Notes

So first off I've never had a teacher actually teach me how to take notes. It was always just assumed that we all knew how. It was always copy off the board, out of book, or write when the teacher said write. Which I would usually just doodle away or write notes to people in class...that kind of note I could write HA. But that is not the point here. 

A quote in chapter 7 that really stood out to me was at the very beginning of the chapter. " While people may have different ways of taking notes, I do believe that it's a skill that can be taught. I also believe that students need to be shown how to take notes, good notes, that they can use later." The chapter discussed how important it is to present the course of topics in an organized manner and also to not only provide notes verbally but also visually. I feel that students would benefit greatly from this, mainly because some students lack proper listening skills to catch every detail in a lecture. The visual notes do not have to be the entire lecture. Just present students with key words or phrases that you are explaining during the lecture so that they will catch a key part and when they look back through their notes and their book they will know where to look. I also like the use of signal words during lectures. Some students get completely overwhelmed and feel that they have to write every single detail down and they end up missing the important facts. If teachers simply gave the students a cue word to go by they would know what and when to write notes. If the students got use to the word and how it was used in reference to what was being taught they would develop a listening skill to apply during lectures that would help them take notes and even maybe eliminate the use of the cue word. 

I never knew the difference between note taking and note making....I just assumed they were the same thing. But. Once the book explained the difference it makes major sense. That note taking is when students a physically taking notes during a lecture. Compared to note making is copying from a source such as a book or online source. 

I really liked all of the visual examples in this chapter about note taking and organizational methods. figure 7.2 is a general note taking procedure layout. This would make a CREATE poster for a class or a simple lamenated card for students to keep in their binders or taped to their desk. It suggest doing things such as skipping lines for change of ideas, be selective, paraphrase etc etc.  The notes assessment suggestion in the book I am on the fence about. I feel that sometimes students should have a note check...but shouldnt nesscarly be assessed on their notes. Mainly because everyone takes notes different...and mine for example are completely understandable to me..but to someone else it is chicken scratch mess. Like I said...its a good idea...yet maybe not. I feel maybe it would be baby to provide the rubric to students to self assess their notes and maybe use as peers. THE BEST note example to me is the math one. How they take a math term, list examples, list like terms, and then list something completely opposite of the original term. This technique would have benefited me greatly in school. It is easy. Simple. And to the point. 

I find that sometimes teachers focus to much on note taking and they assume their students know how to take notes. Yes. Every student has their own way to note take...but do they KNOW HOW to take notes. Teachers should just take time in class to teach students how to take notes or provide guided notes and scaffold their learning. 

Questions:

What would be a note taking technique students who have poor motor skills or dyslexia can use?

How can we, as teachers, make note taking more fun?