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How do I Choose the Best School Notebook?

Lauren Romano
Lauren Romano

At the beginning of every school year, you may be one of the many students that go to the store to pick up new notebooks for their classes. You may also be one of the students that has to buy more after realizing that they purchased the wrong ones. Before going to buy a new school notebook, consider adhering to some tips that can help you find just the one you need.

If you need the school notebook before class starts, you may want to talk to students who have previously had the teacher. Each teacher gives their own amount of notes, so previous students will have an idea how large of a notebook you actually need. Should you be able to wait until after school starts, the best way to choose a school notebook is to speak to the teacher. He or she is the best source for knowing how many notes you are going to take throughout the length of the class.

Students may need a notebook for each class.
Students may need a notebook for each class.

If you believe that you will be receiving many papers from the teacher, you may want to choose a school notebook that has folders included in it. Having the folders built in gives you the opportunity to keep all of your papers together for one class without having to carry separate items. You can increase your chance of not losing the papers if you have everything organized in one place.

Environmentally conscious people can buy notebooks made from recycled paper.
Environmentally conscious people can buy notebooks made from recycled paper.

The cost for all of your school notebooks can add up, so instead of paying a large amount, you may want to visit your local dollar store. You can usually find every size notebook you need, from the very small to the large five subject notebooks. Instead of paying several dollars for each one, you can stock up and pay only one dollar each.

Should you know that you will have to tear out pages from your notebook to hand them in, you may want to choose a notebook that has perforated edges. Instead of ripping the page out and having to cut off the jagged edges, you can have a straight edge immediately on each page. When taking pages out, make sure to pull gently as to not rip the paper.

For those that are environmentally conscious, you can buy a recycled notebook. Each notebook is usually made from one hundred percent postconsumer recycled materials. You can still have the notebook you need, just with an eco-friendly twist.

When choosing a school notebook, you have an option of picking between legal or college ruled paper. Legal ruled paper has lines on the paper that are narrow while college ruled means the lines are spread a little further apart. Each teacher will usually have a preference as to what kind of paper they want the work on, but many prefer college ruled.

Before you purchase a school notebook, you should carefully consider what class you will need it for and how often you will be using it. If you feel that you may need more than one, consider buying a different color for each class in order to stay more organized. With little effort, you will have all of your paperwork organized and have everything that you need.

Discussion Comments

googlefanz

I find that in many college classes, the whole idea of a notebook for school is being replaced by laptops. Many students simply take their laptops to class with them and take notes on that.

Of course, some teachers don't allow you to do that since the students sometimes end up surfing the internet rather than taking notes, but for a conscientious student who types much faster than they write, a laptop can be a Godsend for taking good notes.

yournamehere

Bear in mind that out of your school supplies, notebooks are probably the ones that get used the most, so get a good one that you won't mind looking at for a year or two.

I mean, sure, that High School Musical notebook is just super-cute in the store, but do you really want to stare at it for a year?

Just a thought...

rallenwriter

This is a nice article -- when I read the title, I thought, "How could anybody actually write an article on back to school notebooks?" but you actually made a decently interesting article out of it.

Well done!

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    • Students may need a notebook for each class.
      By: goodapp
      Students may need a notebook for each class.
    • Environmentally conscious people can buy notebooks made from recycled paper.
      By: simonekesh
      Environmentally conscious people can buy notebooks made from recycled paper.