Re: Org-mode notes about school lessons

[webdev@toryanderson.com (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