Take Better Notes (And Boost Your Grades in School)

1. Introduction: All right, everybody, welcome to take better notes and boost your grades in school. My name is Derrick Suborn, and I'll be teaching the next several lessons. First of all, I want to start by thinking you for checking out this class. My goal in this class is too quickly. Show you how to improve your grades by giving you both the mindsets and the practical advice that will help you take better notes. As a full time college student myself, I've discovered that the ability to consistently get great grades in school is strongly related to the quality of notes I take during study time. This class will help you get better grades in school because it will show you how to take notes like an a student. We'll be covering a lot of good information during this class. For example, we'll learn about the essential a student mindsets that will instantly improve your approach to taking notes. We will also discuss three student tested and teacher proved ways to take notes that actually help you learn what you are trying to study as you'll discover each of these three systems have unique strengths that can help you organize all the information you want to include in your notes as painlessly and effectively as possible. Additionally, will discuss the seven secrets that successful students used to take notes from a lecture. Lectures often present a unique set of challenges, so we're going to discuss some of those unique challenges and learn how to address them effectively. We're going to have a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy warning about the skill of getting A's by learning how to take better notes again. I want to thank you for joining this class. I think you'll find it helpful, and I look forward to seeing you in our first lesson. 2. How 'A' Students Think About Notes: so we want to take notes like a students. But of course, taking notes like a students will require us to think like a students, and that is precisely what we're going to talk about in this lesson. Specifically, I want to contrast three a student mindsets with three mindsets that are not as effective when you you are finished With this lesson, you will find yourself equipped with three quality mindsets that will help you approach the note taking process more effectively. You'll also know three attitudes to avoid because they commonly hold some students back from achieving their full potential. As you will discover, you can instantly improve your note taking ability just by changing the way you think about taking notes. Okay, so let's begin by discussing the first a student mindset. The following statement expresses the way in A student thinks about taking notes. My notes are the basis upon which I interact and engage with the information that is relevant in my course. This contrast with less effective mindset, which is expressed by the following statement notes, are a necessary evil I must endure. The important distinction between these two mindsets is that one recognizes the value of taking notes while the other does not. If you view taking notes is a chore or an unpleasant task, you will lack enthusiasm. If you lack enthusiasm, the quality of your notes will suffer. Instead, adopt a mindset that recognizes the true power that taking notes can have for both your learning and your grades. By recognizing that notes provide a basis upon what you interact with the information relevant to your course, you will be taking an important first step toward becoming the kind of person who can take notes like an A student. All right, now, let's take a look at the second a student mindset. This mindset can be expressed in the following statement. My notes reflect what I'm learning and have already learned from my study materials. And for the less effective counterpart, we have a following. My notes are crammed with as much information from my study materials as I had time and energy to copy. Now listen, Ineffective mindset is actually well intentioned. However, it makes the mistake of assuming that copying information toe a notebook is the same thing is actually learning that material. The goal of taking notes is not to copy information, but rather to process and engaged the material you are trying to study and learn. What really counts when taking notes is how well you engage with the material. And those who recognizes are better equipped to take the kinds of notes that will make a real difference in terms of learning in grades. Now we're going to discuss the third and final a student mindset, which is expressed by the following statement. I take my notes in an organized and structured way. Thean effective alternative is the following. I just scribbled down the things that stand out the most. So basically, an a student takes notes in an organized way. They use a proven system to help them keep their efforts as focused as possible. The word organized communal out of things. But in this context, I am meaning that the student is actively using a proven note taking system. Students have been using such systems for at least 60 years, and probably much longer than that. One of the main goals of this course is to introduce you to or remind you of the system so that you can put them to good use for yourself to summarize. You want to cultivate quality mindsets that hope you take notes like in a student. Three. A student mindsets you want to internalize are number one. My notes are the basis upon which I interact and engage with the information as relevant in my course number to my notes. Reflect what I am learning and have already learned from my study materials. And number three, I take my notes in an organized and structured way. In the next video, I'll introduce you to three effective systems that will help you engage with your study material and helps you take notes in an organized way. I look forward to seeing you in that next lesson. 3. 3 Note-taking Systems: Okay, so we've taken some time to explore some mindsets that a student's have, as it relates to note taking. Now, in this brief video, I'm going to introduce you to three effective note taking systems that will help you take notes better. Each of the three systems you're about to learn about are useful because they focus your efforts in a productive way. It will help ensure that the precious time that you invest in taking notes will actually help you learn what you are studying. The three note taking systems will discuss are the Cornell note taking system, mind mapping and the outline No taking system. The next couple of videos will be dedicated to exploring each of these systems in greater detail. As we discuss these systems and further detail, I just want you to keep in mind why a stone's finding systems to be so important. The reason they're helpful is because they provide structure. They make no taking easier because they help you actually engage and learn from the material you are trying to study. Our exploration of these note taking systems will begin in the next video with the Cornell note taking system. I'll see you there 4. Cornell Notes: so we're going to start by warning about the Cornell. No taking system. Students have been using this system since the 19 fifties. It is easy to use teachers and students agree that it works great, and the structure provides helps you engage with the material you are studying. If you haven't already used this nifty little note taking system in the past, you will definitely want to try it out the next time you need to take notes if you have used it in the past, hopefully this video lesson remind you of some of its benefits. The Cornell note taking system has helped many students earned better grades, and the chances are good that it can help you, too. First, let's begin by discussing the layout. When you use the Cornell no taking system, you are going to divide each page into three distinct sections. The first section will discuss is the Big Call column on the right here, you're going to write down all the important information you want to include in your notes . This right hand column, which I call the Information column, will contain all the significant information you want to draw out from your study material . For example, if you're taking a history class, you might include information about what caused a certain event to take place. If you're taking a math class, you might include a formula and a step by step set of instructions for how to solve a particular kind of math problem. Basically, all the information you want to record on a given note page is what is going to go in that right hand section. Once you have felt this right hand portion with notes, you'll start mentally digesting the information in the skinny column on the left. In that comb, which I called the Key Term column, you will list out all the significant words or short phrases that appear in the fat comb on the right, repeating these key terms and short phrases in a separate column has numerous benefits. For example, it forces you to think about what parts of the information are the most important. Also, having the key terms repeated in a separate column will make your notes more useful when it comes time to study before an exam. Finally, you have the section at the bottom here you will summarize the information you have on your no page into a concise statement of two or three sentences. This summary section should be short into the point. The idea is to synthesize everything on your no page into an accurate statement that captures the essence of what you have learned from the information included on that note Page. I hope you found that overview of the Cornell No taking system to be helpful. Next, we will take a look at the mind mapping approach. I look forward to seeing you in the next video. 5. Mind Mapping: we just finished talking about the Cornell No taking system. Now we're going to shift our attention toward mind. Mapping this particular system offers a great way to break down a massive information and to bite sized chunks. Furthermore, it allows you to visualize how those chunks are related to each other. When we use the mind mapping approach, we start with a big circle or rectangle in the middle of our page. In the circle, we put the name of the topic that represents the information we're going to break down in the mine man. Then we make several secondary containers, which contains smaller sub categories and ideas. If we need it to, we could break it down even further by creating 1/3 level of smaller boxes that connect to the secondary boxes, each of which would offer us a more detailed look at the sub categories or sub ideas in the mind. Man two. Key to remember with mind mapping is that we're showing how one big idea or one big category is related to smaller categories and ideas that are related. The big category idea goes at the center of the page, usually, and the smaller sub categories or sub ideas surrounded. The biggest benefit of the mind mapping system is that allows you to visualize relationships between several different parts of an important topic. So if you are having, if you're studying something in textbook and you are having difficult to getting the big picture, a mind map will help bring clarity to your thoughts because it will help you visualize how the information is arranged. Coming up. Next, we'll talk about the outline. No taking system. I look forward to seeing you in that video. Listen, thank you. 6. The Outline Note-taking System: Finally, we're going to talk about the outline note taking system compared to the other two systems we discussed. This final system can involve slightly more working time because it involves analyzing a source very carefully, such as a section of a textbook and reducing the information to its skeleton form. However, it could be quite valuable when you really want to get a good grasp of the material you are trying to study. The thing to emphasize about the outline system is that it organizes information into, ah, hierarchy of ideas and categories like the mind mapping system. We want to take a big topic and break it down into pieces. Unlike the mind mapping system, we do this by organizing text into a strict hierarchical outlined form in which there are higher levels of topics and ideas as well as lower subordinate ones. We're going to consistently use room and Roman numerals, numbers and letters to clearly identify the levels of this hierarchy. In our outline, the first level is often labeled with Roman numerals. The second level can be labeled with capital letters. The third level can be labeled with numbers, and the fourth level is often labeled with lower case level letters. We also indented each level in the same way to further reinforce the organ it organization of our outline. In essence, we used the outline system when we used the outline system. We are simply synthesizing the material we're setting into a clearly organized, hierarchical structure of one main topic and several subordinates sub topics. The benefit of using this system is that it forces you to grasp material you're studying very well. You are forced to identify how topics and sub topics are related to each other, and you're doing quite a bit of synthesizing, which requires a high degree of engagement on your part. The only word of caution I would offer is this the outline. No taking system can quickly become overwhelming. If you have a lot of reading, you need to take notes on, so consider using the system Onley when it will count the most. If you must know a given concept or process extremely well to do well in your class, then you might consider using this approach for the concept of process that you need to know extremely well for general. No taking, though you probably will want to rely more upon the Cornell No taking system as opposed to the outline, because it is a bit support to work with, especially when you're first coming into contact with the study materials outlining works best for material you already have some familiarity with. Okay, so we've invested some good time in discussing the major note taking systems, Westerner Our attention now to some simple ways that we can improve our ability to take notes during a lecture. I'll see you in the next lesson. 7. Taking Notes During a Lecture: you've just been is talking about. Three systems were taking notes like an a student. The systems are particularly helpful when we're trying to take notes from a written source . Written sources can include textbooks, essays were assigned to read and so on. In other words, when we have time to sit down with the power books, read at our leisure and jot down notes we can use, you usually utilize the systems we have just learned about without having too many problems . But of course, things can get a little complicated when we're trying to take notes from a lecture. Lectures present the student with a unique set of challenges. A students utilise several tips, tricks and best practices to ensure the notes they take during a lecture of the best it can possibly be in this lesson will. We're going to discuss seven secrets that can help you take better notes. When you were listening to a lecture, Secret Number one used the Cornell no taking system for lectures. You will want to use the Cornell note taking system for lectures because is particularly well suited to the lecture environment. During the lecture, you can write down important information in the right hand column and after the lecture has finished, you can complete the notes by filling in the key term. Come and the summary section of the bottom with Cornell notes, you can spend more time falling a lecture and writing down essential information. Secret Number two. Don't try to write everything your teacher says during a lecture. A big mistake a lot of students make is that they try to copy every word, the teacher says. Just as you would not copy everything you read in a textbook, you should not try to copy everything. That said during a lecture. Focus on picking up what's really important. Secret Number three. Listen for what's important. Taking good notes during a lecture requires that the student have some insight into what is important as student can do this in several ways. For example, students should always do the necessary reading before going to a lecture, so that they can focus more on listening for what the instructor chooses to emphasize about the information that was already addressed in the textbook. If you have not done the reading before you attend the lectures, you will miss that opportunity. Secret number four. Be sure that you are using your listening skills, your teachers, a speaker and as a student, you're a member of the audience. It's your instructors responsibility to offer a quality presentation in which he or she provides you with quality information. Conversely, it's your responsibility as a member of your teachers audience to take the presentation seriously. A part of taking the presentation seriously is by listening carefully. When you listen, you are actively engaged and focused on what your teacher says. You aren't merely hearing the words being spoken, and you're not letting your mind wander off into various directions you are actually processing was being said as the lecture speaks. The words The skill of listening is key for taking quality notes during a lecture. Secret Number five write down interesting questions or thoughts as they come to mind. When instructor is busy giving a presentation, it's easy for him or her to say something, which might trigger an interesting question. Our idea within your mind. Write it down within your notebook and circle it well. You want to stay focused on what your instructor is saying. You also want to be sure that you are engaging with the ideas that he or she is talking about writing down thoughts or questions that come to mind will allow you to come back to it after the lecture is over. Secret Number six Take a seat near the front of the class. Try to set up near the front of the class rather than towards the back. Being in the front helps encourage you to stay focused on what your teachers saying. Staying focused. How would you take better notes? Secret number seven Right Quickly Use abbreviations. Cross out mistakes that you make rather than trying to erase them. And paraphrase was being said to help you keep up with your instructors. Pace. If you have trouble writing quickly, consider practicing by watching online videos such as this one and taking notes on the informational content it contains In summary. When you take notes from a lecture, you want to keep seven and important tips in mind. Those tips are number one. Used a Cornell no taking system when you're taking notes during a lecture, Number two. Don't try to write everything your teacher says during a lecture. Number three. Listen for what's most important number four. Be sure that you are using your listening skills. Number five. Write down interesting questions or thoughts as they come to mind. Number six. Take a seat near the front of the class and number seven right quickly. 8. Conclusion: All right, everybody, thank you so much for watching this class all the way to the end. Let me just take a few moments. Toe briefly recapped material that we have covered in the last several videos. We learned three essential mindsets that characterized away a stone's think about taking notes. Three effective systems for taking notes, which include the Cornell no taking system, the mind mapping, no taking system and the outline note taking system. And finally, we covered the seven secrets for taking good notes during a lecture. I hope that this quest has helped show you how to take better notes. I wish you the best of luck in your future studies. And I wish you best as you work to become a straight a student. Thank you.