I am at the very beginning of my sketchnoting journey. I have never, not even once, made a sketchnote. At this moment, I believe sketchnoting is drawing images to represent ideas we hear about or read about. They can be connected in various ways to tell a story and document what we know in a moment in time.

I’ve seen people participating in sketchnoting challenges on Twitter, but I have not yet delved deep into it. I am intrigued by it though, as I am on my other journey of personalizing learning. I have students in my class who I think, with my current understanding, will benefit greatly from sketchnoting. I have a feeling as soon as I start, I’ll be infected with #sketchnotefever!

To introduce us to sketchnoting, Silvia walked us through her sketchnoting tips, all the while, we made our own visual representations using Paper by WeTransfer. It took a few minutes to get into my groove…but I’m hooked.

So, without further delay, here is my first sketchnote:

Looking at my work, I can say that I can confidently and thoroughly explain each image that I’ve drawn. I can hear Silvia in the back of my mind talking through each of these tips. I know that I am a visual learner, and I believe I could look back at this image and summarize what I learned much quicker than if I was looking at a document of notes. I can only imagine what this can do for some of my students…and so instead of writing those ideas…I’ve made a sketchnote of it!

In one day I have realized that I find this tool very therapeutic and useful.

I can’t wait to introduce it to my students.

9 Comments on The Only Cure Is More Sketchnoting!

  1. I mentioned this in the session, but your energy while you were sketching was calm. A natural element you have here and to model with great passion and the “fever” you’ve caught from it! How do you think you will introduce Sketchnoting first to the students? Will they copy something? Make their own? Close ended, open-ended? I know the possibilities are endless, but I’d be interested in seeing your journey with this with your students.

    • Great question. I’m not sure just yet. I think I’ll start by introducing it to the students I think will appreciate it the most. Once they’re into it, maybe they can then take the lead on introducing it to the rest of the class.

  2. Unbelievable!!! You have uncovered a true gift. Can’t wait to see what you do with a stylus that has a finer point. You will be unstoppable! 🎨

      • @Melissa
        I worked for the longest time with a “free” stylus… there is no need to invest in the expensive one… as you have proven with your first sketchnote. It’s about the ideas, not the art πŸ™‚

  3. I am so glad that sketchnoting came out AFTER I was working with Silvia otherwise she would have made me do it too! “How can you ask teachers to sketchnote if you don’t try it also?” πŸ™‚ I love tools that give some students the ability to work better/differently because it better fits how they think/learn AND forces some students to work/think differently because it does NOT fit how they think/learn. It will be just as interesting to see how it impacts the students who don’t love it at first sketch as it will the ones who don’t…

    • Only time will tell. At this point, I’ve only introduced it to few students, not the whole class. I feel like this fits better with personalized learning. It’s not for everyone and nobody HAS to do it. If they like it, great! If not, no problem. What I’d really love is if some students who don’t love it find some other tool they’re interested in and introduce it to us!

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