7 easy steps to taking down notes
TRANSCRIPT
Defined as..
to write or mark down briefly; make a memorandum of: to note the places of interest.
to make particular mention of in a writing: She noted their extra efforts in her report.
to annotate.
to observe carefully; give attention or heed to: Note the fine brushwork in this painting.
to take notice of; perceive: We noted his concern at the announcement.
OLD SCHOOL
THE YUPPIE
GADGET BOY
THE TAB USER
THE CEO
THE SELFIES
That learning how to take notes would be a waste of time. However, the opposite is true. If you learn how to take notes effectively and efficiently, you’ll save yourself hours of study time just by observing a few simple tricks.
Although tablets, and notepads look cool...I still prefer the old school way of paper and pencil. they’re reliably faster, flexible in special notations and ..doesn’t run out of batteries.
Choosing loose paper to take notes allows you to rearrange your notes in a binder if necessary, lend them easily to a friend, and remove and replace a page if it gets damaged.
Using college-ruled paper means that the spaces between the lines are smaller, allowing you to write more per page, which is advantageous when you’re studying a lot of material. It won’t seem as much, and thus, as overwhelming.
Skip lines...so you can squeeze in notes when the teacher suddenly mentions something new..
And, if you take your notes in pencil, your notes will stay neat if you make a mistake and you won’t have to rewrite everything just to make sense of the lecture.
Start with the topic of the discussion (for study purposes later), fill in the date, class, chapters associated with the notes and teacher’s name. At the end of your notes for the day, draw a line crossing the page so you’ll have a very clear demarcation of each day’s notes. During the next lecture, use same format so your binder is consistent.
Many people use an outline (I.II.III. A.B.C. 1.2.3.) but you can use circles or stars or whatever symbols you'd like, as long as you stay consistent.
Note keywords
Listen for importance by picking up dates, new terms or vocabulary, concepts, names, and explanations of ideas. If your teacher writes it down anywhere, he or she wants you to know it. If she talks about it for 15 minutes, she’s gonna quiz you on it. If he repeats it several times in the lecture, you’re responsible.
If you try to write everything down word for word, you’ll miss stuff, and confuse yourself.
Listen attentively, then write.
Sit near the front of the class
Use a good pen like the Pilot Dr. Grip if writing in pencil will bother you
Keep a folder or binder for every class, so you're more likely to keep your notes organized.