How to be an effective note taker

One phrase that I’ve heard from a lot of my students is “how does ‘insert teacher name here’ expect me to complete this assignment without a worksheet?” As I heard this question more frequently, I began to realize how many students don’t take notes during class time. Even if a teacher doesn’t hand out any worksheets, write a lot of content on the board, or uses detailed PowerPoint presentations, they still expect that the student remembers what was presented during class. Notes are in essence a cheat sheet from the teacher to you which outlines what they think is important and what content you will eventually be tested on. Be warned though that while classroom content is a great place to start when studying, exams are not limited to this material.

This leads me to the next question that is “how do you know if your notes are detailed enough?”

The answer to this is practice to see what works for you. Effective note taking is one of the key distinctions between passive learning and active learning. Note taking is a great way to jog your memory on what was learned during class, which is why it is important to make sure your notes have enough information to remind you of the material. However, it is important to remember not to focus too much on

taking super detailed notes for one part of the lesson so you don’t miss another one.

#notes