Organise, plan, create: Notebook LM - the perfect teacher tool.

Luckily, you don’t need to be a technology expert to use Notebook LM. If you can type a question into Google, you can use this tool.

As English teachers, we’re always looking for ways to make our lessons more engaging and relevant. But when it comes to integrating new technology into our teaching, many of us feel a bit overwhelmed. I’ve recently discovered a Google tool called Notebook LM. It reminds me of Microsoft OneNote, but with integrated AI help. Notebook LM - the perfect teacher tool!

Notebook LM can be found here. You will need to sign in with your Google account. Once you’re in, you’ll be taken to an overview page of the app with example notebooks. You also have the option to ‘Create’ your notebook.

Clicking ‘Create’ brings up a pop-up for you to upload the sources you want to include in your new notebook. The limits are subject to change, but at the moment you can have 50 sources per notebook, and 500K words per source.

I used the novel Freak the Mighty with a Year 9 class a few years ago, so I uploaded some of the resources I had in my OneDrive. Then I typed into the box at the bottom of the page ‘Freak the Mighty Unit Plan for Year 9’.

The AI created a unit plan with an overview, learning objectives, assessment ideas, and suggested activities, all with links to the relevant source from the ones I uploaded (that’s the numbered circles).

I clicked the option at the bottom to save it to my notebook. Once added, I could click onto it and change the name. You will see above the saved response an option to ‘add note’, where you can type in your own notes on the topic.

How could you use Notebook LM in your teaching?

• Generating lesson ideas - You can ask it to suggest activities for teaching specific themes or texts, like exploring symbolism in The Great Gatsby or character development in Othello.

• Structuring lessons - Add your ideas, and it can help you create a logical sequence.

• Creating resources - It can help you create resources such as, discussion questions, comprehension tasks, or creative writing prompts.

• Literary analysis - It can provide summaries, highlight key ideas, or anything else you ask for. However, this will only work when you have access to the digital version of the text.

•  Text comparisons - It can help you identify common key ideas, characters, settings, or symbolism.

You can also ask it to create an audio summary of the sources you choose. This creates a podcast-style audio, with two ‘people’ discussing the sources. Although this aspect might not be particularly helpful for teaching, it is helpful for professional development sources. Students working on research projects could also find this aspect useful. You can find this option under the ‘Notebook Guide’.

Luckily, you don’t need to be a technology expert to use Notebook LM. If you can type a question into Google, you can use this tool. So, start small, maybe by asking it for ideas for your next lesson. Ask specific questions. By being specific with what you want, you will receive more helpful answers. For example, instead of asking “How do I teach poetry?”, try “How can I teach high school students to analyse tone in poetry?”

So, why not explore Notebook LM next time you’re planning? You might find that it gives you some ideas you've never thought of. Grab a cuppa! Have an explore!