Thirteen hints for taking effective classroom notes

Thirteen hints for taking effective classroom notes

• 1.
  Thirteen Hints forTaking Effective Classroom Notes<br />Keep a written record. Studies have shown that within two weeks you probably forget 80 percent or more of what you have heard.
• 2.
  Sit where youwill be seen. Sit where the teacher can always see you and where you can see the blackboard easily and clearly.
• 3.
  Do some advancereading. By doing some advance reading, you will be able to listen and take notes more easily and with greater understanding.
• 4.
  Record notes systematically.
• 5.
  Use full size8 ½ by 11-inch paper. Use ballpoint pen instead of a pencil.
• 6.
  Keep all notesfrom each course in a separate section of a notebook.
• 7.
  Date each day’snotes.
• 8.
  Take notes onone side of the paper only and leave space at the top of the page and the left hand margin. Write legibly.
• 9.
  To save time,abbreviate terms you use repeatedly.
• 10.
  Note prominently examsor quizzes as well as assignments that the teacher gives.
• 11.
  Use an outlinefor notes. Start main points at the margin. Indent secondary ideas and supporting details.
• 12.
  Be alert forsignals. Write down whatever the teacher puts on the board. Always write down definitions and enumerations (1.,2.,3., etc). If your instructor says “This is an important reason…” or “The chief cause was…,” etc., write it down. If your teacher repeats a point, you can usually assume it is important. A teacher’s voice may slow down, become louder, or otherwise signal that you are expected to write down exactly what is being said, word for word.
• 13.
  Write down examples.Examples will help you understand complex and abstract points.
• 14.
  Write down detailsthat connect or explain. Write down the supporting details that connect or explain the lecture’s main points, not just the main points alone. As time passes, you may forget the specifics that serve as connecting bridges between key ideas.
• 15.
  Leave some blankspace. Leave blank spaces for items or ideas you miss so you can fill them in later.
• 16.
  Ask questions. Don’thesitate to ask the instructor questions if certain points are confusing to you.
• 17.
  Take notes duringdiscussions. Many valuable ideas may come up during informal discussions, ideas your instructor may not present formally later on. If your instructor puts notes on the board during a class discussion, it’s a good sign that the material is important.
• 18.
  Take notes rightup to the end of class. Because of time spent on want to cover into the last minutes of class.
• 19.
  Review your notessoon. While the material is still clear in your mind, make your notes as clear as possible. A day later may be too late because forgetting sets in almost at once. How to Effective Class Notes<br />Active Listening. “Passive listening is what you do when you watch a sitcom or have a casual conversation. In contrast, active listening is when you listen carefully to make sure you understand and learn the information that is being conveyed. Here are some things you should do to listen actively.
• 20.
  Listen for themain point and major subpoints. Don’t just write everything down. Listen carefully and make sure you understand what the purpose of this lectures is. As you take down notes, keep the main point in mind and make sure you understand how these notes are related.
• 21.
  Listen for anorganizational structure. Unless the teacher is a terrible lecturer, his or her notes are probably organized into some kind of outline. Listen carefully to figure out how the ideas are organized and they will make more sense. Of course, if your professor provides an outline by writing on the board or using PowerPoint notes, use this as your outline.
• 22.
  Pay attention toorganizational cues. Listen carefully for words and phrases that reflect the organizational structure of the lecture. Pay close attention to the introduction, as it will always probably indicate how you should organize your notes. If the lecture begins with, “Today I’m going to talk about three ethnic conflicts in the Middle East,” then you have a good idea of what’s going to follow. Listen for “signpost” words to indicate a transition for one point to the next, such as “next” and “finally” and numerical signposts like “first” or “third”.
• 23.
  Listen with youreyes. Speakers communicate information through nonverbal communication. Watch the professor, and be aware of how he or she uses hand gestures, eye contact, and other body language to convey points.
• 24.
  Remove distractions. Don’ttempt yourself! Put away the campus newspaper, your Sudoku puzzle, your cellphone, and anything else that might be more interesting than the lecturer.
• 25.
  Practice. Learning toconcentrate and listen actively is an endurance skill. Make yourself do it, and it will get easier over time.
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  (see back formore….)
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  Proper techniques forwriting and lecture notes. Learning to write down all the important information in an organized way is a challenge as well.
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  Write down thedate and the topic of the lecture. This will help trigger your memory when you are studying.
• 29.
  Learn to writequickly. Or type quickly, if you’re using a laptop. Use lots of abbreviations. Don’t worry about getting down every word, especially words like “a” and “the”. Don’t worry about writing neatly. As long as you can understand your notes, it’s neat enough.
• 30.
  Write down definitions.If your instructor defines a term, make sure you write it down and understand what it means.
• 31.
  Don’t copy outlineor PowerPoint notes word for word. Here’s a common problem: a teacher puts a PowerPoint slide up, and students are so busy writing down every word on the slide that they stop listening to the lecture. This causes them to miss information that was discussed in the lecture but not written on the slide, and it also makes active listening impossible. Instead, use the notes to help you follow along.
• 32.
  If your instructorindicates that something is important, mark it. This is a strong clue that something may be on the test.
• 33.
  If your instructoris going too fast or is unclear, say something. Even the best lecturers get a little garbled sometimes. There’s nothing rude about asking your teacher to clarify a point.
• 34.
  Err on theside of writing down too much. Excess notes are probably not going to hurt you on the exam. Not writing down enough will.
• 35.
  Reviewing your notes.This is very important, but sometimes students don’t do this nearly enough. Review your notes to make sure you understand all the information and to keep it fresh in your head.
• 36.
  After the classperiod is over, rewrite or type your notes as soon as you can. This can help quite a bit with retaining the information.
• 37.
  Read over yournotes before each class period. This doesn’t take very long and help you contextualize the new information.
• 38.
  As you lookover your notes, mark anything that doesn’t make sense to you. Stop by the instructor’s office hour and ask for clarification, or ask a fellow student to help you out.
• 39.
  Make friends witha studious fellow student. Find someone who goes to class all the time and who takes good notes, and sit down together once in awhile to compare notes with each other.
• 40.
  Get help ifnecessary. If you’re having problems, show your professor your notes and ask for some guidance. Stop by your campus study skill center and have someone review your notes with you.