Making Notes Work in Middle School Science
- Julia Lamphear
- Sep 22
- 3 min read
(Without the stress, chaos, or endless prep)
When most teachers hear “notes day,” the first thing that comes to mind is… glazed eyes, rushed writing, and a whole lot of off-task chatter. But notes don’t have to be boring or stressful. With the right structure, they can be some of the smoothest, most engaging days of your week.
Here are some of my favorite ways to make notes work for you and your students.
1. Start with Consistency
One of the biggest game-changers for me was making Mondays = Notes Days.
That routine means:
Students know exactly what to expect each week.
If someone’s absent, they already know where to find what they missed.
I save tons of mental energy not reinventing the wheel every Monday.
Consistency creates security for students—and makes classroom management easier for me.
2. Making Notes Engaging
Notes don’t have to be boring. In fact, they’re often the most talkative days in my class! I set very clear expectations on my teaching slides before we start notes: We are silent, and focused when we’re activley writing (Even if they're done, being respectful of others writing) When a class discussion has been posed, is when we have talk time. Make sure to give a quick heads up when we are moving on.
I also break notes into chunks and add in mini discussions, comprehension checks, activities, or even quick brain breaks. These short pauses keep energy up while still keeping us on track. (Trust me, it's worth it to use this time to give their brains a second to synthesize what we're talking about!)
Another trick? Scratch paper for student questions. If we don’t have time to dive into a question right away, students jot it down and put it in a specific box on their way out for the day. I use it for tomorrow’s warm-up, a discussion question for the whole class, or as a closing discussion. This helps honor their curiosity without derailing the flow of the lesson. (Make sure they put names on their question pages- they love the shout out when you bring up their question the next day!)
3. Build in Differentiation
Notes don’t have to be one-size-fits-all. With small tweaks, the same slides can work for a wide range of learners.
Note outlines for honors students → I have a visual of their journals with outlines with key points and vocabulary. They have 3 minutes to jot the outline into their journals. This helps give students an outline, and space to add doodles, diagrams, or extra examples to make the notes their own. Plus, you don't hear the "Do I have to write ALL that down?!"
Supports for struggling learners →Guided notes include fill-in-the-blank portions so students are accountable for capturing the key ideas — but they’re not scrambling to keep up. Their handwriting is difficult enough to read without them being in a rush!
Printing out a filled in version of the notes supports students who were absent, but still able to access the information, and having extra printed copies cover accommodations like “copy of notes.”
The beauty? I don’t have to rewrite slides, just adapt the delivery!
If you’re ready to take the stress out of planning, you can check out my newest note sets here:
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