# Adding notes URL: https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/adding-notes Tab: Grading & Reports Category: Teacher notes Updated: 2026-10-21 Keep private notes on a course and its lessons, and add or edit them from the Teacher Notes tool, the lesson drawer, an activity or the gradebook. Teacher notes are your private record of how a course is going: what a student struggled with, what you changed, what to remember for next year. These integrate with all of the reporting tools on OpenSky so they are a great way to track for compliance purposes. Only parents can see them. A student never sees a teacher note in the app, so use the lesson's **Discussion** section for anything meant for them. See [Comments](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/comments). ## Course notes and lesson notes There are two kinds, and the difference is what the note is attached to. - **Lesson notes** belong to one lesson. A lesson holds a single note. Use them for the specifics: "Needed a hint on this", "Great day, loved this activity". - **Course notes** belong to the course as a whole. Each one has a **Title**, a **Date** you choose and a body, and a course can have as many as you like. Use them for the bigger picture like semester recaps or end of year wrap-ups. Activities work the same way. A note on one date of an activity is an **occurrence note**, and a note on the activity as a whole is an **activity note**. In family mode, where several students share one enrolled course, both kinds of note are shared across those students. ## Adding and editing notes There are many places to add lesson teacher notes to a course throughout OpenSky. But no matter where you add a lesson note, they all can be managed and edited in the Teacher Notes tool. Course notes are added only in the Teacher Notes tool. ### In the Teacher Notes tool ![The Teacher Notes dialog](https://opensky-public-images.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/supportimages/grades-reports/teacher-notes-1.png) The Teacher Notes tool lists every note on a course in one place, both kinds together, and is where you add course notes. 1. Open it from the student's **Enrollments** tab: on the course row, open the **⋯** menu and click **Teacher notes**. Or open the student's **Gradebook** and click the notebook icon on a course or activity row. 2. Click **Add note**. 3. Add the notes: - A course note takes a **Title**, a **Date** and the **Note** itself. - A lesson note takes the **Lesson** from the picker. A lesson that already has one is marked **· has note**, and saving replaces it. 4. Click **Save**. Notes list newest first, with a **Lesson note** or **Course note** badge on each. Filter with **All**, **Lesson notes** and **Course notes**, or type in **Search notes** to search titles and bodies. Click a note to read it; the pencil edits it and the **⋯** menu has **Delete**. A note cannot be moved between kinds once saved, so to turn a lesson note into a course note, add a new course note and remove the old one. ### From the lesson drawer 1. Open a lesson from the checklist. See [The lesson drawer](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/lesson-drawer). 2. Find the **Teacher note** section below the **Grade** section. It reads **No note** until you add one. 3. Click the section and type. 4. Click **Save**, or press Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Enter on a Mac). **Remove** deletes the note. This writes a lesson note. Open an activity's day the same way and the section writes an occurrence note for that date. ### On an activity You can add teachers notes when creating an activity on the checklist, or via the details drawer by clicking on an activity on the checklist. ### In the gradebook 1. Open the student's **Gradebook** and click a course row to open its grading view. See [Grading lessons](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/grading-lessons). 2. Each lesson row has a note icon between **Hours** and **Grade**. A grey pencil means no note yet; a blue notebook means the lesson has one. 3. Click it, type in the popup and click **Save**. **Remove** deletes the note. An activity's grading view has the same cell on each date. ## Printing your notes Notes stay out of every printout unless you ask for them. The course printout and the portfolio can both include lesson notes, course notes or both. See [Printing teacher notes](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/printing-teacher-notes). ### Can a student see teacher notes? No. Notes are never shown to a student, and a student who opens a lesson or the gradebook sees no note cell at all. To leave a message a student will read, use the lesson's Discussion section. ### Is there a limit to how much I can write? A note can be up to 5,000 characters, roughly two pages of text. Lesson notes have no title or date of their own; they take the lesson's. ## Need more help? Reach out any time at [support@openskyplanner.com](mailto:support@openskyplanner.com) and we will be happy to help.