What is the best way to take notes? Techniques, tips and tools to learn how to take notes effectively in class or at university.
In school, students think about finding an effective but at the same time fast study method. The secret to remembering everything and studying quickly is all in the notes: taking perfect notes can simplify your study and save you time. Whether they are notes taken at school , in class, or at university , there are some methods for taking perfect notes : tidy, simple and clear.
. TAKING NOTES AT SCHOOL: WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
Well begun is half done. This is why taking notes in class is a great way to save time and effort at home . In fact, writing during class not only helps you understand which points the professor is most interested in – the ones he might ask you about in an oral exam or include as a question in a class assignment – but it also allows you to start memorizing basic concepts. In short, paying attention in class and writing down what the teacher explains will save you a lot of time at home, and above all, improve the quality of your learning. In fact, it involves immediately reworking the topic being discussed and, in a certain sense, making it your own. In fact, notes constitute:
- A help to concentration because they give you a big hand in not getting distracted in class
- A godsend for studying because they help you reduce the hours you have to dedicate to it by about 50%
Although it is a fundamental ingredient for getting good grades in high school and college, taking notes for many students is not so simple and obvious. What is missing, in most cases, is the knowledge of the right technique . So many times we find ourselves getting lost in our thoughts and jotting down in our notebooks love notes and games of tic-tac-toe with our classmate – fun, no doubt, but not very useful for the cause. Fortunately, to learn how to take notes in the correct way, you just need to follow this simple guide and put into practice the advice that will be given to you: only in this way will you be able to notice a real improvement in the quality of your studying and a clear reduction in the time you will have to spend on the books.
AKING NOTES DURING LESSON: WHERE TO START
Taking notes is not a difficult art, accessible only to the most brilliant minds. On the contrary: it is a method that every student can easily learn and use effectively to improve their study method .
It’s all about learning the right technique and putting it into practice.
So what to do? First of all you will have to arrive at school prepared:
- You will need to have all the necessary materials available : pencils, pens, highlighters, notepads or notebooks dedicated to notes, erasers, etc. During the lesson, in fact, you must try to waste as little time as possible looking for these things, since all your concentration must be directed to the professor’s explanation.
- The day before the explanation you will have to review the notes you took previously and maybe take a look at the topic that will be covered in class. This does not mean that you will have to study the entire afternoon before, but simply that you will have to have a rough idea of what will be discussed . Why? Because in this way, during the explanation, you will be able to understand what is important to note down and what can be left out.
. TECHNIQUES FOR TAKING NOTES AT SCHOOL DURING LESSON
At this point you will be ready to take your notes. However, you must avoid committing one of the most serious mistakes that students usually fall into: turning yourself into a stenographer. Remember that you are not a recorder and your job is not to faithfully transcribe what the professor says word for word . Contrary to what you might think, this will in fact be decidedly counterproductive because:
- You will be so immersed in the exercise of transcribing every word, that you will not even be able to understand what is being talked about ;
- By limiting yourself to faithfully transcribing the professor’s words, you will not give your brain the chance to rework the lesson and, therefore, understand it.
So try to push away the instinct to want to write down everything the professor says, and follow these practical tips to take notes that are decidedly useful and effective:
- Write down only the key concepts
If, for example, you are talking about Leopardi, do not waste too much time writing down all the names and dates of composition of his works – these are data that you can retrieve later in the book ; instead, worry about noting what the professor says about his poetics and his ideology. - Write it in your own words
Don’t use the same expressions as the professor , but rather try to rework the concepts in your own words. This advice obviously does not apply to those definitions that must be taken precisely and punctually. - Abandon Beautiful Handwriting
Using perfect handwriting will not only waste twice as much time, but it will also be pointless because you will still have to transcribe your notes in a neat copy once you get home. - Use abbreviations
When taking notes, speed is a fundamental weapon. Therefore, this will be the only case in the school environment (and we emphasize: the only one! ) in which you will be able to allow yourself to use abbreviations and text message language . So, green light to “cmq” instead of “comunque”, to “x” instead of “per”, but also to the abbreviation of long words like “letteratura”, which will simply become “lett.” - Eliminate unnecessary words
Always for the same reasoning regarding speed as a necessary ingredient for taking notes, avoid all those words that are not needed to understand the speech: articles, conjunctions, prepositions and so on. For example, instead of writing: “ Leopardi ’s father was also a philosopher and a man of letters”, you could write “Father Leopardi = philosopher, man of letters”. The concept will be equally understandable, but you will have saved precious time. - Capture your attention with some tricks
When you go back to read the notes you took, it will be useful to immediately identify the most important concepts . Therefore, when writing, you can highlight them in different ways:
– writing them in capital letters,
– indicating them with arrows or exclamation marks
– underlining them - Invent a code of your own
As you become more familiar with the art of taking notes , you can come up with a code of your own that will save you precious time. For example, you can replace the word “or” with an arrow “ -> ” and use this symbol for all your notes.
4. HOW TO TAKE NOTES: WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU GET HOME
Your assignment will not be finished once you have taken notes in class: as mentioned before, they constitute about 50% of studying , they do not replace it in its entirety.Once you get home, you will have to review, copy and rework your notes . It is very important, almost fundamental, that this operation is done within 24 hours of the lesson : in this way you will really be able to imprint in your mind all the notions that you will need for the interrogation, the test or the exam. Therefore, even if you feel really too tired, try to dedicate at least half an hour to this very important study phase.
What will you have to do once you get home? Follow this schedule:
- Reread your notes
- Read the corresponding lesson in the book
- Integrate your notes with what you think is most important in the book
- Transcribe your notes, complete with the necessary additions, in a neat copy
In the transcription phase, we recommend using colored markers and highlighters to emphasize the most important concepts. This will stimulate your visual memory and help make studying more enjoyable.
