Ch. 7 Getting It Down: Making and Taking Notes Across the Curriculum

"Taking good notes trains students not only to pay attention but what to pay attention to." Jim Burke (2002)

That was the attention grabber for me at the beginning of the chapter.  As a student myself I can truly understand the difficulties of proficient notetaking. All through my educational career until about two years ago I have failed miserably at taking notes.  I did the outlines, concepts maps, and even tried typing notes on the computer and none worked for me.  The thing that got me is that it worked well for others but just not for me.  It wasn't until I was in nursing school that I found out how to take effective notes.  There I was taught the Cornell method and it truly is a miracle to me.  I often wondered, even now, why I haven’t learned this before!?

In the text it says that you can use various strategies of notetaking for all subjects but it is up to the teacher to organize lectures in ways that make it possible to create notes.  That is the teacher’s responsibility not the students.  It states that it is instructionally sound to introduce the sequence of topics and concepts for the day's class because it prepares students for learning.  Also, ending the class with a review enhances the memory and retention and allows students to make corrections to their day's notes.

Taking notes is more than just "writing something just to be writing".  This is learning in another aspect.  While taking notes students don't realize that they are transmitting important information and getting a deeper understanding.  We (as teachers) cannot just assume that when our students come into our classroom that they already know how to take excellent notes and that we can just carry on with our lesson and not have a care in the world about their notes. WRONG! Like I just said earlier I didn't know how to take effective notes until two years ago....meaning I was in college at the time.

Questions:

-Since it took me so long to learn how to take good notes and realize how many strategies there are, my question is how and when do you start this with younger students? It seems like some strategies might be too difficult to try to teach.  I know that there are notetaking courses that are available in college but are there any classes in high school or junior high that students can take?  If no then why not?