Note taking Strategies: Other Approaches
Think about other approaches to note taking have you encountered in your own educational career. What have you found to be the most effective as a student, and why? What was the least effective, and why? (describe these even if Marzano already hit them).
NOTE: You do NOT need to respond to a peer on this one.
posted by Tanya Judd Pucella @ 7:30 AM
11 Comments:
I hated outlining when I first learned how. But as I was allowed to "personalize" the outline and use it without the strict Roman numerals/Uppercase Letters/Number/Lowercase letter style, I began to find outlining the best way to take notes. Room was left on the edges to add information in, I could decide what was important, and it made studying and writing essays easier because all the information was already organized for me in my notes.
I had a chemistry teacher who made us use combination notes for a few weeks. I hated it. I always forgot to go back and fill in the summary parts at home. I used up a ton of paper and was just confused when I went back to study because I had information all over the place because it didn't fit in the boxes the right way.
I have never been taught how to take notes. I simply picked it up after being given outlines in high school of class lectures. As Jessica said I simply personalized the outline format. it seems to work however, what i have found to be the best and most effective way of taking notes is to use the outline format and then type it into word before a test. Every time I have done that I have done incredibly well on tests. Just retyping it and revisiting it seems to help as well as organizing it into word (and the computer does all the roman numeral capital a lowercase b stuff for you!!!). Although time consuming that is what I like that most!
When it comes to me personally i like to outline and add in details. I know don't really like a handout, but i outline my notes. I loved Dr. McHaffie because she wrote her notes on the board in outline form, which gave you the main points and then you added in her lecture details from there!! I loved that!!! I think it's easier to see the main idea and then get the details that go with that in that set up. You can visualize your essay that way!!
I hate teachers who put things into like paragraph or short sentences notes or are as broad as just a web? If you only want me to know the general ideas sure but details no way!!
Unlike rebecca though, i hate having to type them up and like using the roman numerals and such, just let me format it my way but give it that visual look of an outline and i'm set!
I have not personally been taught how to take notes. I learned outlining to write rough drafts for papers. Also in many of my h.s. classes we had teacher prepared notes that you just copied down during class while the teacher discussed them. The problem was this was trying to write down the notes and focus on a discussion at the same time. Especially if the discussion was a few steps ahead of where you are in writing them down.
I just kind of adopted the informal outline on my own once I got to college. It works pretty well for me.
I think the hardest part as a student is trying to listen to a lecture and pick out what is important enough to write down. If everything the teacher is saying he/she finds important then you get into the same problem as with teacher prepared notes.
I have never been taught how to take notes, but I have always used the outline method because it works for me. However, I have seen other students in past classes learn different ways to take notes. One helpful way was to fold the first quarter of the paper and leave that column open to list key words or ideas. Then the rest of the paper was used to explain the words or ideas. This allowed the student to quiz himself on key terms/ideas/definitions, and this reinforced the notes. I have always hated webs and I have never found them helpful to me because they are too unorganized.
I have personally never been taught how to take notes. I have just picked up on how to since I have been in college. I just use the outline format with a few of my own twists. This seems to be the best for me when it comes to staying organized and being able to review.
I did have a science teacher in high school that used teacher prepared notes. However, it was useless because then I never paid attention in class.
My freshman year of high school my Social Studies teacher provided us with the exact some notes that were on the overhead but with keywords and concepts cut out of them so that the students could fill them in. I found this very effective because it allowed me to have the teachers notes and be able to listen to the teacher explain concepts and stories. Then when I reviewed for my test I had all of the information I needed, plus the stories and examples that teacher discussed in class.
The most ineffective note taking strategy is the web. The web does allow it does allow students to see relationships and connections between topics, but I feel they are too bulky and does not allow the student to the important facts and concepts. The webs also does not allow for subjects to be written down in-depth because of the lack of space inside of a box.
I do not recall learning how to take notes. Over the years I used teacher outlines, which were usually informal, as a reference and what I thought was easiest for me to look at and study.
The most effective note taking strategy for me has become a form of informal note taking. I use headings, bullets, short descriptions, and pictures.
I recall in a high school art history class, the teacher had lines on one side with a corresponding box on the other side. Whenever an artifact was shown I would draw a quick sketch of it and then write down important things about it in the lines. This has worked extremely well for me in my science classes, however I cannot seem to find a balance for using it in social studies.
The least effective strategy for me is having a teacher lecture so fast that you do not have time to even think about what to write down.
I also hated the strict Roman Numeral type of outlines. I would never know if something was important enough to give a big letter, or a number, or maybe a little letter, and I spent more time deciding what heading it should go under than listening to the material. I won't ever expect my students to take that formal of notes. I personally like writing notes in my own way, in semi-outline form, but with no numbers or letters. When I hear an important word I write it down and then put what the teacher is saying underneath it. I then use the margins to fill in things like dates or numbers, or something I find interesting. This is why I think it best to give students a list or outline of the important things you are going to talk about and then have them go from there.
The most effective way for me to take notes is to make informal outlines. I have to write everything down or else I forget it. I try to spice up my notes with extra info like analogies (if something the instructor says reminds me of something I already know, I make a note of the comparison). I usually have quotes or interesting things the teacher has said in the margins, along with facts/statistics that are relevant or interesting but maybe not necessary to know.
I don’t remember learning any note taking strategies, other than the formal outline. Most of my teachers just wrote their notes on the board and we had to copy them. I also had a teacher like Geoff’s that gave us handouts and we filled in the blanks.
An ineffective strategy for me would be a teacher providing pre-made notes without room for me to add. Also the web, I’ve never used for note-taking and do not dare try!
When I was in 8th grade I had to take a Study Skills class, and the main objective was to teach us how to outline and understand graphic organizers (flow charts, etc). The study skills class was actually taught by our 8th grade history teacher, so we were able to translate these skills directly back into the classroom.
I've always liked the informal outlining method; it is the only method I've ever been formally taught. I've never really used any other method.
The method I hate the most though is definitely "flow-charting". I can't draw straight lines and my boxes always look weird, which distracts me from taking notes. They just always looked so less organized than they were supposed to, I guess.
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