Learn how to take notes & what to do with them afterwards. Be prepared to rock the test!
Dear Sister,
I can picture myself crammed in an uncomfortable desk-chair combo, gripping my pencil as I try to capture every word my teacher said. Then the inevitable disappointment when I missed something. The internal debate about whether or not to leave a gap in case the teacher repeated what they’d said, or if I could magically remember it. Next class the cycle would start all over.
Not only did I not understand what to write in my notes, but I also didn’t know what to do with them once I had them. Read them? Copy them again? No one taught me to take notes. I learned the best I could through a process of trial and error. I learned a few things that worked for me, but it wasn’t until some training I attended as a teacher that I learned the why behind what I did.
As the school year begins, I hope you’ll practice good note-making strategies. And I hope you won’t be as lost as I was.
Don’t write everything down: Sure I heard this one, but what did that mean? A lot of my pain could have been avoided if I had only written down the main ideas and not every anecdote and idea the professor shared. This may take some practice because it is a complex task. You’re basically processing what the teacher says and filtering out the minor details all in real time.
Listen for clues. When a teacher repeats something, write that down! Usually stories, illustrations, examples come right before or right after whatever point they are trying to make. Write down the point, not the story. When you see numbers or bullet points check to see if these are main ideas. A lot depends on the teacher and material, but the more you practice the easier this part will be.
Don’t assume you’ll remember: This may sound like the opposite of what I said above, but remember you are taking in a lot of information. It’s natural for your brain to filter out some of what it hears. So, make sure you have the key information on paper.
Compare with a classmate: Find a buddy in your class that takes notes as faithfully as you. After each note-taking session, ask them if you can check their notes to make sure you didn’t miss anything. And of course return the favor!
Okay, if you think the note making process is over, you’re wrong. Did you know that within one day of hearing new information we lose about 70% of it? But the key to remembering more and longer is repetitions. You need to use the information as many times as you can to help your brain know this is something you want to keep. Think about when you were younger (younger could be last week) when you watched the same movie over and over and knew all the lines. You knew those lines because you had repeated the material.
Summarize: Shortly after you take the notes, preferably in the first ten to twenty minutes after creating them, read through, and summarize the key points. Boom. Your first repetition of the information.
Create questions: Think of your notes as the backside of flashcards. I like to leave space on the left side of my notepaper for this (Cornell note format video here). Read through your notes and divide it into natural sections. Go ahead and draw a thick, dark line dividing your paper (this is sometimes called chunking). Now for each section of notes, create a question where your notes are the answer. Later, when you’re studying, you can fold your paper so that all you can see are the questions and voila, you have yourself some notecards and more repetitions!
Mark your notes: If you find an error in your notes, don’t be afraid to edit them. I always encourage my students to read through their notes and put stars next to possible test questions, put question marks next to items they need to study more, and highlight the vocabulary or key words. Notes are for your benefit, so make them your own, and don’t worry about them looking tidy.
Play to your strengths: What kind of learner are you? Do you learn best by reading the information? Read your notes over once or twice every day leading up to the test? Are you more of an auditory learner, read it aloud, or ask a family member if they will read it to you. If you are a kinesthetic learner
Don’t forget to use a variety of learning strategies. Though we usually favor one type of learning, that doesn’t mean that’s the only way we learn. The more sections of the brain we use, the better we’ll retain the info. That’s why I like to have students draw pictures while they’re learning vocabulary. No it’s not just busy work!
Hopefully, you’ll break free of the idea that notes are something you only touch while a teacher is talking. I hope you discover how beneficial this learning tool is. Don’t be worried if it takes a while to find the perfect blend of repetitions. You’ll get there!
Your big sister,
Mallary
XOXO
If you missed the other posts in this series on shining this school year, you can check out the post on morning routines & using a planner. Happy school year!