Post It Note PedagogyTop ten tips for

Teaching and learning

Post It Note Pedagogy’ – Top Ten Tips for Teaching & Learning

Post It Note Pedagogy’ – Top Ten Tips for Teaching & Learning

The humble post it note is so flexible, easy to

use and multi-purpose that it most surely must qualify for the ultimate low cost, high impact

teaching tool.

The humble post it note is so flexible, easy to

use and multi-purpose that it most surely must qualify for the ultimate low cost, high impact

teaching tool.

Why Post It Notes?Why Post It Notes?

The very nature and size of them encourages, even demands, a precise and concise use of language.

Rather than pages of notes, students have to be

selective, synthesise and exercise higher order

thinking to use post it notes successfully – it can be very much a case of less is more.

The very nature and size of them encourages, even demands, a precise and concise use of language.

Rather than pages of notes, students have to be

selective, synthesise and exercise higher order

thinking to use post it notes successfully – it can be very much a case of less is more.

And they are cheapAnd they are cheap

Question WallQuestion WallPost it note provides a

simple method for placing their questions onto the

wall. These post it notes can be grouped by sectors on the wall, depending upon

the question type. The post it is moveable and flexible,

so you can even use one question from one student and have another student

communicate the answer – the options are endless.

Post it note provides a simple method for placing their questions onto the

wall. These post it notes can be grouped by sectors on the wall, depending upon

the question type. The post it is moveable and flexible,

so you can even use one question from one student and have another student

communicate the answer – the options are endless.

Post It Note Formative FeedbackThe post it note provides a

quick option for feedback - one or two targets in a post it can

really shape any ongoing classwork. It also encourages

concise, targeted teacher feedback. For example having spellings corrected for them is little help for students, but a

post it note regarding a spelling rule, with some hints for

improvements could initiate some productive self-reflection

and proof reading.

Post It Note evaluation and self/peer assessment

Post It Note evaluation and self/peer assessment

Similar to two stars and a wish/ WWW/EBI. Using two different colours of Post It

note pupils can write on one colour what went well and on the other colour even

better if. It is also possible to print

templates onto Post-it notes for assessment as learning.

See additional sheet for instructions

Similar to two stars and a wish/ WWW/EBI. Using two different colours of Post It

note pupils can write on one colour what went well and on the other colour even

better if. It is also possible to print

templates onto Post-it notes for assessment as learning.

See additional sheet for instructions

Subject specific vocabularySubject specific vocabularyAs crucial subject specific terms arise in

the lesson they can be identified by using post it notes, which can gradually build

up a useful set of terms for a given scheme of work

If students are working in groups, or as a whole class, one student could be

allocated the responsibility of recording key words from the lesson and noting

them on a post it. As a plenary, the student or the teacher could reflect upon

these post it notes. The teacher could initiate enquiry about whether they form

into a pattern.The post it could be a way of organising

the terms into a distinct sequence or diagram, to reflect relatedness or

hierarchical patterns

As crucial subject specific terms arise in the lesson they can be identified by using

post it notes, which can gradually build up a useful set of terms for a given

scheme of workIf students are working in groups, or as a

whole class, one student could be allocated the responsibility of recording key words from the lesson and noting

them on a post it. As a plenary, the student or the teacher could reflect upon

these post it notes. The teacher could initiate enquiry about whether they form

into a pattern.The post it could be a way of organising

the terms into a distinct sequence or diagram, to reflect relatedness or

hierarchical patterns

Mini narrative / micro writingMini narrative / micro writing

Forget 140 character tweet! Get pupils to summarise in

ten words on a post –it note. Great as a swift

starter, or even a summative plenary.This compression of

language gets them to really focus in upon the essential

information, whilst providing a useful cross

curricular literacy strategy.

Forget 140 character tweet! Get pupils to summarise in

ten words on a post –it note. Great as a swift

starter, or even a summative plenary.This compression of

language gets them to really focus in upon the essential

information, whilst providing a useful cross

curricular literacy strategy.

The ‘ideas’ treeThe ‘ideas’ treeA description for any activity

where you get students to brainstorm ideas for a given topic

or concept. The teacher can shuffle the post it notes around

creatively to organise the ideas to give form to their collective ideas. These ideas can provide a semi-

permanent resource in the classroom for students to utilise and support their learning, and they can provide a ready made resource to recap prior learning

or to provide a ready made plenary to reflect upon progress.

A description for any activity where you get students to

brainstorm ideas for a given topic or concept. The teacher can

shuffle the post it notes around creatively to organise the ideas to give form to their collective ideas. These ideas can provide a semi-

permanent resource in the classroom for students to utilise and support their learning, and they can provide a ready made resource to recap prior learning

or to provide a ready made plenary to reflect upon progress.

Guess who/what?Guess who/what?

Place a key word/character/concept

etc. onto a post it and place it upon the forehead

of a student – they subsequently have a

limited number of questions they can ask before they guess the

term/topic on the post it.

Place a key word/character/concept

etc. onto a post it and place it upon the forehead

of a student – they subsequently have a

limited number of questions they can ask before they guess the

term/topic on the post it.

The Post It plenaryThe Post It plenaryPupils leave a post it on a

board/wall/door which reflects upon the learning of the lesson –

perhaps with a simple ‘Today I learnt….’ sentence stem to

scaffold their response. Some or all of the student responses can be revisited in the subsequent

lesson; whilst the teacher can use the responses to inform planning.

Another variation on the strategy is to have a learning arrow which

indicates various degrees of progress, as shown.

Pupils leave a post it on a board/wall/door which reflects

upon the learning of the lesson – perhaps with a simple ‘Today I

learnt….’ sentence stem to scaffold their response. Some or all of the student responses can be revisited in the subsequent

lesson; whilst the teacher can use the responses to inform planning.

Another variation on the strategy is to have a learning arrow which

indicates various degrees of progress, as shown.

Opinion linesOpinion linesPupils have to decide where their

post it would reside on an opinion line to represent their viewpoint, with some concise

justification for their views. Again, the post it note is perfect

because of the flexibility it provides – with subsequent

feedback, the post it may shift along the opinion line.

The post it provides instantaneous correction – the

opportunity to change the position on the line once each post it point or idea has been

discussed.

Pupils have to decide where their post it would reside on an

opinion line to represent their viewpoint, with some concise

justification for their views. Again, the post it note is perfect

because of the flexibility it provides – with subsequent

feedback, the post it may shift along the opinion line.

The post it provides instantaneous correction – the

opportunity to change the position on the line once each post it point or idea has been

discussed.

‘Pin the Post It on the Donkey’‘Pin the Post It on the Donkey’This is a catch-all description

for when you project an image onto the whiteboard and ask students to provide

a written response which they then place on the

relevant area. For example in geography the name of a country placed on the right part of the World map; in

Maths, this could be placing the answer on the relevant

point of a graph.

This is a catch-all description for when you project an

image onto the whiteboard and ask students to provide

a written response which they then place on the

relevant area. For example in geography the name of a country placed on the right part of the World map; in

Maths, this could be placing the answer on the relevant

point of a graph.

An extra one – Post It seating plans

Have each pupils name written a separate post-it.

You can then rearrange the post it notes when

you want the seating plan to be different without having to rewrite every

name again.

More of a management strategy than T & L, but one I still like

Any ideas?

Please pick up a post it note and let me know

how you use post-it notes in lessons.

I will put all the ideas together to share with

everyoneTHANK YOU