Sketchnoting in Education

September 18, 2021September 18, 2021

International Day of Peace 2021

The UN established the International Day of Peace in 1981 as a day devoted to the ideals of peace by observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire and since then it has had a rich and storied history. This year as the entire globe strives to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic there is a call to think together creatively to create a more equal, just, equitable, inclusive, sustainable and healthier world. Peacedoodle wants to help.

There are so many ways to make a difference.

☮️ Sketchnoters are encouraged to sketch their solutions or an action step that can be taken immediately to make a difference. The art will spread peace and your ideas will ripple out far and wide.

☮️ Adults and students can take photos of acts of kindness witnessed around them.

☮️ We can all make peace with someone.

☮️ We can stand up against acts of hate both online and in our regular lives.

☮️ We can spread compassion.

Please join us and share your actions, images, and ideas – big or small. We will collect them here but you can share on Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram with the hashtags #peacedoodleSept21 and #peaceday There is also a Padlet set up where you can upload your creations, write about your actions, record a video and more.

You can read more here about the initiative and access many resources to share the information with others who want to take action for peace. Let’s make peace with one another. Let’s make peace with nature.

Let’s help the world recover from the devastating divide that has widened between people, especially the marginalized and underprivileged, due to the effects of the pandemic.

Let’s keep it going today and every day.

Peace one doodle at a time.

May 25, 2020May 26, 2020

Sketchnotes for the Win – Using visual notes in higher education.

The power of visuals in learning is deeply rooted.

How many lectures have you attended, or books have you read, that made you vow never to forget their message? Only to find, as time passes and more words fill your brain, that the crisp recollections of these pivotal moments have blurred. Something happens that spurs a memory but you cannot conjure the words. Their meaning holds a feeling, a rich, warm, satisfying feeling, but the connection is just out of reach.
The feeling cannot be translated back into cohesion.

It escapes you.

If you had taken notes at these events, you might be able to find them, but chances are they would be illegible and hard to follow. But, if you had a sketchnote at your disposal, something you invested in, cared about, and experienced fully, just one glance would probably create that spark of understanding leading you directly back to the knowledge you seek.

Fast forward. The opportunity to teach a course on the Foundations of Education was presented to me in the Spring of 2019 and I found myself in the situation to accept. I was not daunted by the limited prep time, just eager to get started. However, the course was grounded in an important text. A text that I had not read before. I am a slow, careful reader. I annotate copiously, reread often, summarize and highlight. With one week to prepare, (and a full-time job) what was I to do?

Panic?

No. I could do all those things mentioned as a reader, but this time I would also engage my secret weapon. This time, my careful reading would also be accompanied by a SKETCHNOTE!

Visual images for the win.

That first week of the course I used my sketchnote to assist me. To promote discussion and clarification. Key points, defining facts, a way to check my own veracity. One student asked to see it again. He asked if they could have copies. I was delighted and shared it on our online learning platform. These notes, all in my own personal hand, helped me teach an important text. They were actually essential for me in this new role. More importantly they allowed me to assist and support my students as we embarked on our learning about educational policy, trends, and challenges. A visual reminder of key events and social issues. At just a glance I could remember policy shifts learned eons ago, (a lone mouse and Horace Mann) but long forgotten.

Teaching with sketchnotes is genius.

Thank you to Sarah Mondale (@sarahmondale), and Sarah Patton of Stone Lantern Films for their permission to share these sketchnotes with you. Their documentary of the book, School, the Story of American Public Education, can be found here. Educators, you can find more of their work on the PBS school series here.

Enjoy this short video of each of my captures. Reach out if you have questions or future projects you would like to consider.




		
		Posted on April 10, 2020April 10, 2020
Sketching Lewis and Clark
	


			
			
							
		

	
	
		Here is what I do.

Inspire

Empower

Collaborate

Support

Show up

Repeat
Working with individual teachers is one of my greatest joys. When that collaboration is spearheaded by someone who has attended one of my trainings it is doubly rewarding. That is what happened at a local middle school recently after a district-wide training sparked personal interest. Shelly was enamored by Sketchnoting/Visual Notetaking after participating in a 3 hour workshop for media specialists. 
Shelly at the Media Specialists’ workshop – all smiles while sketching her icon.
She was a natural – creative, daring, curious, and eager. The whole prospect clicked and she wanted more. I had prepared a variety of resources for attendees so that they could go back to their schools and begin implementing sketchnotes with their students. I assured her everything she needed was there, but also said “if you need help, just call.”
Call she did.

A social studies teacher took the bait and declared that Sketchnoting would be a perfect addition to their study of Lewis and Clark and Westward expansion. My resources did the trick with introducing sketchnoting. Shelly facilitated the introduction to sketchnoting in individual classes, but for phase two I was asked to facilitate live sessions to deepen student learning.
In advance of my visit I asked Ms. Brown, the content area teacher for as much background knowledge as possible. I also asked her to identify the objective for our lesson. She sent me her learning targets, key vocabulary and important events, and also a link to a Youtube video that was to be used as both scaffold and support. I watched the video and made a sketchnote to share. I also researched the expedition through primary source journal entries from which I created an icon sheet as reference.

We started with brainstorming key vocabulary terms. Students were asked to share ideas for which terms spoke to them for complete understanding of the unit. Of these, their teacher selected the key terms (at first this was done randomly, then we had the teacher select the most important remaining terms for exploration). Many students chose the same terms. We completed graphic jams for the selected terms, about 4 per class meeting, moving the sticky notes to charts around the room. We then invited those whose term was selected to come view the images to choose the most effective icons. Listening to 8th graders debate the merits of a collection of icon sketches was delightful. Their reasoning and thought process spread laughter and enthusiasm in each group. The sketches filled up the space acting as anchor charts for the active learning part of the class time.

Students worked in groups of 4 or 5, each group was given a large piece of paper. Students were asked to use their learning targets and their notes to come up with an image that would best represent their learning. After 5 minutes, the students rotated clockwise to view and investigate the sketch of their peer – adding to the drawing, clarifying a connection, or commenting on the importance of the image. The rotations continued till all students were back at their own original drawing. Once there, students evaluated the additions of their peers and finalized the learning target/objective from which they began.


Groups then evaluated the whole poster, adding connectors or borders where necessary and showing the interactive fluidity of their work. At this point we instructed them to come up with one main idea that best represented their results and write that in the center if it was not already noted. The final products were posted on the walls of the room and a gallery walk ensued.
As an exit ticket, students were asked for one word to describe the visual review and their learning: Educational, good, exhilerating, amazing, decent, extraordinary, surprising, beautiful, challenging, lovely, awesome, glorious, neat, interesting, fantastic, memorable, informational, enthusiastic, creative, informative, artistic, reminding, collaboration, art, fantastic, imagination, creative, smart, exciting, spectacular, intriguing, education, communication, contributing, interesting, alright, responsibility, engaging, adventurous, special, expression, were some of the words shared. Wouldn’t you want to engage in a lesson that could claim an adjective such as these? The students were going to continue the path during their next unit of study. Teacher empowered, media specialist the conduit, Peacedoodle the delivery. 
Onward.
	


	



		
		Posted on October 6, 2019October 9, 2019
Get Your Sketchnote On – 3 hour workshop for Media Specialists
	


			
			
							
		

	
	
		Collaborating with Media Specialists is one of the perks of my job. I support teachers and learners K-12 and working with folks who love books and advocate for reading is pure pleasure. Being asked to present a 3-hour pre-conference workshop on Sketchnoting for the North Carolina School School Library Media Association’s (NCSLMA) annual conference last week was an honor. Preparing for this group held a few atypical challenges as I would have to wait to find out if their interest in sketchnoting was from an individual or professional perspective. Basically, did they want to learn for personal enjoyment and their professional knowlege OR were they planning to share the skill with their students in a specific content area? It was going to be fun.
The typical agenda involves discussing the what and why’s of Sketchnoting, then practicing, building skills, and exploring the different opportunities to try on Sketchnoting. We opened up with a sketchnote selfie, or trading card. This is my way of starting slow and warming everyone up. The objective is to create your image then visualize 3 items that bring you joy or that could represent you, and draw those too. My group set to work, and before long they were all smiling at their introductions. In different settings I then use these cards to organize groups, pick participants, or personalize instruction. Today, we would use them as visual prompts to introduce ourselves. On the back, they were to think of that person or thing that could perch on their shoulders and cheer them on when life got tough. Mascot, cheerleader, talisman, buddy or champion which is the noun the group chose for this selection. This too, was a task that was undertaken with gusto. The sensitive nature of each person’s sharing brought a reverance to the room.

Selfie-Trading Cards and Personal Champions

My favorite part of our time was introducing the book “We Don’t Eat Our Classmates” by Ryan T. Higgins. Perusing the attendee list prior to the event I noticed that most attendees served elementary schools, I wanted to personalize the activities to showcase the reading standards that would be apporpriate learning outcomes for K-2, I settled on first grade standards and shared those outcomes with the group. They could choose from identifying the beginning, middle and end of the story. The main problem and solution. The character and emotions from the events in the story, or any of the other apropriate reading standards for younger grades. I showed the cover and we listened to the book being read. The smiles and chuckles from the group were worth the prep, travel, and delivery time. This book is a gem. We discussed creating a dinosaur using only the basic shapes and I shared my own rough sketch of Penelope in rectangle, triangles, and circles. I had also prepared a template of sorts by drawing the main character, Penelope Rex on my iPad Pro and printing those sheets.

Penelope Rex helping adults draw their understanding of story details.

I distributed Penelope Rex, but also gave out plenty of blank paper for personal exploration. The quiet was palpable as attendees smiled and thought, remembered and then asked clarifying questions. I had a printed copy of the standards and a hard copy of the book for back up, but for the most part the adult learners in the room took off running.

Marci used two pages and numbered events to showcase her learning.


Jerry and Jennifer chose my template and redrew Penelope. Jerry focusing on events and emotions by using arrows to show the stages (connectors in sketchnoting). Jennifer nailed the emotions and Penelope’s reactions in her pages.

Jerry’s Product – arrows lend direction and order.
Jennifer focused on emotions.

Marina opted for a different set-up and a fabulous emotion meter to assist. This activity was not open-ended and once time was up, we shared out. Marina said she wanted to give the emotion meter to each of the stages, but ran out of time.
Marina used a vertical approach to retell the story.

Here is my final product. 
My final result – Beginning, Middle, and End with emotions. Problem/Solution
We discussed each submission with awe and upon seeing my outcome, Marci commented on my use of object (symbol) to designate event. She reflected that focusing on redrawing Penelope in action was a challenge and that this choice of object (icon/symbol) was something she would remember and use again with her students. This activity was inspiring and fun. It has educational support in a standards focus, and is easily adopted in the younger grades. The challenge is to work the same magic with literature on a higher level that might require a deeper understanding of symbol, and other text features. I envision more words in those sketchnotes, but an equal amount of joy. 
Get your Sketchnote On, indeed. It was such a pleasure exploring together.

Do you have books or poetry that you like to explore with visuals? We would love to hear from you and see your examples as well.

Category: Sketchnoting in Education

Get Your Sketchnote On – 3 hour workshop for Media Specialists

peace_doodle