Chapter 7 Note Taking

Chapter 7 discussed note taking and note making. Note making has always been more beneficial for me. Note taking in general have always been a challenge for me because they are too much of a distraction. No matter how much I am trying to pay attention, as soon as I start writing, I lose track of everything else that is going on around me including the lecture. Note making on the other hand helps me organize my thoughts and highlight key points. The most effective method of note taking that I have ever learned was in math.  It was different than the mathematics note taking discussed in the book.  Mr. Williams used a method of note taking that was based on vocabulary. My Algebra 2 teacher in high school would require us to write out our thought process beside every problem. It was similar to the method in the book in that we folded the paper and organized our ideas on each side. But in the note taking method I learned, you worked out the problem on half of the paper and explained the thought process and steps on the other side. We were only required to do this on the first two test. I think the teacher was making a point by doing this because the note taking strategy was so effective that everyone and I mean everyone continued with this strategy throughout the rest of our high school math career. My social studies teacher on the other hand, would lecture and we would have to listen and take notes along the way in our own way. I absolutely hate this way. In my opinion, how do you know how to set up and organize notes if you have never been presented the material before. This method did not work for me as well as it did for Jeremy Merrill’s students. What did actually help for me was note making before class, then note taking during class. By reading the book, I could write somewhat of an outline and be ahead of the game by the time note taking took place. Basically this whole notes thing has been a struggle for me.

How can I basically eliminate the boring part of note taking for my students and encourage them to try to learn better not taking skills?