Before we can get started making a notepad, you need to come up with a design, and every good design starts with a good set of thumbnails. We discussed thumbnails earlier, but just in case you've forgotten, thumbnails should be hand drawn, rough sketches, and although usually 1/4 the size. For this project, you can draw them at full size though.
Before starting choose a theme... something you watch, listen to, play, wear or like. Anything school appropriate will do. Then it's time to brainstorm ideas that fit with this theme. The video below is me brainstorming things that would work for a baseball notepad.
To get started, get a sheet of paper and fold it in half once vertically and once horizontally. This will create four squares, each roughly the size of a notepad. Sketch out a different design in each box as if it were a notepad. Each thumbnail should include text and an image. Take your time and be creative. At this point, quality isn't much of an issue, you're just drawing some different ideas. The more, the better.