How do YOU organize your subjects/notes in IB?

hi guys,

just started ib, and beginning to get really fussy about how i organize my subjects in folders. Some people just have separate folders for each subject..yet some other people have 1 massive folder for like 4 subjects?

just wondering from experience which method would be better and if uv had any experience PLEASE POST!!

Thanks

Reply 1

Annie Hall

1

I don't organise mine. I learn in the lesson and i don't revise. My view is that if i can't learn it first time, i don't deserve a second chance.
I'm cool, me.

Reply 2

IB-Seed

i have all my notes on my Tablet PC using One Note 2003

Reply 3

cjsk

what i've been doing is putting notes in separate plastic sleeves for each topic and each subject.. what ended up happening is me finding out i've lost half of these sleeves about two weeks before mock exams, and 5 months before finals..

lesson learnt: either do not use separate plastic sleeves, or if you do, organise those instead of piling them up on top of your desk..

i think a good way would be to use a file for all your everyday stuff (one for all 6 subjects, or two with three each, for example), and every time you finish a unit, put all your notes for that unit into a file dedicated to two years worth of notes from one subject.. either that, or use notebooks.. just make sure you know where they are in two years' time..

Reply 4

SunderX

14

Wow, maybe I should start making notes.

Then again, I said the same thing to myself about 1.5 years ago.

Reply 5

chooka

11

best thing i found, being lazy, i just had small folders for each subject. these lil cardoard things, and just stuck all my notes from each subjectintoa seperate one. when it gets too full. i just too them out and stuck them in a huge folder at home. in english class, i write on the book as much as possible, less likely to loose it. it all depends how organised u are in general.

Reply 6

Paradiddle_man

Small folder for each subject except mssl, Indonesian and TOK. I've filled up 2 huge folders for bio and chem and a small extra one for business though. Think I might try this free mac program for uni. Forgot the name, it has the backpack on the front screen.. But then it might be easier to just have separate folders in the hard disk for every subject (or modules).

Reply 7

HMSChocolate

13

I had a folder for each subject, and the folder is divided into different sections for each topic. My most organised folder had to be French, since my teacher practically set out a way we should be organising our folder and regularly checks them to make sure they were in proper order.

Reply 8

diera23

I put the papers together in one binder for each subject. Make it chronological so it's gonna be easier when the exam comes. Also, do not lose any single paper for your advantage :P:

Reply 9

Deus

14

There was a time when I was super organised. The IB OVERWHELMS you with stuff so eventually you won't be able to keep up. I have thousands of papers all over the place. I can't ever find what I want, so I just use other things instead.

I haven't used a single thing I did in class for my mock exams. I study from the net, from books, or from notes I made on the computer. Never use "papers".

Good luck with organisation though.

Reply 10

tima89

5

I use small (relatively for IB of course :smile:

) binders for each subject, but every 3 weeks or so they fill up and i stuff them in the closet. I now can't even think of trying to find anything in the dozens of binders i've got!!!
But it's just me - i fail to be organized no matter what i do.

Reply 11

IB-more

Somehow, I became really organized recently. Here's how I do it. At the beginning of the year, I get the largest spiral notebooks I can find for each subject. I also get a big, accordion-style paper holder that looks like this. I write notes in the spiral, and split up the individual files, one for each subject' handouts, and another for each subject's graded work, all by chronological order. The only pitfall of this system, however, is that the paper holder tends to get REALLY REALLY heavy, and may start bulging.

Wow.... reading this, I'm starting to think I have OCD. I don't think about it anymore, though. All my papers are there, and I always have them.

Reply 12

buzhidao

1

i only organise notes for biology and economics.
for biology, i type up summaries for every topic and for economics, its just normal word documents.

Reply 13

Paradiddle_man

Seems like a small forest is sacrificed for every IB student and the pulp is moved to their rooms in the form of paper piles. Apparently a Canadian IB school has an annual folder burning tradition.

What a waste... we should sell our notes to people below our grades. Bet some are desperate enough to buy them.

Reply 14

HMSChocolate

13

Paradiddle_man

What a waste... we should sell our notes to people below our grades. Bet some are desperate enough to buy them.

My history photocopied a tree's worth of notes for us and asked us to give them back to him when our exams finish so that's what I did with all my history notes.

Reply 15

Theocide

God only knows how i'd manage withought my TC4200 talet pc and onenote2003 :P: any paperwork i do have is in a 'pile' (mountain range would be more apropriate) in the corner of my bedroom. I ocasionaly have to excavate it to find a prac or something and it's not prety.

The only thing i have organised is my CAS and i have 2 words that where the key to that success BOX FILE. I never ever take anything out of my CAS boxfile except when it goes to me CAS tutor, every tuesday i take the file into col and offload anything completed.

Before i got the laptop i tried folders and they jst didnt work coz i filled them up in a week, i use flow diagrams for everything and it takes alot of paper space.

I think ultimately you have to either have a shaky filing system or spend a lot of time organising it (one again BOX FILES, have small files for each topic as you do them then offload the stuff into box files at home, or so sais our tutor lol)

Theocide

Reply 16

Bandev

I have all my revision work on flash cards that are a different colour for each subject, onto which I glue printed out little syllabus thing eg. 3.2.4 blah blah.

Then for each subject:
English I have a large folder that is broken but it's ok, with dividers for each book and things like IOP World lit, where I put relevant notes and handouts go in plastic pockets.
Maths I have a theory notebook and an excercise nootebook and a display book for handouts and test.
Bio and chem I have a big notebook with 250 pages the largest I could find which has al my notes. Then I have a display book for all handouts and tests and another for Prac reports.
Geo I have another large folder again with dividers for topics, the tag for subtopic-things, with plastic pockets for handouts.
Spanish I have have another large notebook for notes and then a smaller book for vocab and then more flash cards for verbs. oh and a display book for handouts.

I think could find anything I want to. So I suppose it is a pretty successful system.

How do YOU organize your subjects/notes in IB?

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