7 Tips for Creating Dynamic Polaroid Notes

The BIG 3 are the most important components of creating dynamic Polaroid Notes because the "Big 3" will focus your attention and keep you from trying to capture everything, including minor details.
Who and Where may also show up on the page but they will usually fall within one of the BIG 3.
I use one slide deck to cover the main topics of one BIG topic. There are obviously so many ways this strategy could be used, but here are a couple of basic examples.
- Example 1: If you were taking notes at a conference like me, the title of the slide deck would be the Conference name and year, and the individual slides would represent each session attended.
- Example 2: If you were taking Polaroid Notes for each chapter of a book, the slide deck would be the title of the book, and each slide would represent a chapter, or theme, or symbols, or any other overarching topics related to the book.

One Polaroid Notes topic really should not be more than one page. Think of it like a snapshot ...a summary that should tell the audience just enough for them to decide if they want to learn more.
Specific details should be accessible via other resources: hyperlinks, inserted images and/or videos, in lieu of a lot of text on the page.

If you or your students are taking Polaroid Notes as a group, consider the following questions ahead of time:
- Will the group all be working on the same slide deck at the same time? OR
- Will the individual slides be assembled together into one slide deck once everyone is finished with their individual notes pages?
Make sure you determine the answer to these questions before you begin.

Image 1: Making Your Notes POP!

Image 2: Making Your Notes POP! Changing the Page Setup to 8.5 x 11

The Insert Tab in the Slides tool bar is your best friend! (See image 1 above.)

Insert Word Art for main headers and bold statements!
- You can resize Word Art easily by dragging from the top, bottom, sides, and corners.
- You can have different border and fill colors.
- You can change the border dash and adjust the thickness of the border weight.
Insert images and even video that illustrate the topic or perhaps explain a big topic more thoroughly.
Insert shapes to organize and/or chunk the information.
Insert arrows, and/or callouts to draw attention to items you want to highlight. Ex. Tips and Tricks, quotable quotes, etc.
Insert links to other resources to provide the reader more information about the topic.
Insert tables to organize similar information.

Avoid the standard default font, "Arial" at all costs! There are so many more fonts available in Google Slides. Explore the "More fonts" option to expand your horizons!
Use a theme/color that is relevant to the topic in some way. Usually I choose this based upon the speaker's presentation slide colors and images; or if he/she has written a book or blog, I may get my color palette from there.
- For example, in my Polaroid Notes Slides presentation for ISTE, I used the rainbow stripes in a retro Polaroid camera as my theme throughout the presentation.
- HINT: Add the Color Pick Eyedropper Chrome Extension to your Chrome Browser to customize the colors in your Polaroid Notes.

Part of the greatness of using Google Slides for note-taking is having this one document that breaks down the components of one large topic into smaller chunks to serve as a SHAREABLE resource.
To make them in the best PRINTABLE format, change the File Setup to Custom, 8.5 x 11. (See Image 2 above.)
This is why the audience is so important. Polaroid Notes are meant to be shared with a group, a class, a team, a campus, or even the world!

Suggestion 1: Put a short link under each of the BIG 3 components.
Suggestion 2: Have a designated section on the page for Resources.
Suggestion 3: To save space, and so the page doesn't get convoluted with a lot of links, create a separate works cited page/slide. This option would be most useful for an extensive project.

Follow Polaroid Notes

Follow Elizabeth

Contact and Booking