Class Notes 101: Taking Notes
You’ve enrolled in your classes. Now what? It helps to get some idea on how to adequately prepare for exams by note-taking. Let us begin…
Read the syllabus. Find out what your professor expects of you. That way, you can walk into the class and know what is important. Some professors, for example, make it clear that the exams will be straight from the book. Others are much more focused on highlighting lectures in the exams. Understand the syllabus, get an idea of what the homework assignments, quizzes, and exams are about, and focus your mind on what your professor finds important for the sake of those good grades!
Have a “quizzical” mindset: Always assume your professor is going to question you. Prepare your notes if you’re expecting a pop quiz on the topics tomorrow. There are several benefits to this method:
- What if there is a pop quiz after all? You’ll ace it.
- You’ll have a head start on studying for midterms and finals by absorbing the information gradually rather than days prior to the big exam — which likely accounts for approximately half of your grade.
- Professors who give grades for participation will welcome your knowledge, and you’ll be ahead of the game. (As a side bonus, your interest in the topics can help you boost your relationship with the professor, which can help if you need references for grad school!)
Don’t be late to class. Most college professors pack in a lot of material in a short period of time. You’ll be covering a 1000-page book in 6 weeks and the lectures are not going to be much slower. If you’re writing everything down, you’ll probably feel that your professor is talking a mile a minute. Get in class early, get a seat up front, and don’t walk in late especially in classes where tardiness is noticeable. You certainly wouldn’t want to sit down and not know how many pages of notes you’ve already missed, since it kills the motivation to take good notes that day.
Use a laptop if allowed. Nowadays, typing makes life so much easier and faster for note-taking. But at the same time, discipline yourself to be focused on taking notes and nothing else. Disable any Wifi access (we know how tempting the Internet could be during a lecture that might make you feel like snoozing!)
Don’t get distracted. Some discussion-centric classes still cover test-worthy material during the conversation. Don’t let a student’s interest in the professor’s knowledge be a door for you to start playing Sudoku. Stay focused on the material, and better yet, involve yourself in the discussion. If anything, stay focused enough to know exactly when the class will resume from its tangent, because you don’t want to lose a few minutes of notes doing something else that’s totally not worth it.
Ask! Have a question? Ask earlier rather than later. Chances are, you’re not the only one who wants to know the answer. There’s no such thing as a stupid question.
Shorthand is great. You could write down everything, but would you really want to review it all? Focus on shorthand where possible, especially if you just can’t write everything down. Make your notes easy to review after class. If you know exactly what is going to be covered, you might want to write in an outline.
Write neatly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken notes in class in such hideous handwriting that I decided that I’d never revisit them again. Don’t do this; you’ll only be hurting yourself.
Keep the margins available. You may want to add something in the margins later on when you get something clarified, or your professor might add, “I forgot to mention…” and you’ll have to either write a whole long paragraph and add an arrow to the area that it applies to — or you can just write in the margins. What’s easiest for you?
Don’t write everything in the same notebook. Use separate ones for each class. If you are using a laptop computer, focus on categorizing your notes in individual folders.
Date your notes. You’ll then be able to keep track of what’s being said and when, and it helps for organizational purposes (especially if a quiz is covering only a certain time period). You’ll also be able to give a needy student a hand with a particular day’s notes if s/he was unable to attend a class.
Become friends with your classmates for the same reasons. If you’re unable to attend class one day, you’ll have someone who can cover for you.
Note-taking isn’t that hard, nor is it that easy. Discipline, motivation, and a desire to learn (and do well) will prevail in your ability to write well during the lecture portion of your classes.
