Maybe you’re one of those who takes notes in class just because it’s what you’re supposed to do–but then you never look at them after the class.  Or maybe if you do look at them, you find yourself regularly trying to understand what it is you wrote.  Or you wrote it.  If so, you need to overhaul your note-taking skills.  Taking notes should be a learning experience, and the facts you learn should stick with you.  Here are some suggestions for the power note-taker:

1) The first thing you should ask when you begin taking notes is, “What is the instructor’s purpose, and what is the textbook-writer’s purpose?”  This will give you a clue about where the class is going. (more…)

As a student, you have to  take notes for many, if not all, of your classes.  You then use these to study for tests and semester exams.  But there are problems with this method.  For instance, many of us have incomplete notes, and many more take those notes and never again look at them. (more…)

Notemesh: Help your students organize their notes by using this collaborative note taking tool online. Students and teachers can share their notes to create one mega study guide

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100+ Resources for Teaching Without Textbooks

Taking Notes Lesson Plan

One of the key elements in passing any course is taking good notes.  In order to learn the required information, your notes need to be thorough and organized in a way that makes them easy to review later.  For many students, however, note taking is a difficult task, and often notes end up with either too little or too much information to make them useful. Fortunately, there are several techniques for taking better notes. (more…)

Do you take notes during class lectures and never seem to look at the notes again? If your filing your class notes away and not using the valuable information found in your notes, you may be missing a key study tool. Using your class lecture notes may not be as intuitive as reading the text book but once you learn how to study from your lecture notes, you’ll learn more quickly.

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While thorough notes are a vital part of making good grades, many students do not know how to take notes.  Note taking is not a skill you are born with, but one that you learn. Unfortunately, most instructors assume that previous instructors have taught students how to take good notes.  There are many ways to organize your notes, and the split-page method is one of the most popular.  For more information about learning effective study skills, try our free ebook on how to study.

The split-page method is exactly what it sounds like.  You split the page by drawing a vertical line all the way down the paper.  The line should be located 2.5 to 3 inches from the left-hand side of the paper. 

So, what do you do with the two sides?

Similar to the Cornell method, the split-page method uses the right side of the divided page for recording lecture notes.

Another Method you may want to try, is Mind Mapping.

Do not try to write down every word of the lecture when taking notes.  Doing so requires you to write at full speed, which means you will stop listening to what is being said.  Instead, focus on writing down the main ideas and key points.  Watch for cues from the instructor for important points, and be sure to note anything the professor writes on the board. 

The left-hand side of the page can have one of two uses.  Some students prefer to use the left column for writing down keywords from the notes or questions they may have about the material.  This allows them to cover the notes and use only the keywords as prompts when reciting the information.  If you use the left-hand column for cues and keywords, be sure to write them down as soon as possible after the lecture, while the information is still fresh in your mind.

The more traditional use for the left side is creating an outline of the textbook by writing down keywords and main points, also known as the Outline method of taking notes.  The trick to this method is to keep the information from the textbook and the notes together, and to separate chapters.  With this format, a student is able to study the textbook and the lecture notes side-by-side, without wasting time or losing their train of thought by flipping back and forth between notes and textbook. 

A variation of the split-page method is to divide the page into three columns.  The middle column is used for taking notes in class.  The left-hand column is used for outlining the text.  The right-hand column is used for writing down keywords, cues, and questions the student may have about the material.  This format provides the textbook and notes in one location, and has the added bonus of a cue column.  This allows students to cover the first two columns and use the cues in the third column as memory prompts when reciting the information.

Note taking is not a natural skill, although some people are naturally better at it than others are.  There is a wide variety of methods for taking good notes, and not all methods work for everyone.  The split-page method is easy to learn and easy to use, making it an excellent method for anyone trying take better notes.

College and High School Students will want to try out our free Ebook on How to Study.

Teachers will want to try our Taking Notes Lesson Plan.

Taking notes is not a skill that comes naturally to many students, but it is also not a skill that is taught in many classrooms. Note Taking is one of the most important study skills for High School Students and College Students. Because note taking is so important to educational success, it is important that students learn proper methods for taking thorough notes. The outline method of note taking is one that will look familiar to many students.
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Taking notes and managing your notes is quite a chore, but essential for any student, whether they are University of High School, or vocational. If you can take notes efficiently, and then reviewing them regularly is an essential study skill and the way to higher grades.

The traditional way to take notes is to write down the main concepts and sub topics as quickly as possible during a lecture and then make corrections later to fill in any gaps.

The problem with this process is it is linear and doesn’t really involve any thinking – it is just a straight recording function, because time is short and generally doesn’t record the interconnections between the concepts you have written down.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is note taking technique where words, ideas, are linked linked to and arranged around a keyword or idea. Mind Mapping allows you to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, quickly and easily.

Compared to other note taking methods, Mind Mapping generally takes less space and it claims to be a superior method in terms of learning and recall.

However, different methods work better for different people and often paying too much attention to the mechanics of note taking distracts from the content, which is after all the key.

Mind Mapping Software

The ‘inventor’ and also the trademark holder of the term ‘mind map’ is Tony Buzan, who has created software that duplicates the brain’s non-linear thought process.

Visit the Mind Map Website for more information >>>