefacts, etc) to analyse from Google Art and Culture

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Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

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Social Media: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information

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Social Media: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information

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Social Media: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #10

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Students answer questions in an informational poster to gauge the value of a news story and decide whether it deserves to be linked, shared or retweeted. (Poster also available for download in Spanish, Japanese and Ukrainian.)

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Have students use multiple tools together, for example creating an EMaze presentation, which contains photographs they have manipulated and a video they have created.

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Have students use multiple tools together, for example creating an EMaze presentation, which contains photographs they have manipulated and a video they have created.

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Content Creation: Best Presentations, eCards & More | emaze

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Content creation with the help of AI. From amazing presentations and websites, to eCards and more, create beautiful visuals with our ready-to-use templates.

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See how advisers and speechwriters shape the words of presidential candidates for maximum effect — and evaluate rhetorical techniques that presidential candidates use, with a focus on political slogans.

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We are a globally renowned resource that provides assistance with English to students, teachers, professionals, and organizations across the world. Our goal is to assist clients in their development as writers - no matter their skill level.

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Purdue OWL® - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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We are a globally renowned resource that provides assistance with English to students, teachers, professionals, and organizations across the world. Our goal is to assist clients in their development as writers - no matter their skill level.

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R A F T S Writing strategy for different perspectives

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R A F T S Writing strategy for different perspectives

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R A F T S Writing stategy for different perspectives

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How to Speak With Confidence: Crash Course Business - Soft Skills #4

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Example 5

To view the various elements of this example, please use the icons at the side of the screen.

Teaching students to think carefully about all aspects of their presentation is a very necessary and useful step.

Using a framework

Framework for oral presentations

The framework for oral presentations is just one example of how students could use frameworks to help them think about all aspects of their presentation from the ideas they will include to the overall structure of their talk, and even the language and phrases they will use.

The framework is aimed at an MYP years 4 or 5 student. However, it could be simplified for younger students in terms of aspects of language they might consider.

Non-verbal communication

Elements of non-verbal communication-such as where and how students look, stand, move, use gestures and control their facial expressions-are almost as important as what they say. Getting students to consider the non-verbal messages and cues they send, and being aware of the impact these can create is critical in helping students to improve the way they present information. The included activity can help.

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Approaches to learning, inquiry and service teacher support material

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To view the various elements of this example, please use the icons at the side of the screen. Teaching students to think carefully about all aspects of their presentation is a very necessary and useful step.

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8 Public Speaking Techniques To Wow Your Audience

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8 Public Speaking Techniques To Wow Your Audience

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Whether you're looking to pursue a career in public speaking or are simply trying to prepare for a presentation to your team, your ability to deliver a message that others can connect with is an invaluable skill that is useful in any industry.

I have been public speaking for over 40 years, and I've learned a lot of helpful tips along the way about the art of public speaking.

Read on to discover 19 public speaking tips that will allow you to become a strong speaker who can captivate any audience.

1. Pick A Topic You're Passionate About

You always want to speak on a topic that you're well educated on, have a strong interest in, and have personal experience with. Your passion will naturally shine through and will help your audience stay engaged.

2. Know Your Audience and What They Want to Achieve

While you want to pick a topic you are passionate about, you also want to make sure you're tailoring your speech to resonate with your audience. The better you know your audience demographic, the better you'll be able to deliver a speech that resonates with them.

Remember, there's a reason they're there - so make sure you speak directly to them, being as relatable as possible.

3. Practice Your Speech Regularly

The key to effective public speaking is surprisingly simple: practice, practice, practice. Rehearse in front of a mirror or recite your speech to a friend. Planning ahead will also help make your delivery much smoother and improve your overall presentation. If you really want to advance your skills, attend public speaking courses to improve your techniques and strategies.

4. Clear Your Mind

Even the most seasoned public speaker can get a little nervous before speaking, even if it is a virtual presentation.

While there are lots of ways to overcome your fear of public speaking, the best thing you can do right before your speech to clear those jitters is to take a minute to clear your mind via meditation or visualization. Picture your speech going well to allow your subconscious mind to clear out any distractions and focus on successful delivery.

5. Intrigue Your Audience Right From the Start

The i ntroduction of your speech sets the tone for the rest of your talk, so it needs to be enthralling. Make a strong statement, ask a question, or refer to current events to get the attention of your audience right away.

6. Be Clear and Concise

Remember that less is more. Don't over-inform your audience with unnecessary points. You want to ensure your speech is well-organized, easy to follow, and provides the listeners with exactly what they came there for.

7. Be Confident

Focus on your stage presence as you prepare for your speech so you can be as impactful as possible to your audience. Don't overthink and get into your head - think positive to allow you to have confidence in yourself and your abilities.

8. Relate With Personal Stories

Incorporate personal stories and life experiences into your speech wherever possible. Doing so will help the audience relate to what you say and feel connected. Your stories remind them that you're human, too.

9. Add Your Personality

Don't be afraid to show the audience who you are. Make them laugh, share moving quotes that have inspired you, or use emotion to help hit your points home.

10. Speak Slowly

Speak slower than you think you need to. Frequent pauses during your talk will help draw your listeners in and ensure you can carefully articulate everything you're saying. Talking slowly will also help you enunciate your words so they don't miss a beat.

11. Take Deep Breaths

Take deep breaths before and during your speech. Inhale to the count of three; then exhale for the count of three. This will help with any nerves you have, plus it will enable you to incorporate pauses.

12. Make Eye Contact

As you deliver your talk, look at individuals in your audience and make brief eye contact. This will allow your audience to feel as if you're speaking directly to them. Just be sure not to take too long of eye contact with one or more persons - steadily look from the back to front.

13. Move Around

Be aware of your body language. Don't just stand in one place - if you have room, walk around as you speak, but don't pace. Using hand gestures can emphasize important points in your speech and help you take control of the room.

14. Alter Your Tone Throughout

The best presenters have mastered their public speaking voice, which is the practice of utilizing different inflection points in certain areas of your speech.

You don't want to sound monotone the entire time. Project your voice and build vocal power throughout so you can lead to a powerful final point.

15. Avoid Distractions As Best You Can

As much as you may try to prepare, distractions while on stage can interfere with your presentation. Do your best to stay focused during your speech so nothing interrupts your train of thought.

That said, sometimes the distraction is too noticeable to ignore. If this happens to you, direct the attention of the audience to it in a humorous way if possible and then continue speaking.

16. Incorporate Visuals in Your Presentation

Visual aids, such as pictures, charts, graphs, infographics, help engage your audience as well as reinforce your points. 65% of the population are visual learners. By including visual content, you're increasing the percentage of people who will walk away from your speech and remember it well.

17. Be Timely With Delivery

Don't go over your allotted time. It may be seen as disrespectful if you exceed the time you've been given. Timing your speech beforehand can help you keep things short. You can also set up clear milestones in your speech. If you know about how long each section of your speech is, you'll be able to keep track of time in your head while presenting your speech.

18. End With A Bang And Say 'Thank You

As you end your speech, provide some inspiration for your audience to take away. Deliver a strong call to action that enables your audience to crave more from you. And, as always, thank your audience for joining and listening.

19. Have A Post-Show Meet And Greet

If you have the opportunity to meet with the crowd after your speech, this is a valuable way to get some feedback. See what their response was and look at possible areas where they want to hear more or less from you.

This is also a great networking opportunity. You might be able to make connections that will land you a future speaking event, or consulting opportunities if you provide a service.

Improve Your Public Speaking Skills Before Your Next Speech

Public speaking presents as a daunting skill to many, but with these tips, you'll be able to conquer your next speech and captivate your audience.

Check out my Ultimate List of Public Speaking Tips to know how to overcome your fear, write an effective speech, and become an expert public speaker that can build a successful career.
About Brian Tracy - Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin and Youtube.

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19 Public Speaking Tips From My Speaking Career | Brian Tracy

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Whether you're looking to pursue a career in public speaking or are simply trying to prepare for a presentation to your team, your ability to deliver a message that others can connect with is an invaluable skill that is useful in any industry.

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"There's a flip side to everything," the saying goes, and in 2 minutes, Derek Sivers shows this is true in a few ways you might not expect.

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I put together some training on international mindedness for my colleagues and wanted to share it here too. The focus of the training is to move beyond a superficial view of international mindedness (food, flags, festivals, famous people and fashion) and to think more about the connections with empathy and perspective taking. I also included a lot of information about the IB's definitions and links to International Mindedness.

I kicked off the training with:

What International Mindedness is not

Quotes about IM from Beyond food, flags and festivals

The IM definition from "What is an IB Education?" (Log into My IB to view)

Connections with the IB's Mission (from "Enhancing International Mindedness" by Jaya Bhavnani)

Connections found within the IB's Learner Profile (and making connections with my students through creating the IB Designer)

A discussion between the easy links the Global Contexts create for us (EXAMPLES: Scientific and Technical Innovation: How do our experiences change our trust in sci/tech. How does it change the ways we use them. Example: Chinese doctors being paid when you are well, not sick. Orientation in Space & Time: Who creates history? Different emphasis on different parts of history in different parts of the world.)

A highlight of ATLs which clearly link to International Mindedness, through empathy and perspective taking (Consider ideas from multiple perspectives, practice empathy, Use intercultural understanding to interpret communication...)

You'll note that I showed what IM is not, but we did not come up with a single definition.

The next thing we did was inspired by an activity I took part in at an IM session I attended at the last Association of German International Schools conference. Here we were tasked with looking for a definition or evidence of IM on our school's website. I just took our school's mission, vision and philosophy, and pulled out that parts that I think linked. (My school is the International School Stuttgart). You can easily do this activity at any school - you might even find some things you disagree with (many schools just say, 'we have families from X countries'...)

We then talked about starting with self-reflection as a starting point for international mindedness. Everyone has a culture and difference influences of their ways of acting, thinking and seeing, and it is important to be aware of these before you start thinking of other perspectives. What baggage, misconceptions and biases do we each come with? This can be quite a heavy thing to tackle, so I just gave the example of when I moved to America, a big part of my identity to others became that I was British - I had never really given this too much thought before, and definitely didn't think that my geographic location really had much of an impact on who I was as a person. There are definitely parts of being British that did shape my view and it was something I had to reflect on. Equally, people saw me as British, and forget that their own culture shaped their views.

Something that stood out to me was the amount of time people said in a thick southern drawl, " y'all have an accent!" Often people were surprised when I replied "you do too"! What was meant was that I had a different accent.
This linked to a video I use often, called "Weird, or just Different?"

After these we looked at the following two visuals. The first showing that we have all this knowledge, understanding based on our own experiences. The second was meant to show that we can all go on holiday, and we can all back our own bags, and our own bags are perfect for us...but if we swap bags, the bags are no longer right.

​I used this to link to my favourite part of the IB's mission statement: "...These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right."

Next, we looked at these two visuals of blind people touching an elephant. The image on the right is the most popular, which shows that when we all communicate and share our knowledge and ideas, we are more likely to be right - many heads are better than one!
I like the picture on the left, as you could imagine each person saying correctly what they feel, "It's a leg", "It's a trunk" etc. They are all giving different ideas, but they are all right. When they bring their ideas together they are "more right". This to me makes a better connection with the mission statement!

I then showed a few examples of the cultural iceberg. Above the surface shows the things we see easily, which can link to food, flags, festivals, famous people and fashion! Below the surface are all the hidden things which shape our values, beliefs, actions, etc. I've used these icebergs throughout the years in a number of ways, from firstly exploring our own identity, through to exploring the motivations and identity of notable people, including controversial people. I attended a training session about the Holocaust from Facing History and Ourselves a few years back, and we used this to better understand people that decisions that are often difficult to understand, (we read short paragraphs about many different people who voted for the Nazi party in 1933, and tried to uncover what made them vote that way).

This led to the more difficult part of the training - and the real root and purpose of international mindedness. To me, it is not about understanding cultures, so that we may increase the different foods we eat, travel to exotic locations, etc, but it is about having empathy and trying to understand different perspectives - including those that possibly oppose our own. It's very easy to understand someone with the same values as you, who just dresses differently and eats different food...but it is more difficult to understand those with values that contradict your own, BUT it is important to aid in diplomacy, development and understanding.

If you want access to the training session, it is here. You can also get a sneak peak of the second half there! As always, I am happy for you to use/adapt any of my resources - just give me some feedback!

​Thanks!

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I put together some training on international mindedness for my colleagues and wanted to share it here too. The focus of the training is to move beyond a superficial view of international mindedness (food, flags, festivals, famous people and fashion) and to think more about the connections with empathy and perspective taking.

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ATL: Give & Receive Meaningful Feedback - Training

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ATL: Give & Receive Meaningful Feedback - Training

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ATL: Give & Receive Meaningful Feedback - Training

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We started off our first day back by doing a focus on the Big 6 Research skills and ATLs. Then the staff went into breakout rooms to learn about different ATLs. Carmen Samanes (our MYP Coordinator)…

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Elevator Pitching – The WOW, HOW, NOW Approach

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Elevator Pitching – The WOW, HOW, NOW Approach

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Elevator Pitching – The WOW, HOW, NOW Approach

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One of the hardest exercises I run on training courses is the Elevator Pitch. We role play them meeting me at a coffee break at a conference or something similar. People typically: talk too much, u…

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Reinventing the Feedback Sandwich - Andy Molinsky

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One of the most challenging parts of becoming a manager or a leader is delivering feedback. And because it can be so difficult, many of us fall back on what people have called the "sandwich" approach to giving feedback: where you sandwich negative feedback in between doses of positive feedback, with the bread representing the positive and the [...]

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How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it) - Katherine Hampsten

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How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it) - Katherine Hampsten

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We tend to take communication for granted, but thinking about how, why, and what we communicate can enrich our daily lives. Human communication involves spoken and written language, nonverbal signs, and sounds or utterances. Even our use of time, silence, and artifacts communicate messages to others. In fact, some communication researchers argue that we cannot not communicate. Take a look at his book: Pragmatics of human communication to learn more. Under this perspective, communication is both intentional and unintentional. We create meaning from a variety of sources, mixing these cues into a total package of understanding.

At the heart of human communication is the question of how we create meaning. A basic consideration of this process asks what message is being communicated to whom. The transactional model helps us to visualize the many moving parts that comprise human interaction. This model demonstrates that communication is an ongoing process. We co-construct meaning together as we use feedback to exchange ideas.

An important part of this process is the willingness to listen to what is being communicated. Active listening is different than hearing, because listening requires effort to focus and understand. Listening is also different from agreeing with the message. It is particularly difficult to listen when we disagree with the message, because we tend to put up defensive walls that block the message from being received. When we listen, we pay attention not only to the words spoken, but also to the other person's tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, and emotions.

We communicate in a variety of contexts and through different channels. The setting and medium affect how we receive and interpret the message being communicated. For example, you may be more open to discussing a problem with your best friend when you are leisurely meeting for coffee, rather than when you are texting as you rush off to work. The basic idea may be the same, but the way that you understand and respond to it will likely be different in each case. If the issue is important to your relationship, then choosing to talk face-to-face when you are unhurried and focused may lead to a richer conversation.

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How miscommunication happens (and how to avoid it) - Katherine Hampsten

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Have you ever talked with a friend about a problem, only to realize that he just doesn't seem to grasp why the issue is so important to you? Have you ever presented an idea to a group, and it's met with utter confusion? What's going on here?

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Give and Receive Meaningful Feedback ATL

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Giving and receiving appropriate feedback

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Giving and receiving appropriate feedback

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To view the various elements of this example, please use the icons at the side of the screen.

Giving feedback

If given well, feedback can:

help motivate students

give them more responsibility for their learning

help them develop their knowledge, skills and behaviour.

However, giving effective feedback requires training and practice. The activities provided in this example contain a number of helpful tips teachers can share with students to help them provide meaningful feedback to their peers. Teachers can use these activities to help students think about and practise how they give and receive feedback.

Receiving feedback

Students receive regular feedback, written and oral, formal and informal. This could take the form of comments written on an essay, questions or comments based on a presentation they have given, responses posted on a blog, or reports at regular intervals.

A good way to teach students to receive feedback is to be ACCESSIBL:

Accepting of the impact you may have had on your audience-avoid being too quick to dismiss comments made about your work

Clear about the advice offered-seek clarification if you are confused or uncertain about what is said

Convert your feedback into concrete action-for example, create a checklist for future pieces of work

Explicit about the areas on which you want to receive feedback-this will help produce more meaningful feedback from your peers

Self-aware-be alert to your emotional and intellectual responses to what others tell you

Summarize what you have been told

Insistent-keep asking specific questions if you feel you are not receiving the detailed feedback you were expecting

Believe that the person giving feedback has your best intentions at heart and wants to help you improve

Listen to advice and avoid the temptation to become defensive.

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Approaches to learning, inquiry and service teacher support material

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To view the various elements of this example, please use the icons at the side of the screen. If given well, feedback can: help motivate students give them more responsibility for their learning help them develop their knowledge, skills and behaviour. However, giving effective feedback requires training and practice.

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Photo Credit: quinn.anya via Compfight cc
I like to have my students do peer evaluations on student presentations or student projects. An issue is having students type in the name of their classmate. Frequently they will misspell or otherwise make a mistake on communicating identification data back to me. In order for me to run a pivot table to analyze the data I need the students identifier to be consistent.

Step 1: Create a Google Form for students in the class to fill out with their name and project title (for group projects I ask for a team name). If you do not have your Forms automatically create a spreadsheet you will need to click on the "choose response destination" button in the Form edit screen.
Click Here for a sample form.

Step 2: Create another Google Form with your peer evaluation rubric on it. Use the question type "Grid" to create the rubric.
Click Here for a sample form

Step 3: From the Form edit screen, under the Responses menu, choose "Get pre-filled URL"

Step 4: Fill out a pretend student who is going to be evaluated.

At the bottom click on the submit button

This will generate a pre-filled URL

Copy this URL

Step 5: Go back to the spreadsheet of the first form that just asked for student identifiers for their project.
Click Here to view the sample spreadsheet

Step 6: Create a column for evaluation, paste the pre-filled URL into the column

Step 7: You will want to change the URL into a formula that draws the information from the the form. Double click on the cell with the hyperlink to the evaluation in it. Put your cursor at the front and type an equals sign (=) to start a formula and then type quotations " at the front and end of the URL

Example: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VEEZZwhuGCv_Ay2V14JOZj_ysnmlAtMSaV2aBxre-
1c/viewform?
entry.1286231922&entry.1709658078&entry.189485916&entry.170201175=SampleLast,+
First&entry.1665572164=PutSIDhere&entry.282996263=Project+Name+Here&entry.2134434756

Change this to ="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VEEZZwhuGCv_Ay2V14JOZj_ysnmlAtMSaV2aBxre-1c/viewform?
entry.1286231922&entry.1709658078&entry.189485916&entry.170201175=SampleLast,+
First&entry.1665572164=PutSIDhere&entry.282996263=Project+Name+Here&entry.213
4434756 "

You are going to want to look at the sample URL you created to see where you want to trade your sample data for what is in the spreadsheet.

Notice where it says "SampleLast" this is where you want to put the cell reference of where the last name is located in the spreadsheet.
Highlight the sample last name and replace it with "&&"
The quotation ends the text
The ampersand (&) says AND you want to join that text with a cell
The 2nd ampersand says AND you want to join that cell with more text
And the quotation maintains that the rest of the formula is a text field. Each section of text has to have beginning and ending quotations.

In between the "&&" put the cell that contains last name.

="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VEEZZwhuGCv_Ay2V14JOZj_ysnmlAtMSaV2aBx
re-1c/viewform?
entry.1286231922&entry.1709658078&entry.189485916&entry.170201175= "&D2&",+Fi
rst&entry.1665572164=PutSIDhere&entry.282996263=Project+Name+Here&entry.2134
434756 "

Now notice in the formula where it says "First"
You will want to replace that sample data with "&&"
In between the ampersands put the cell that has the first name.

=" https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VEEZZwhuGCv_Ay2V14JOZj_ysnmlAtMSaV2aBxre-1c/viewform?

entry.1286231922&entry.1709658078&entry.189485916&entry.170201175=
"&D2&",+ "&C2&"&entry.1665572164=PutSIDhere&entry.282996263=
Project+Name+Here&entry.2134434756 "

Notice I wrote "PutSIDhere" for where I wanted to insert the SID into pre-filled form.
Replace this with "&&"
Insert the cell with Student ID in between the ampersands.

="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VEEZZwhuGCv_Ay2V14JOZj_ysnmlAtMSaV2aBxre-1c/viewform?entry.1286231922&entry.1709658078&entry.189485916&entry.170201175="&D2&",+
"&C2&"&entry.1665572164= "&B2&"&entry.282996263=Project+Name+Here&entry.213
4434756″

Notice where the formula has "Project+Name+Here"
Highlight this and replace it with "&&"
Put the cell containing the project name in between the ampersands.

="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VEEZZwhuGCv_Ay2V14JOZj_ysnmlAtMSaV2aBxr
e-1c/viewform?
entry.1286231922&entry.1709658078&entry.189485916&entry.170201175="&D2&",+
"&C2&"&entry.1665572164="&B2&"&entry.282996263= "&E2&"&entry.2134434756″

Step 8: Your formula might not be creating a hyperlink if any of your cells have spacebars in them. On your Mac do a command F (control F on PC).

Click on the ... button to go to Find and Replace

In the Find box hit the space bar.
In the Replace with box type in %20
Uncheck the "search all sheets" checkbox
Click on Replace all button

Your link should now be a live hyperlink.

Step 9: Optionally you can create another column and use the formula =hyperlink( to create a nicer looking hyperlink for students to click on.
Create another column header of "Click Here to Evaluate"
Type =hyperlink(
Type the cell that contains the hyperlink =hyperlink(F2
Type a comma and then in quotations type what you want the click here text to say.
=hyperlink(F2,"Click Here to evaluate "
Use concatenation (&) to join the click here text with the students name.
=hyperlink(F2,"Click here to evaluate "&D2&" "&C2)
notice the &" "& which creates a space between the first and last name.

Optionally you can hide all of the columns except the hyperlink so that classmates only see a list of "Click Here to evaluate ....."
You will want to fill down your formula so that it is applied to all of the students in the spreadsheet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Google Forms for Peer Evaluation - Teacher Tech

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Photo Credit: quinn.anya via Compfight cc I like to have my students do peer evaluations on student presentations or student projects. An issue is having students type in the name of their classmate. Frequently they will misspell or otherwise make a mistake on communicating identification data back to me.