Teach17

Teachers carry a lot around with them. Not just books and laptops, but notebooks, meeting notes, lesson ideas, CPD scribbles, exam papers, reminders and those random pieces of paper that seem important at the time.

That is where the Kindle Scribe starts to look interesting.

It is not really a replacement for a laptop, and it is not trying to be an iPad. Its appeal is much simpler: it gives you somewhere to read, write, annotate and think without all the usual distractions of a normal screen.

For teachers who still like writing things down by hand, it could be surprisingly useful.

1. Use one device instead of several notebooks
   Most teachers have more than one notebook on the go. One for meetings, one for lesson ideas, one for CPD, another that somehow lives permanently in a school bag. A Scribe gives you one place for all of them.
2. Create a notebook for every class
   Keep quick notes for each teaching group. Where you reached, what needs reteaching, who needs support and what you want to do next lesson.
3. Write down where you actually got to
   A tiny note such as “finished energy transfers, start efficiency next lesson” can save several minutes of trying to remember where you were three days later.
4. Plan a lesson in two minutes
   Sometimes you do not need a formal lesson plan. Just write five things: starter, explanation, modelling, practice, exit question.
5. Keep your to-do list away from your inbox
   One of the problems with using a laptop for everything is that opening it for one task often leads to email, Teams, notifications and another six jobs. A Scribe can just be a list.
6. Take meeting notes you might actually look at again
   Instead of filling physical notebooks with pages that disappear into a cupboard, keep department meetings, INSET notes and briefings organised in folders.
7. Annotate exam papers before teaching them
   For maths, science and many other subjects, being able to write directly over a PDF is extremely useful. Work through the questions, add notes and prepare model answers before the lesson.
8. Build a bank of worked examples
   Teachers often explain the same ideas year after year. Keep your best worked examples, diagrams and explanations together so you can reuse them rather than starting from scratch.
9. Keep a permanent ‘lesson ideas’ notebook
   Every teacher has ideas at inconvenient times. Put them all in one place instead of trusting yourself to remember them later.
10. Sketch explanations before you teach them
    If you are going to draw a circuit, graph, ray diagram, timeline or model on the board, practise it first. A quick sketch can make the live explanation much cleaner.
11. Use it for CPD without writing down everything
    After a training session, record just three things: one idea worth trying, one thing worth questioning and one thing worth sharing with someone else.
12. Read professional books and annotate them at the same time
    Because it is still a Kindle, you can read education books, subject books or articles and immediately add notes alongside your reading.
13. Keep a simple reflection after each lesson
    Forget long evaluation forms. Write three short headings: “worked well”, “didn’t work”, “change next time”.
14. Store ideas for future topics
    When you come across a brilliant example, analogy or real-life application for a topic you are not teaching yet, save it for later.
15. Reduce printing
    Exam questions, articles, lesson notes and other PDFs can often be read and annotated without printing another copy that will eventually end up in recycling.
16. Use it as a distraction-free thinking space
    There is something valuable about a screen that is not constantly asking for your attention. No email popping up. No social media. No endless browser tabs. Just the thing you are working on.
17. Build a teaching notebook that lasts for years
    This is probably the most interesting use of all. Imagine having your lesson ideas, explanations, CPD notes, reflections and worked examples from several years of teaching organised in one searchable place rather than scattered across shelves and cupboards.

The Kindle Scribe is not essential teaching equipment. A notebook and pen remain cheaper and perfectly good.

But for a teacher who likes handwriting, reads regularly and wants to keep years of professional thinking together, it could be a very useful bit of kit.

The real attraction is not that it does everything.

It is that it does a small number of useful things without constantly distracting you.

Find the Kindle Scribe on Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Kindle+Scribe