When I’m teaching, I often find myself needing to instruct students to gather the necessary resources and supplies before we can start a particular activity or lesson. For instance, a lesson where students use paint pens to colour in a 3D-printed model requires not just pens, but also scrap paper, tissues for the inevitable mess, and a piece of spare plastic to practise on. However, as you’ll know full well, it’s rare that every student picks up every item they need—if only!

That’s where creating a visual equipment list can come in handy, as it gives the students an easy-to-access visual reminder of what they’ll need. It’s also really quick for us to make.

To start, I’ve taken a photo of the required items in the Camera app. Now, I can press Edit at the bottom of the screen, then tap Markup in the top corner of the photo editing screen. At this stage, I use my Skriva stylus and the pen tool to quickly highlight the key items the students need and label each one accordingly. I’m choosing a brighter colour here to make it stand out against the dark table. Then, I simply draw around each item to make it stand out and handwrite what it is alongside it.

Of course, if you want your students to pick up three paint pens or two pieces of tissue, you can write that on the photo as well, next to the items. Once you’re finished, you’ll see just how visual and effective your new equipment list is—and it’s made in about the same time it would take to open another app and type up a list.

Now I can AirPlay this visual list to the screen in my classroom, and all my students can easily locate and gather the required resources so we can start the lesson together. And this way, there’s absolutely no excuse for anyone to forget a piece of scrap paper!