10 Easy Steps to Good Note Taking

Taking good notes can mean the difference between a passing and a failing grade. If your notes are lacking and don’t have confidence in what you wrote, chances are you will not read the notes or take them seriously and only skim over them. If you have good notes that you trust, you will concentrate on what you wrote and the information will become imbedded in your mind.

Here are 10 tips on ‘note taking’ that will help you to study harder and more efficiently. These techniques are not only valuable for school, but for the rest of your life!

1. Use a separate paper of your notebook for each days notes and add the date and major topic at the top of the page.

2. Teachers give clues as to what they think are the important facts. Listen for ‘key words’ that they may use, such as; this is important, an important fact/point to remember, a key piece of information, something to remember is, the most important thing is, etc.

3. When taking notes, do not write word for word. You will not have enough time. Learn to write in terms that you understand and will remember, using shortcuts that you understand. Something like the jargon that you use when you text message a friend. It takes less time to write and you still know what the information is.

4. Read over all of your notes before doing your homework, it will refresh your mind about what went on in class that day.

5. Take notes when you are reading a chapter – this is an important element. Write the introduction line – a short sentence about the section or paragraphs; include names, typographical information, headings under pictures, dates, and important events. Remember, only one line should revive your memory and use your own words when writing so you will understand what you want to remember.

6. Keep tests and make sure that you correct mistakes. Yes even if the entire test is one big mistake. WHY? Because these same questions will come up on a unit, quarter or semester test. Keep all of these tests in a folder and paper clip them together according to chapter or unit.

7. Take the time to summarize in your own words what you have learned in a unit. Sometimes when you are studying for a quarter test, this is all of the information that you may have to study.

8. Make sure that important names, dates or facts that a teacher emphasizes are underlined. These are facts you want to spend extra time on….they will definitely be on a test.

9. As you fill one notebook, do not throw it away; add it to your note file folder. This can come in handy in another class or possibly in a future year of school. You have no idea how many times information can be repeated in different ways while attending school, even into the college years!

10. When researching papers, always make sure that at the end of the research paper or note paper that you are using, you write down the book, author and library where you found the information. You may have to go back and retrieve more information at some point and time, so you want to make sure that it is easy for you to find.[LG]Try a Notepad Book for classy note taking![/LG]

Following these 10 simple steps will help you improve your grades, save you valuable study time, and help you find all of your information faster and easier.