Org-mode notes about school lessons

Org-mode notes about school lessons

[Sébastien Gendre]

Hello everyone,

I used Org-mode for taking notes in some school lessons, but it was a
bit chaotic. I try to make it more efficient, easy to navigate and
manage.

I would like to know if you have any advice or suggestions.

Here, I will explain what I need, what I think to do this semester and
where I don't know how or what to do. It could be a long e-mail.

* What I need

First, I need to take notes for all school lessons.

For each lessons, I need to note:
- Name
- Schedule
- Classroom
- Teacher name and e-mail
- Assistant name and e-mail
- URL to the web page of this lesson on our online learning website
- List of all distributed documents
- Note on each of the distributed documents
- Lesson plan
- Notes taken in classroom while the teacher speak
- Notes taken while doing the practice work
- Tasks asked by the teacher

Secondly, I need a quick view on the week lessons schedule: For each day,
what lesson I have, when and where.

Thirdly, I need to manage the projects that teachers ask us to do. With deadlines.


* What I plan to do

As I need to write a lot for each lesson, and each lesson are mostly
independent from each other, I plan to have 1 file per lesson.

In each file, I plan to have the same structure:
- General information
- Tasks and Projects
- Distributed documents
- Notes

In "General information", I put the schedule of the lesson, the
classroom, the teacher and assistant name and e-mail and the URL to our
online platform.

In "Tasks and Projects", I put all work the teacher ask us to do. For
each, an Org-mode sub-headline with a TODO status. A project is just a task
with sub-tasks. Or maybe have a PROJECT status ?

In "Distributed documents", I create a sub-headline for each document. I
then attach a copy of the document to its sub-headline with org-attach.
Finally, I took note with Org-noter.

In "Notes" I make a tree of sub-headline based on the lesson plan. And,
when the teacher talk about a subject, I took a note in it's
sub-headline.


* What I miss

There is some point I'm note sure on what or how to do it.

First, the tasks. I don't know If it's better to keep them in the lesson
org file or move them with all my other tasks (home and work). I think
to include them in the org-agenda, so I can have global view of all ma
tasks. From school, work and home.

Second, the weekly schedule. Is it better to have a column view on a
separate file or to see the all the lessons in my org-agenda ? In the
first case, is it possible to build a column view from different file ?
In the second case, how to do it and to manage vacations ?

Third, do I include my work notes inside the lesson file ? Or do I
create a separate file for each works ? Some work asked to do are just
exercise, but some are rated and in this case we are asked to write a
report.

Fourth, is it better to include my school notes into org-roam with other
knowledge or keep them separate ? If I mix what I learn on my free time
and what I learn on school time, it would make more to review before an
exam.


I'm open to any suggestions or advice. Do not hesitate. ;)


Best regards

Re: Org-mode notes about school lessons

[Tory S. Anderson]

Sébastien Gendre <seb@k-7.ch> writes:

> Hello everyone,
>
> I used Org-mode for taking notes in some school lessons, but it was a
> bit chaotic. I try to make it more efficient, easy to navigate and
> manage.
I used org notes heavily through more than two school degrees, and loved it. Definitely a sweet-spot in org use-cases.

> * What I need
You have a pretty comprehensive list of needs; that is a lot of useful information. 

>
> Secondly, I need a quick view on the week lessons schedule: For each day,
> what lesson I have, when and where.
I live in org agenda, even now. You can filter it by tag/keyword easily by =C-c /=, removing filters with =|= (pipe). Don't forget to add your class to the agenda list with =org-agenda-file-to-front= (C-x [)
>
> thirdly, I need to manage the projects that teachers ask us to do. With deadlines.
Agenda is made for this. Just add a TODO to the headline =C-c C-t t= (org-todo) #+DEADLINE: =C-c d= (org-deadline) timestamp and see it in your agenda. You can modify how the notifications come for it. Also, make liberal use of org tags =org-agenda-set-tags= on headings, which you can use to filter your agenda view (eg by class).

> * What I plan to do
>
> As I need to write a lot for each lesson, and each lesson are mostly
> independent from each other, I plan to have 1 file per lesson.
This is a very stylistic, but I am a "all in one file" user, though I have a seperate directory and .org file per class, but no more split than that. I have always had =C-c s= bound in org files to something like =consult-org-heading= (or the helm equivalent, or selectrum equivalent, or even the vanilla emacs equivalent that I can't remember right now). To me, being able to easily go to headings/classes in one file fits my usage. I could see arguments for the other, though, since emacs is good at browsing/searching multiple files, too. And I suppose git version control might be more useful on the multiple-file setup.  

> In each file, I plan to have the same structure:
> - General information
> - Tasks and Projects
> - Distributed documents
> - Notes
>
> In "General information", I put the schedule of the lesson, the
> classroom, the teacher and assistant name and e-mail and the URL to our
> online platform.
#+URL, #+TEACHER, etc will be okay here. Though I would probably just put them in as plain text.

> In "Tasks and Projects", I put all work the teacher ask us to do. For
> each, an Org-mode sub-headline with a TODO status. A project is just a task
> with sub-tasks. Or maybe have a PROJECT status ?
>
How about both? Are projects seperate from other tasks, though? I would make heavy use of sub-tasks, with =[/]= in the headlines to give a count of sub-tasks completed.

> In "Distributed documents", I create a sub-headline for each document. I
> then attach a copy of the document to its sub-headline with org-attach.
> Finally, I took note with Org-noter.
I have not used org-attach, though I know I should learn it. I have just stored related docs in the folder for the class.

> In "Notes" I make a tree of sub-headline based on the lesson plan. And,
> when the teacher talk about a subject, I took a note in it's
> sub-headline.
>
>
> * What I miss
>
> First, the tasks. I don't know If it's better to keep them in the lesson
> org file or move them with all my other tasks (home and work). I think
> to include them in the org-agenda, so I can have global view of all ma
> tasks. From school, work and home.
I keep them in the class listing, then add that to my agenda, as described above. Add the class to your agenda files and you are set. 

> Second, the weekly schedule. Is it better to have a column view on a
> separate file or to see the all the lessons in my org-agenda ? In the
> first case, is it possible to build a column view from different file ?
> In the second case, how to do it and to manage vacations ?
Column view is another thing I have never intentionally used. I just filter my agenda to what I want. 

> Third, do I include my work notes inside the lesson file ? Or do I
> create a separate file for each works ? Some work asked to do are just
> exercise, but some are rated and in this case we are asked to write a
> report.
As mentioned above, I find putting them in the same file to be most useful. Even reports I put in the same file, using export to make them pdf or odt or docx or whatever the class needs. 

> Fourth, is it better to include my school notes into org-roam with other
> knowledge or keep them separate ? If I mix what I learn on my free time
> and what I learn on school time, it would make more to review before an
> exam.
I've been told that I should try org-roam. I never felt a need, though. Plain org does the trick for me.

org for class notes was a huge benefit to my quality of life for a lot of years, so I have some simple but opinionated takes on this. I hope this is useful, and I am always appreciative of any corrections.

- Tory

Re: Org-mode notes about school lessons

[Bob Newell]

I'll make only a small comment here.  I've used Emacs/Org for classes
that I take at University of Hawai`i (they have a wonderful program to
allow us old people to attend class for free).  I do one directory per
class and one org-mode file per class inside that directory, where
attachments (papers, research, class materials etc.) also go.  In math
classes since homework is done in LaTeX, I have one LaTeX file per
assignment.  (I could do this in the org-mode file itself with LaTeX
export, but I find it easier to use separate homework files.  Or maybe
I am too lazy to set up LaTeX properly in the org-mode file, which
would be best to do.)

To-do, deadlines, etc., stay in the org-mode file which gets
incorporated into my agenda.

Although managing multiple attachment files is necessary I find that
the closer I can get to one file per project (whether a class, a
novel, an analysis, etc.) the more efficient I can be.

Bob Newell
Honolulu, Hawai`i

Re: Org-mode notes about school lessons

[Marcin Borkowski]

On 2023-02-24, at 18:05, Tory S. Anderson <webdev@toryanderson.com> wrote:

>> As I need to write a lot for each lesson, and each lesson are mostly
>> independent from each other, I plan to have 1 file per lesson.
> This is a very stylistic, but I am a "all in one file" user, though
> I have a seperate directory and .org file per class, but no more split
> than that. I have always had =C-c s= bound in org files to something
> like =consult-org-heading= (or the helm equivalent, or selectrum
> equivalent, or even the vanilla emacs equivalent that I can't remember
> right now). To me, being able to easily go to headings/classes in one
> file fits my usage. I could see arguments for the other, though, since
> emacs is good at browsing/searching multiple files, too. And I suppose
> git version control might be more useful on the multiple-file setup.

This.  To each his own, but I also can't see much benefit of having many
small files instead of a few larger ones.  For example, linking to other
sections might be easier this way.  But, as Tory said, this is also
about personal preference, so I'm not claiming here that my way is
objectively better.

Best,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://mbork.pl

Re: Org-mode notes about school lessons

[Jean Louis]

* Sébastien Gendre <seb@k-7.ch> [2023-02-24 15:58]:
> For each lessons, I need to note:
> - Name
> - Schedule
> - Classroom
> - Teacher name and e-mail
> - Assistant name and e-mail
> - URL to the web page of this lesson on our online learning website
> - List of all distributed documents
> - Note on each of the distributed documents
> - Lesson plan
> - Notes taken in classroom while the teacher speak
> - Notes taken while doing the practice work
> - Tasks asked by the teacher

Here is the solution with Org:
------------------------------

* People
** Teachers
*** Mr. Evil
    :PROPERTIES:
    :ID:       067030f3-b833-4559-8159-6f94913a5408
    :E-MAIL:   mrevil@example.com
    :END:
** Assistants
*** Mini Me
    :PROPERTIES:
    :ID:       894a5fe6-f694-44c6-9285-b1fa7727e6c9
    :E-MAIL:   minime@example.com
    :END:
* Classrooms
** Classroom #1
   :PROPERTIES:
   :ID:       23a3959a-19af-4890-a4de-16aff843f3a8
   :END:
** Classroom #2
   :PROPERTIES:
   :ID:       891d563d-96f8-47a5-b7cd-4d4565cf1524
   :END:
* Lessons
** My lesson name
   :PROPERTIES:
   :CLASSROOM: 23a3959a-19af-4890-a4de-16aff843f3a8
   :TEACHER:  067030f3-b833-4559-8159-6f94913a5408
   :ASSISTANT: 894a5fe6-f694-44c6-9285-b1fa7727e6c9
   :URL:      https://www.example.com/my-lesson-name
   :END:

*** Distributed documents
**** My document one
Notes here about the document one
**** My document two
Notes here about the document two

*** Lesson Plan

*** Notes taken in classroom while the teacher speak
*** Notes taken while doing the practice work
*** TODO Tasks asked by the teacher

---------------
What I would do for the above referencing system is representation or "jump" function, so that when you have something like this:

** My lesson name
   :PROPERTIES:
   :CLASSROOM: 23a3959a-19af-4890-a4de-16aff843f3a8
   :TEACHER:  067030f3-b833-4559-8159-6f94913a5408
   :ASSISTANT: 894a5fe6-f694-44c6-9285-b1fa7727e6c9
   :URL:      https://www.example.com/my-lesson-name
   :END:

That I can quickly see which classroom is that or which teacher is that.

(defun rcd-org-uuid-name ()
  "Display name for referenced Org UUID."
  (interactive)
  (let* ((uuid (thing-at-point 'uuid))
	 (found (org-id-find uuid))
	 (heading))
  (when (and found uuid)
    (save-excursion
      (goto-char (cdr found))
      (setq heading (org-get-heading)))
    (message "%s" heading))))

When you move cursor to one of those UUIDs, you would see "Mini me" in
the mini buffer. Or you wish to jump there by UUID:

(defun rcd-org-uuid-jump ()
  "Go to heading of the referenced Org UUID."
  (interactive)
  (let* ((uuid (thing-at-point 'uuid))
	 (found (org-id-find uuid))
	 (heading))
  (when (and found uuid)
    (goto-char (cdr found)))))

The referencing system can enable to make reports on each lesson where
names of people and other attributes are nicely displayed. When you
change the heading or name of the teacher, the report would get
automatically updated.

> Thirdly, I need to manage the projects that teachers ask us to do. With deadlines.
> 
> * What I plan to do
> 
> As I need to write a lot for each lesson, and each lesson are mostly
> independent from each other, I plan to have 1 file per lesson.
> 
> In each file, I plan to have the same structure:
> - General information
> - Tasks and Projects
> - Distributed documents
> - Notes

You need not have one file per lesson, you can write it all in one single file.

> In "General information", I put the schedule of the lesson, the
> classroom, the teacher and assistant name and e-mail and the URL to our
> online platform.
> 
> In "Tasks and Projects", I put all work the teacher ask us to do. For
> each, an Org-mode sub-headline with a TODO status. A project is just a task
> with sub-tasks. Or maybe have a PROJECT status ?

I do not agree to the hierarchy how you specified, as I am used to
military style:

1. Plan

2. Programs, belong to plan

3. Projects, they are one step of a plan, when that step cannot easily
   be executed

4. Orders are tasks, or steps of programs or projects

But I cannot see how "Project" is subsection of a "Task", as task is
often something very specific. Though in other definitions task can be
project too. I just say it is not common, though you can mix terms as
you wish.

> * What I miss
> 
> There is some point I'm note sure on what or how to do it.
> 
> First, the tasks. I don't know If it's better to keep them in the lesson
> org file or move them with all my other tasks (home and work). I think
> to include them in the org-agenda, so I can have global view of all ma
> tasks. From school, work and home.

Yes, and that works.

> Second, the weekly schedule. Is it better to have a column view on a
> separate file or to see the all the lessons in my org-agenda ? In the
> first case, is it possible to build a column view from different file ?
> In the second case, how to do it and to manage vacations ?

You already got it, how I see it. It is possible to use multiple files
for agenda, see variable `org-agenda-files'

> Third, do I include my work notes inside the lesson file ? Or do I
> create a separate file for each works ? Some work asked to do are just
> exercise, but some are rated and in this case we are asked to write a
> report.

I would keep it in one file.

> Fourth, is it better to include my school notes into org-roam with other
> knowledge or keep them separate ? If I mix what I learn on my free time
> and what I learn on school time, it would make more to review before an
> exam.

I don't think you need more than Org.

However, I could keep it all in plain text, without Org mode, and it
would work equally well. 

Though I tend to keep information in RCD Notes & Hyperscope, The
Dynamic Knowledge Repository for GNU Emacs. As I like to relate freely
people to documents, that is important as your case demonstrates. And
I don't like doing copy, paste of UUID, or names. 

-- 
Jean

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