My Bullet Journal

Evolved - that's what I have to say about my Bullet Journal. In the beginning, they were called my "notebooks". I am on version 7 of what I now call my Bullet Journal.  Each year I have tweaked how I set my journal up and utilize it. I look back at each year's book and cherish the memories, documentation and learning that I see as I read through the pages.  Ryder Carol is the original creator of the Bullet Journal Method and his book is a solid resource.   

Five reasons why you should consider creating and using a Bullet Journal are:

1. They are customizable to meet your needs and budget
2. They are easy to Set-Up
3. They are visual 
4. They are comprehensive, in that everything is in one place
5. They are helpful in tracking short and long term goals

I have a favorite when it comes to my physical Bullet Journal.  I crack open a new Leuchtturhm 1917 every July.  ( I start mine each year in July as I plan for the upcoming school year.)  I love the feel and the weight of the Leuchtturm paper.  At the beginning of each journal their is a blank table of contents. Utilizing the table of contents allows me to quickly reference notes. The Leuchtturhm 1917 also has  pre-printed page numbers that can be referenced in the table of contents.  These features make organizing and finding your content easy and efficient.  

A Bullet Journal can be set up in a number of different ways. Some people's Bullet Journals are works of art, others, like mine, are not.  (I have art envy for the effortless creativity and artistic skills that some people possess!) There are tons of resources you can sift through when setting your Bullet Journal up. Masha Plans is one blog that offers ideas and inspiration. Below is the method I am currently using with my Bullet Journal.  I section my journal into three parts:

• Weeks -  I divide a page into thirds and give each week for the year a section. I enter in items that need to be taken care of during that week or notes that I need.
• General - Day to Day Meetings and Notes (This is the largest section as most everything goes into these pages. I can find notes quickly by using the table of contents.
• Learning  -  This section is where I take notes and process things that I learn during the year.

And finally pens, my favorite bullet journal accessory! I have tried a lot of different pens over the years and Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Medium pens have become a favorite of mine. They are reasonably priced, don't bleed through my Bullet Journal pages, write smoothly and come in a variety of colors.  If you are reading this on Black Friday,  Paper Mate Flairs are on sale today on Amazon for half off. 

If you use a Bullet Journal and have tips or advice, please share them with me below. My Bullet Journal will continue to evolve! 

And a quick shout out to others that I know on the Bullet Journal journey - Dan Greenberg, Amanda Seba, Michael McDonough and Kori Catlin!

This week we held a meeting to touch base with student leaders on our campus.  At the beginning of the meeting we opened it up and asked students how everything was going?  We received some solid feedback about online learning and the challenges and successes that students were experiencing. 

Communication came up a few times and specifically the challenge they were facing with email. This was something that I had not even thought about.  Prior to COVID email was not a system we used across the school to routinely communicate with students.  Our student email addresses are formatted with a string of numbers and at a domain that has been hard for students to remember. Students did use personal gmail or other domain specific addresses but we did not utilize our district addresses. Not having a centralized email system was one of the first things we realized we needed to use when we transitioned to distance learning.  As we prepared to reopen in September virtually, we made sure that students were aware of their district emails and taught them how to find and sign into their accounts.  And that's where we stopped. We assumed that accessing their email account was all that they needed to learn. ​

At the meeting, one student leader brought up the challenge of managing their email account. The student talked about the many notifications and assignments that they received from our learning management system as well as other platforms.  As he was speaking I was thinking, we haven't introduced them at all to the tools that are available in their Outlook account to help them manage email and stay organized.  (I know as an adult and experienced user of Outlook, I struggle to stay up to date and organized.) I explained that there was a way to set up rules in Outlook to filter emails into different folders as they arrived. Students' hands went up from across the meeting asking to be taught how to utilize this feature. I told them I would send out a screencast showing them how to create rules. Following the student meeting, I retold this story to a colleague. They looked at me and asked if I would send the screencast to them because they did not know how to create rules. Reminder, we don't know what we don't know.  ​

While COVID has slowed learning in some ways, it has accelerated the learning in other areas that are not necessarily a part of the standards and course content.  Many of these skills I am realizing we just assume students/adults know because they have had access to them on their device. ​ I am going to continue to look for the nuggets of learning that are happening in spite of the pandemic.

If you haven't met with your students or solicited feedback, I highly recommend it. This is one of a handful of things we learned from one brief meeting.