Professional Learning for Busy Educators

Is the pen mightier than the laptop?

The latest business craze seems like a throwback to a bygone era. Basically, it's writing stuff down. Google "Bullet Journals" and you'll see that within a few years of Rydell Carroll introducing "BuJos," they've become all the rage. People are "discovering" the power of a neatly organized notebook to jot down notes, remind themselves of appointments, and create task lists. It's an "analog system for a digital age."

After years of filling legal pads, a few years back, I decided to go digital, putting my life into a software application that promised to sync my tasks, notes, and calendar into one giant, color-coded system. Instead, it became a monster to feed—never there when I needed it but pestering me with incessant reminders of overdue tasks. So, I recently came crawling back to the analog fold, finding new religion with my Bullet Journal. Now, my mind feels sharper, my days more focused, and my stress lessened as I put the messiness of my life back into in neatly lined pages. This led me to wonder—does something magical happen when we write stuff down? Should we encourage students to embrace handwritten notes?