I love the post it notes on New York subway – they remind me that there are a lot of people that want the same things that I do – want the environment protected, want everyone’s civil rights protected, healthcare protected, asylum seekers protected.

You can see some great pictures of them at The Guardian – Post-its on New York subway provide post-election therapy – in pictures

It made me think about how great this would be to use in the classroom. Also, how great index cards and sticky notes are in general.

After studying a topic, in any subject, every class member has to place a note on a wall at the back with one fact or thought about it. It’s a great way to make the task one that gets everyone involved.


Obviously great for students to post about their feelings on an issue, a novel. Great way for students to pull out key quotes from novels. And it works because it looks good, it has a context (you could show them the photos), it’s a class project.


I love the idea of students reading Words in Deep Blue – or any book, actually – and putting post it notes into books around the library. Small notes about the things they love. Small notes about the importance of quotes. Small notes about sentences that work, and why they work, and what this book made them feel.


In English, which is the one I’m most excited about – it’s a variation on the index card plotting idea. A wall at the back of the class that allowed students to post their paragraph topics on it to plan an imaginative essay, or a personal one, or any essay really, would have made things so much easier for a planner like myself.


If a student is stuck, have them write possible topic sentences, go to the back wall, and arrange their five notes in a way that looks like it might work. Scrivener in the classroom, sort of. But physical. A reminder that most people find plotting difficult, but there are practical strategies that help. Plotting is not impossible. It takes a basic knowledge of structure and a way of visualising that structure.