If you are studying in school or in a college, taking notes is an important part of your student life
Teaching and learning has moved to a different level. The approach is more interactive and elaborative. Taking notes has now become even more crucial to be successful in your academics. Whether it’s your school, college or coaching, preparing notes is very important. However, there is a remarkable difference between merely taking notes and taking notes effectively. Taking notes is not just writing down everything that the teacher is saying, but creating a draft of what the teacher’s trying to explain.
Many students complain that although they understand well in class, the notes that they take down often miss out on relevant points. It’s not something uncommon, as when the lecture is delivered the students might not be taking notes effectively.
Here are a few tips to help you in taking notes in the classroom effectively.
Before the Class: Use a large loose-leaf notebook and use only one side of the paper. You can then layout your notes to see what all was covered in class and also you can add something later in between. Treat the margin of your notebook (a vertical line 2 and a half inches from the left) as the recall column, where keywords or phrases can be written later.
During the Class: Take notes in bullet form. Capture general ideas and not illustrative ideas. Skip lines to show the end of ideas or thoughts. Use WhatsApp language and abbreviations cautiously so that you can easily understand it later. You can also underline major points and keywords.
After the Class: Read through your notes immediately after the lecture to avoid any confusion in future. Use the column and make your notes more legible if necessary. Record the ideas or keywords that will give you the idea of the lecture. You will have to reread the ideas of the teacher and reflect in your own words. Make sure before submitting any answers to the teacher you do not use any short forms or slang that you may have picked from whats app language, for example, LOL etc.
While the lecture is still fresh in your mind, you can fill in from memory the facts and example which you might have missed during the lecture. Also, you can recall which all topics were unclear to you and can consult your classmate or teacher for further clarification. Immediately review results in better retention than a review after a long period. Unless you review within 24 hours after the lecture or at least before the next lecture your retention will drop, and you will be relearning rather than reviewing.
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