A couple of months ago I shared my embarrassingly large collection of Post It notes on Instagram. I received over 100 ideas of how I could use them effectively. These are my top 25 ways to use them:
1.”I used to use them to count days in school. One color for each number in the ones place. The students would have to figure out what color and number we were on for that day of school. It was actually pretty to have a colorful pattern of post its around the room.” (idea from @amc0423)
2. “I had a “currently reading” board with a spot for each student so they could just grab a post-it and write down the title and author. Lots of them liked to stick their updates on top of older ones so they ended up with a stack of what they had read that year.” (idea from @hmb712, image from @HeadOverHeelsForTeaching on IG)
3. Exit Tickets – This was how I most often used them in my classroom. I would write a question on a piece of chart paper and have students respond on a post it before moving on to the next activity. Depending on the question, the students would write their name on their back. It was a great quick check for understanding.
4. “I use them as a mental health check in daily so I go through quiet a few. Upon checking in for the day the kiddos write their name on the backside so its only visible when I remove them and they can anonymously checkin to tell me if they’re having a. good or extremely bad day.”
5. Encouraging notes to students – I liked to occasionally put a nice note on their desk when they walked in for the morning. I also would randomly put one on their desk during independent work. (image from Pinterest)
6. “I use them to help my kids make tabs for our notebooks. When we begin a new unit/notebook, we create sections: essential questions, vocabulary, reflections, etc.” (idea from @learningnprogress)
7. “I use them on anchor charts, that way I can use more than one and students get to write and share.” (idea from @mrslewislittles, image from Growing Kinders)
8. “My students answer a question using post-its as part of their morning routine. The question that is written on the board will be weaved into our mourning routine and further on to the week’s lesson.” (idea from @ilenova)
9. “use them in math to make a bar graph on your whiteboard!” (idea from @jabergamo2019, image from Education to the Core)
10. Easy bookmarks for kids! I often found my encouraging notes on post its turned into bookmarks.
11. “I use them for write the room, for interactive anchor charts for the kids to write their answers and stick them on. I’ve also done Venn Diagrams and had the kids write their compare on one color and contrast on another.” (idea from @lifeofteachermom)
12. DIY Lesson Plan Book (photo from The Wise and Witty Teacher
13. “I have them write their name and put their post it on an opposing side to show an opinion.” (idea from @aaromero)
14. “We also used them for gallery walks for their writing and they could leave positive notes of things they liked!” (idea from @kasslynn727)
15. Students can use them during reading to jot done thoughts and questions. This would be great during independent time, because they can later come back and share their writing with the teacher or a friend. (image from Performing in Education)
16. “Do you know about a cooperative learning technique called “jot thought”? For this technique I used post-its.” (idea from @my_clil_science_corner)
17. “Well, not knowing what the upcoming year will look like, all I can think of is using post its as markers for e.g. how far apart desks need to be, where to stand on a line, which direction to circulate within your room etc.” (idea from @melissalapietra)
18. “I use them to write notes in writer’s notebooks if I don’t want them to write directly on the page!” (idea from @wildwondersteaching)
19. As a teacher, you can use them to quickly make a to-do list.
20. You can use them as temporary labels in your classroom
