My students loved the post it notes that had the coordinate planes on them because they could use them as part of their notes when they needed to draw the graph say for logarithmic functions or linear. The other way they loved using them was as part of their homework when they had to graph anything. They could just put the sticky note on the page with the problem and draw the graph. If they made a mistake they could just take the messed up on off and replace it. It also meant the graph was much more accurate.
I also love using sticky notes as a manipulative to help students learn the processes needed to solve one, two, and multistep equations, or for combining like terms. For like terms, I give students different colored notes so they can write each term on one but all the x's would be on green, all the x^2 would be blue, xy would be pink, and they would write the term with the plus or minus side. This way they can rearrange the terms so they are grouped by color since all the same variables have the same color. This allows students to see visually what constitutes like terms. I've had students who never moved on from using the colored notes and some who did. I didn't worry, I just handed out the post-it notes as needed.
Another way I used sticky notes was teaching students to solve one, two, and multi step equations. If we were working on say 2x + 3 = 9. I had students write the 2x on one color note and the +3 and 9 on a noter color but they would both be the same color so students would know they were both constants and different from the variables. Then I'd have a third color to show the process. So when I showed students to subtract three from both sides, I'd write the -3 on two different notes of the same color and place them under the original equation. I'd draw a line below that, move the 2x down, talk about the 3 -3 is zero, and 9-3 is 6 and I'd write the 6 on a note on the same color as the +3 and 9.
So now I have the 2x = 6 and using the same color I used for -3, I"d write /2 on two different notes so I could put them below each term resulting in 2x/2 = 6/2. the final line would be the x on the same color as the variable, and the 3 would be on the same color as the +3 and 9. Then for every problem I used this method for, I'd use the same colors because the colors help students remember and once they completed the problem using this, they could copy the problem onto their paper.
Other ways to use sticky notes are using them to fill in the real number system graphic organizer, each type of number is assigned a color. For instance, integers might be orange, irrational numbers might be in pink, decimals in blue, fractions in green, so as the numbers are placed in the chart, the students have the color coding to remind them of the type of numbers.
One thing I see students struggle with is substitution. Doesn't matter if it is a straight substitution of 3x + 2y with x = 2 and y = 1/2. You'd write down 3 with space + 2 followed by space. Students would write 2 on one note and 1/2 on the other and place the notes in the blank spaces to get 3 (2) + 2 (1/2) and they can solve it this way. This can also be done when teaching solving systems of equations using substitution so instead of using numbers, you use equations.
I'll finish off the physical post-it notes on Friday and address using digital sticky notes in the math class. Both can be used by in different ways. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.
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