Student as Scribe

 Using students as a class scribe is an interesting way of involving them more in the note-taking part of class and giving more importance to the notes that they take in class. November (p.40) writes about using students as a "class scribe" with a different student responsible for uploading the notes online for the class to view and use after each class. While this only utilizing one student per day, students become more passionate about taking notes because the other students in class are depending on them to post quality notes to use. November (p.40) also writes that "students who struggle to take notes get better by studying and using the high-quality work of other students." Using students as scribes can be mutually beneficial for students in the classroom and is something that I would like to try implementing into my future classroom.

One of the simplest and most straight-forward ways for students to scribe and have notes available for the class to view is by using Google Docs. The designated scribe can take notes in the Google Doc and then have them immediately available for the class to view. As the teacher, I can also view these notes and make any corrections or modifications to the posted notes so that the class isn't looking at incorrect or incomplete information. This also serves as a good point of feedback for the scribe because they will get better at note-taking and see areas that I may have identified that they missed. I have attached below an example Google Doc of notetaking that might be posted in a high school history classroom. 

Using Google Docs with student scribes is a great way to create a class environment of interdependence where students can feel as if they are a contributing member of the class. I do foresee some potential problems with using this method in the classroom with students and other teachers. Mainly, I think that some students and other teachers may be hesitant to use this method due to their philosophy of students using others' notes that they took in class. However, I think that this method helps all students to develop their own note-taking skills and allows for students to focus more on the content and class objectives while also making a substantial contribution to the class.