Each student has his or her own notebook, while the classroom has the same notebook for students to refer to. After lessons, I would copy the notes from the overhead or board into the classroom notebook.
What's nice about a class notebook and teaching students to have their notebooks in the same format is the ease in finding past assignments to discuss and revisit... especially important when reflection and metacomprehension are a focus. Another benefit is the aid it provides for students who have missed class... they can come in to homework club for help; parents can request missing assignments, and the teacher can take the notebook to the copier and xerox what the student missed... so simple...
A table of contents is one of the key parts to having successful class notebooks. These pages list all of the work that is included in the class notebook. This page looks something like this:
Date CODE # Title Due Done Submitted
9/25 BORE#1 Junius Maltby 09/30 X X
9/28 NOLA#1 Pronouns 09/30 X X
9/28 WUPA #1 Junius Maltby 10/18
9/30 GALA #1 Boggle! ---- X ---
The done column indicates that the work was completed in the notebook. For most assignments, final copies are completed on 8-1/2 x 11 paper and submitted. That's what the last column is for. Students check this page to ensure that they have submitted assignments that have been completed
Another key component of a successful classroom notebook is the establishment of codes for assignments. Here is a partial list of the codes we used:
BORE - BOok REview
WUPA - Wrap UP Assignment
REAMS - REflection AMerican Studies
RELA - REflection Language Arts
NOAMS - NOtes AMerican Studies
NOLA - NOtes Language Arts
GAAMS - GAmes AMerican Studies
GALA - GAmes Language Arts
Once the codes are assigned, each assignment gets a number. For example BORE #1, BORE #2, etc. This allows students to recall which topics and assignments were covered first. It's also a nice way to let students know that progress is being made.
Notebook checks are performed at least once a week during silent reading. This allows an opportunity for the teacher to ensure that students are completing assignments, and to have them come for Homework Club if they need extra help.