note taking

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what is your note taking style?

my notes have a very chaotic "organization" (if one could even call it that)
i also have terrible handwriting
my notes would not be of much use to anyone besides myself



(my notes over this morning's lecture)

I don't/can't really take notes. It's pointless getting stressed about trying to take in what's being said and trying to figure out what to write down. The stress of trying to do both, meaning I almost may as well not been there at all. I was given a dictaphone to record lectures, which I can then go back over using the index points, pausing after each section to process what's been said and take some notes. Having said that although extremely rare, when the lecturer clearly specifies 'this is a vital term for you to know' or something, I will try to jot it down.

I either take zero notes or write down every single thing the teacher puts on the board

My Asperger's combined with NVLD makes note-taking nearly impossible. Luckily, my college provides note-takers to those who need them, and they are life-savers. I somehow got through high school having to take my own notes, but it was a mighty struggle.

I had to rely on listening only to take notes, since I couldn't see anything.
But hard to follow anything for a long time because a lot was going on on the chalkboard. I hate school settings so much for it. It's kinda surprising I made it to university tbh, has always been a problem.

IMO I have decent organization of my stuff as long as I can follow.
I make proper drawings, arrows, draw what qualifies as boxes around important stuff and buffer what has been said well enough so I can write it down while listening to the next sentence. My handwriting is certainly not the best but I can read it most of the time.
Oftentimes I take notes that I never look at ever again.

Of course, when I'm tired that's a whole different story, then listening alone is very difficult and I don't take care of my handwriting. Basically it would be better to go home than keep listening when I'm tired.

i am messy too
https://imageshack.com/i/nm4pagesfromlastnightj

hahaha yes, I was hoping another wp member wrote notoriously messy notes.

Hey Seaweed,

I find your hand writing so difficult to read. To me, it looks like some sort of an encryption or some sort of alien writing.

My note taking skills has much improved over the years. Now, I only use standard or big sheets of paper. I use as few words as possible -- core words/expressions. And, I leave a lot of space around each note taking point.

There's a really nice app called iThoughtsHD, you can use it for idea mapping. It lets you organize your notes into groups, color-code, and even insert pictures into your notes. My writing is as messy as yours btw.

Um...ever consider taking a laptop to class?

I don't ever take notes in class. I can only focus on one thing at a time so it's either listening to the professor or taking notes, and usually I find that the latter isn't the best option. The quality of my handwriting has declined over the years, so I prefer other means.

My notes are hectic, too, but I'm letting them stay that way now. I had an instructor who told me that he learned the only thing that mattered to him with notes was the act of writing them, not reading them.

I was never good at taking notes and re-reading them never seemed to help. I learn through doing and discussion.

I write down pretty much everything the teacher has up on the board. While it may be of no use, I don't wish to be the one yelled at for not following directions.
My handwriting is sloppy, and there are parts where I scribble out misspelled words or horrible looking letters, but I write down all that's on the board.
Laptops? Forget about it. It will be confiscated at my school. You need a pen, or pencil, and a composition book.

i am able to outline the lecture as the teacher speaks. that has gotten me through lots of school with good grades by studying my notes just prior to a test. that said, i have poor handwriting and if i didn't know the material, it wouldn't be decipherable. i recently went back to school. my husband sometimes helps me by quizzing me on my notes. he has a very hard time reading them well enough to make up questions.

I studied at a university in the UK from 2011 - 2013, however I really struggled to take notes. I found that I wanted to write down everything that the lecturer was saying, and obviously that wasn't possible, so my notes were incomplete. Also, because I was trying to listen to the lecturer and write notes simultaneously, I found that by the end of the lecture, I couldn't recall anything that was said in the lecture. Then I'd try and read my notes when I got home, but they were incomplete so they didn't make sense. Also, whilst I was taking notes, the lecturer could've said something that didn't make sense and I wouldn't have noticed.

I did try recording the lectures on a dictaphone and listening to the lectures at home, but I found that I had the same note-taking issue; I still wanted to write everything down.

The university did try giving me a note taker for a couple of months, but I found that reading someone else's notes didn't suit me, although it was better than taking my own.

In the end, I left that university and went to study my degree part-time through distance learning with the Open University, which is what I'm currently doing. It means that I have 4 more years to go (and I'm in my 3rd year now), but it suits me a lot better. They send me books so that I can study myself, and although I have assignment deadlines, when I study the work necessary for the assignments, is up to me . Also, I work full-time now, so it's nice to have a decent income too.

That was what I used to do, and it didn't work. I would be able to get things from the notes, but I missed things and it was very stressful. What I do more and more is not take notes. I make sure I have paper and a pencil so that I can scribble something down if it seems important, but primarily I am putting my energy into listening and engaging in the class. I then get slide shows/notes from the teacher and use textbooks to study. Then class doesn't have to be a struggle of trying to write down every word that comes out of the teacher's mouth.

Woah Seaweed,

I can't even read what's written.

My god.

on lectures I just write the essence of things, although I tend to write quite a lot usually. My handwriting is neat and understandable. And my English handwriting is something have never been seen lol. Extremely organized and I don't connect letters