Taking good notes is more than just writing down word for word what your teacher says; it’s about actually engaging with the material, identifying key ideas, and creating a resource you can rely on for studying and reviewing. At Marks Education, we have students coming to us all the time saying they’re just not good note takers or were never taught how to take quality notes, which is why we’ve written this blog to help set you up for success in your courses.
The first thing you should know?
Effective note-taking starts way before the first word of the lecture, but don’t let that intimidate you, just remember that preparation is key to being a great note-taker. If you can, we recommend that you try to spend some time before class reviewing the readings or lecture slides to get a headstart on familiarizing yourself with the main topics. Even just taking a moment to skim the chapter titles and summaries can be a great way to set your expectations for the day.
Note-Taking During Class
Once the lecture starts, the challenge for many students then becomes struggling to keep up! Teachers can talk fast, and you can only write at a certain speed, so your objective should be to write down the essence of what your teacher is saying, not every word verbatim.
Trying to write down everything can lead to students missing important information. While there are some helpful tips regarding abbreviations which can help speed up the handwriting process, capturing just the essence of the lecture means being an active listener. It means paying attention to cues from your teacher, like changes in tone, repetition, or explicit statements like: “this is important” or “you might see this on the exam” to know what to expect.
If you still struggle to write down even just what you need during lectures– don’t panic! Leaving a gap in your notes and moving on is perfectly fine. You can always revisit these pages or fill in the missing details later using textbooks, asking to borrow a friend’s notes, or listening to recorded lectures.
I've taken notes. Now what?
Another important thing to keep in mind in your quest to take better notes is to spend some time after class organizing the information in a way that makes sense to you. A potentially messy, jumbled, and frantic scribble of words won’t help you much during your exam prep. The Marks Education team recommends doing this while the lecture is still fresh in your mind. Not only will this help make your notes more clear, but it also helps reinforce what you learned in your memory. If you want to take this a step further, you can even turn your notes into study tools like flashcards or mind maps.
Using some time later on to structure your notes with clear subheadings and bullet points can also make them much easier to learn from later. Some students enjoy color-coding their notes, and while this isn’t required to be a good note taker, it can help to use different colors to distinguish between definitions, examples, and questions in your notes.
However, some students struggle with highlighting too much. The drawback to this is that if you highlight too much, you risk highlighting nothing because you won’t know what to ignore. Our advice to avoid this common pitfall is to focus on definitions, key concepts, and examples to keep your notes clear and readable.
How to take your notes
In learning to become a better note-taker, the final thing to consider is to think about what you use to take your notes. Do you prefer pen and paper? Or maybe you’re the kind of person who likes to type their notes. No matter the case, there are benefits to either side. Just make sure you’ve chosen one that works for you.
We recommend that most students spend time thinking about ways to learn to love their study process and make it work for them. Maybe you enjoy typing your notes during class but spend time writing out what you’ve learned in your handwriting later that night. Maybe you utilize text-to-speech features or find other creative ways to bring your notes off the page. No matter the case, as long as you consistently and meaningfully review your material, you’re bound to see improvement.
Conclusion
While many students come to us looking to improve their test-taking and foundational math or reading abilities, many students find themselves needing help with the basics of study skills. Once learned, students can apply these skills in every class they take– and they are all the stronger for it!
If you’re interested in speaking with a counselor or tutor to hear how your student can grow from study skills instruction in or outside of their regularly scheduled tutoring sessions, please contact our team for a FREE consultation!
