OBJECTIVE

OBJECTIVE: Students will develop effective learning and note-taking strategies.

One of the most important strategies for being a successful student and learner is to take good notes. Effective note-taking strategies are basically the same whether you are listening to a lecture, studying from a textbook or other printed material, or observing a demonstration of a skill. All good notes should include the 3 following parts:

A Title or topic.

Note titles should be created from the topic. These notes would be titled "Note-Taking Strategies" as an example.

A Header.

A header should be at the top right of the page and should include each of the following:

Name	Ima A. Student
Subject	Social Studies
Date	8-11-2008

The Notes.

A. Effective Method.

There are several methods for taking notes, which include the following:

Students often try to write down everything the teacher says. This method is often ineffective, but is better than not taking notes. It is called the Paragraph method.

A second method of taking notes, Outline method, is often used when taking notes from textbooks or from teachers who teach from an outline. This is an effective method when used in these situations.

Mapping or Webbing is a method of note-taking that is used creatively to develop or brainstorm ideas for writing or other creative classes. It should not be used to take notes in most classes.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE NOTE-TAKING METHOD is Cornell Method! This method is used by over 80% of college students. It is the required method in Mrs. Krikourian's classes. It consists of a line in the paper from the top down that is approximately 1/3 of the way into the page from the left side. This method leaves lots of white space to add additional notes and only uses one side of the page. The key ideas are written in the left column and the details are written in the right side, next to the key ideas. This section and the section on Effective Notes uses this method as an example. At the bottom of the notes, summarize or write key questions you still have.

Effective Notes - Effective notes should include all of the following:

1. If the teacher writes it down, you write it down.	All items written on chalkboards, whiteboards, overheads, powerpoint, website, or other mediums by the instructor. If teachers feel it is important enough to write down for you in class, it is important for you to learn.
2. Ideas, topics or materials that are emphasized or repeated.	The more often it is repeated, the more important it is to include in your notes.
3. Word or Phrase clues.	Teachers tend to tell you what should be included in your notes, by hinting, suggesting, or even telling you. Possible words or phrases may include: "That sounds like a good test question!", "You should remember this!", or identifying phrases such as "First", "Second" or "Last".
4. Watch the Teacher.	If the teacher looks at their notes or textbook and then makes the new point, write it down. Teachers often give important information immediately after reviewing their notes.
5. If a teacher adds to a lecture, you need to record those notes.	They may add to material discussed earlier in the lecture or they may complete their lecture and then add to it later. This is often a result of reviewing their notes or to a student question. Remember, if a teacher feels that it needs to be added, you need to add it to your notes as well.
6. Introductions and Conclusions to discussions and lectures.	Most teachers and speakers use a style of presentation that involves three steps. 1) Tell them what you will tell them. 2) Tell them. 3) Tell them what you told them. Because of this style, the introduction and conclusion also includes key information.
7. ALL Terms, Definitions, Formulas, Theorems, Symbols or other specific information to the subject you are studying.	It is VERY critical that you understand these in order to know what the teacher and classmates are discussing. If you don't know these, you will fail very quickly in most math classes.
8. Examples.	Teachers often include examples of how to solve a particular problem using the technique being taught at the time. These may be different than the examples in textbooks and may be easier to understand than the text examples. You also may (recommended) add additional examples to improve your understanding of the problem.
9. Focus Symbols.	These are symbols to add to your notes to improve the effectiveness of reviewing later. Good use of these symbols can improve what you learn AND reduce the amount of time it takes to study. Examples may include placing a star next to any topic that the teacher has told you or hinted at being on and exam (*). A question mark (?) can be used to indicate that you missed one or more important notes. It is very important that you use the same symbol to ALWAYS represent the same thing in your notes.
10. Make your notes your own.	Your ability to use your notes to study from is directly related to how comfortable you are with reading them and reviewing them at a later time. Focus symbols such as stars, question marks, symbols, arrows and other methods of personalizing the notes can greatly improve your ability to learn from your notes. Adding additional examples, your own comments or questions, page numbers of related materials and other actions that help you to "own your notes" will improve your note-taking skills.
11. Make Up Missed Notes!	When you miss class for ANY reason, it is your responsibility to copy the notes from a classmate. Time does not stop just because you were not there! Lessons continue and you are the one responsible for getting the missed material. Copy the notes as soon as possible, review them and be prepared to ask questions of classmates or the teacher for anything you don't understand. A good strategy is to have found those students in class who take notes as well or better than you do. DON'T just photocopy them, but take the time to write them out. If you must photocopy their notes, once you begin the review process, you should rewrite them and put them into your own words and your own style. It is difficult to study from most other peoples notes AND the process that makes note-taking such a powerful learning tool MUST include you physically taking the notes.