Yoobi Great Ideas: Color Coding Notes

Teachers, day in and day out, you are full of great ideas that help your classroom run more smoothly and efficiently. Here at Yoobi, we think these are ideas worth spreading. Yoobi Great Ideas is a new ongoing series as part of the Toucan Times. We will be highlighting and sharing Great Ideas that are sent in by teachers just like you! This month’s Yoobi Great Idea was sent in by a super rockstar kindergarten teacher, Ms. Jill Nettleton from Los Angeles, CA. 

   

“Do we need to write down?” Ms. Nettleton was being asked this question by her students every time she put anything up on the board. In an effort to minimize this Ms. Nettleton came up with a very clever yet simple solution. By color-coding her notes she informs her students what they do and don’t need to copy into their own notes, all without saying a word.

Whenever Ms. Nettleton uses the Elmo or whiteboard in her classroom and expects students to write notes or follow along in a workbook or worksheet, she uses different colored markers.

In her class, “BLUE mean YOU” implying that everything she writes in blue should be written down by her students. Things in BLUE are important items students should remember to focus on.

Anything written in GREEN are other notes the students do not need to write down. Usually, this will consist of additional examples, elaborating concepts, answering important questions, or making notes for herself.

ORANGE notes are action items for her students. Usually within notebooks or worksheets to provide further directions. This especially helpful with younger grades.

This Great Idea has saved Ms. Nettleton hours of time and energy. We are so grateful she shared it with us, we hope you find it useful in your own classroom!

If you have a Yoobi Great Idea, share it with us for a chance to win some Yoobi goodies and be featured in an upcoming Toucan Times e-newsletter. Send your Great Idea along with an image or yourself and your Great Idea in action to, collabs@yoobi.com