Sketch Noting: Using Listening and Drawing to Change the World | Sherrill Knezel | TEDxMarquetteU

We've all heard the old saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm here today to share some stories with you about why I know this to be true deep in my bones and it all starts with a doodle, so a little bit. background I've been a lifelong

sketch

er and doodler on the margins, so it's no surprise that today I'm an art educator, graphic printmaker, illustrator, and cartoonist, so I learned to

sketch

in a book called Sketchnote Handbook by author Mike Rohde and me. I learned that sketch

noting

is also called visual note-taking or graphic note-taking and is a form of note-taking that uses images and text to create meaning and personal relevance from verbal or text-based information.

When I learned this my reaction was what's the name for What I've Been Doing in the Margins, I didn't know that joining sketches was going to

change

my life so I researched brain science and the data on sketchnotes and learned that and it did all sorts of good things like increasing engagement memory and retention connection I knew right away that I wanted to do it with my students, it would help them remember more, it would help them practice

listening

, it was free, what else is there? ask as a teacher? So let's go back to doodling when I started teaching my third through fifth grade art students how to sketch, showing I didn't have a lot of prior teaching experience, kids draw before they write, we all do it and I knew they would be naturals at that, so I told them we would do it.

I was

listening

to a story and this particular day it was about a little boy who had a seizure in class. I told him: I just want to hear the story. Capture three to five images to help you remember story ideas and the goal. was that they would take their notebooks home at night and could share with an adult in their house what the story was about we talked a lot about being comfortable making mistakes in our sketch notes mike roti the author calls it it's about ideas, not art, I personally told my students that we don't have time for pretty, we're going to focus on the process over the product for this, so we listen to the story, uh, and I usually ask my students what they draw on, why and a fourth grade boy.

He raised his hand to the back of the room and instead of sharing from his table he wanted to come up and show me his

drawing

. This was his

drawing

. I have learned after many years of teaching elementary art to never name things in a student's artwork because I got in trouble too many times by saying that's a fabulous cat only to have the student artist say that's my giraffe, like that. I told him tell me more about your photo and he shared this and said, "Okay, this is your brain story." and he had a seizure and then he fell out of the chair and then his mother said this and the doctor said this.

He went on and on about the story of the doodle on his paper. He had found meaning and demonstrated listening and understanding of it through drawing. In fact, drawing was his idea, so I got hooked. I began talking to anyone who would listen about the power of annotating sketches and why he felt so strongly that it belonged in every student's toolbox. I guess I thought all students should have access to it. It may not work for everyone, but for some students it can be simply transformative. I spoke with parents and colleagues. I presented it to the school board.

We still practiced most weeks in art class and I practiced myself. I told my students that it was my evil plan that one day. They would be sitting in a high school class, they would be on Friday afternoon after lunch, they are super tired trying to stay awake and they would doodle in the margins and remember that we sketched and try it, so a few years after implementing my evil outline note plan, I received an email from a parent of a former elementary student named Brody in elementary school. Brody had been a great cartoonist, super creative, he had a dry sense of humor that was just the dark side.

Brody's mother told me that he had done very well in elementary school, but in middle school, when the amount of information he was expected to retain exploded, Brody had a hard time keeping up because traditional grades just didn't work for him. in fact, in eighth grade, Brody. was diagnosed with dysgraphia Dysgraphia is a form of dyslexia that affects a student's written expression, so Brody was able to assimilate this diversity of neurons, which meant that he could assimilate content that was complex, but had a hard time putting it back on paper, so he entered in the first year. year, Brody's mom shared a sample of his writing with me and it looked like this, so he wasn't exactly high school level.

I knew Brody was a sketcher and a visual learner, so I met with his parents to talk about why I thought sketch zoning could be the tool he needed to be successful as a sophomore in high school. . Brodie's parents were fabulous supporters of him. They had notes written on their individualized education program, also known as an IEP, which only meant that Brodie was allowed to use this method of notes. taking classes on homework and exams basically anywhere I was learning or processing content, so third year I contacted Brody and just to see how it was going and he shared an example of his sketch notes from a story, it was a lecture on history. of atomic theory, okay, I still get chills when I share this, what was my reaction?

So for Brody, the key to unlocking the content and accessing it was sketching and noticing that he was able to create clear, concise notes that worked for him. Brody continued the third year until he used sketch

noting

and he used it in all of his classes, he even used it in some of his college scholarship applications and I had just started doing workshops with educators and I asked Brody, do you know what I would like to see? tell the teachers? And he said, well, definitely, help me. pass chemistry and for me the sketches were a joy in the midst of the horrible because traditional note taking didn't work so I tell teachers they should try it.

They have nothing to lose. My last question to Brody was a couple of years ago and he was studying. degree in design and I asked him to sketch what they meant to him and Brody shared this so you can see his sense of humor. Talk about my brain experiencing blockages when I write by hand. Imagine that your brain. let's call it skip says brody is letting some nice little brain juices aka thoughts drip down for normal people it flows like butter but what it does my brain feels like a funnel and the thoughts can't get out that's what What is dysgraphia, I have it.

School was a pain until I tried sketching my sophomore year and it made everything better. Now I'm in third year and I use it in all classes signed by the cartoonist brobee. Sketchnoting may not have

change

d the

world

, but it certainly changed Brodie's

world

, so separate from my role as As an art educator, while researching sketch zoning, I learned about graphic recording, which is simply taking notes of sketches, but at large conferences or other group meetings it can be done on large paper with markers or it can also be done digitally or virtually. now remotely with an ipad or a stylus and a tablet again my reaction: what is this job that people get paid for?

Listen to interesting and interesting conversations. Learn new things and draw. I decided I was going to do that when I grew up. So when? People ask me what it is. I usually say as a graphic engraver. I am a dedicated listener in the room. I'm going to listen to your conversation. I'm going to use images and text to create a visual summary and then the drawings. create, they can act as an artifact of the time the group spends together and can be used for things like accountability or communication or simply to encourage further conversation when the meeting or event is over and that's the textbook definition I usually share, but the surprising and powerful thing I've learned about group drawing and listening is that it's a completely different way to help humans feel seen and heard.

It's brave to share something vulnerable in a meeting, so when I listen and reflect someone's ideas and words through group drawing it's a way to validate their feelings and create connection, so this happened recently when I was recording a large conference and I was in a room with a facilitator who was leading a large group through a process to identify the biggest challenges facing fundraising today and she had posed the most beautiful question I had ever asked the group: What is fear with spring in the ear today? Honestly, I didn't know how to draw fear, so I did what I told my students to write. turned into a little person, I had my back to the group, I was facing the paper markers in my hands listening and I heard a man say this, he said, I'm dealing with all this shortage of resources, I'm doing the best I can, but Am I doing enough?

Am I trying hard enough? I'm worried about losing my job and I wrote this on the board in the last word bubble I wrote. Am I enough? Suddenly I heard this man say what she just wrote. that's how I feel listening deeply and drawing that's what I love about this work it can change a person's world it can also change the conversation in the room that's the power of sketch noticing I think it can also help create a more world just simply The generative and transformative work being done in communities around efforts like embracing the story of the heart or having uncomfortable conversations about disparities, disability or racism, uplifting and amplified, when we use images to generate honest conversation and weight, can be an impactful way to start creating change.

So the last story I want to share with you is how I look at sketch notes in my personal life to really get quiet and listen deeply to do what author, educator and activist Parker Palmer calls making the inside match the outside. so early in the morning with a nice strong cup. of coffee I started

using

sketch notes a few years ago to make a daily meditation and drawing practice and that's how it worked. I would find a quote that resonated with me that day. I would generally draw it in a circular format to use it for as few people as possible. details as possible and still communicate the essence of the words.

Sometimes he painted outside. I was doing this in a sketchbook and then sharing it on social media. They looked like this, so something strange and beautiful started to happen. The people started. contacting me in the comments wondering how you knew I needed to hear that today or you drew that particular picture just for me, no it was fine with you, actually they are all just self help, they were all notes to myself things I needed to hear that day, but the drawings created a human connection very soon I started writing my own words for the drawings, so what I learned from the process is that when we share our own individual and personal stories and experiences, we simply learn. how universal the human experience is, the daily practice of drawing has also led to writing and illustrating a book with parker palmer called heart talk is a visual interpretation

using

schematic notes from his wise and inspiring book let your life speak, so what? how can you use it? listening and drawing notes in your life if you are a parent or educator or have children in your life that you love let them draw while listening while reading while thinking it will help them engage increase memory retention connection all those good things if you are a human being, try it yourself, doodle in the margins, use programming to communicate a complex idea, listen and take notes to build relationships and trust, and show another human being that you really see and hear them when it comes to listening it's an act .

Love is a powerful way to create connection and we don't have to follow the standard conventions of how, where or when we use it; In fact, when we break those conventions, it creates space for annotation, which is a valuable and more inclusive method. The ability to take notes that allows students of all ages to create meaning and connections and demonstrate their understanding through drawing. Listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other and when we combine it with note taking and drawing in small or large ways, maybe it can change the world thanks