How to Take Good Notes

Tips on How to Take Good Notes in School

One of the keys to being a good student and making good grades is to take good notes. In this article, I will show you some of my best tips on taking notes.

Instructions

1. Stick to the Main Points
   Don't try to write down everything that is said. You won't be able to do it, you will frustrate yourself, and you just might miss out on more important points.

2. Listen Carefully
   Listen to your professors' tone of voice. Their intonation is a very good indicator of what is most important. When it comes to the points they really want you to understand (the points that will most likely show up on an exam!), they will usually slow down their speech, enunciating key words. Often they will repeat themselves to make sure you get it. (Sometimes professors will even give you blatant clues: "This would make a good exam question"!)

3. Secret Trick: Shorthand
   Develop your own form of shorthand. Just let it develop naturally. When you're taking notes in class, you will eventually begin encountering some of the same terms over and over. When you do, simply abbreviate them. Use context clues if you have trouble deciphering them later. However, don't overdo the shorthand. When you're studying, you want to concentrate on the meat of the topic, not on deciphering what it is you wrote.

4. Keep Your Notes Together
   Keep your notes together and in some sort of order. The most common is in chronological order. I, personally, date my notes and keep note of the page order, in case any of them get mixed up. For example, at the top of a page of my notes you will likely find something like "12/9 A Bio", meaning I took the page of notes on December 9, and it's the first (A) page of biology notes for the day.

5. Review
   Look over your notes as soon as possible after class. Use this time to fill in anything you might have missed, or to research something your professor said that you didn't quite understand. Highlight the key terms as you encounter them in your notes.

6. If you know that you are going to have to miss a day of class, ask another student or friend if they will let you see their notes beforehand. This will give them warning that you are going to ask for their notes, and hopefully give them incentive to take better notes than they might normally take. Don't ask the student who spends the class dozing off or daydreaming.

   When you do miss a class and have to get notes from someone, go copy them. Usually, there will be a copy machine in the building somewhere. Bring a little change with you and either before class or after class, go copy the notes. This will save you from having to rush through it during class, making you miss part of THAT day's instruction as well.

7. Save Your Notes
   I find it useful to save my notes beyond the class. You never know when you might want to cover the material again. This is especially important to do if you plan on pursuing courses in the same subject.

Resources

• Pocket Guide to Study Tips