How to Make Better Notes

This semester has been different from my previous ones because my notes from class have proven to be sufficient from a test point of view. My teachers haven’t taught from the textbook too much. But it was a different case until the end of Grade 11. I had to take notes in class and make notes at home because my teachers taught us from outside the textbook but made the test based on what was in the textbook. If your method of learning is through your own, handmade/typed notes, read below to optimize and polish your note-making skills.

1) Read, write and read again*:

Reading a whole page before making notes can make you forget important points, and can be very boring. Making notes for every sentence on the page is pointless because then you are writing the whole textbook again. My method is to read a paragraph, find important keywords or phrases and make a note that I find suitable. This way I won’t make a note of a sentence that isn’t useful. I reread the paragraph, if it’s full of information, to make sure I haven’t missed any good point.

*This is the method that works best for me. It's likely you may find a different method more effective. If you do, stick to it. Trial and error is a big part of becoming a better student. You just have to find a method that helps you get where you want to get, effectively and efficiently.

2) Understand your notes:

People often forget that you are making notes for yourself. You have to be able to understand what you have written. And I’m not talking about handwriting (though, if you can’t understand your own handwriting…XD). The point of making notes is to have something simpler to look at than your textbook when you have to study for a test. Your words shouldn’t be as complicated as in your book. They should be the gist of what the textbook says.

It’s helpful if you try to relate the concept you are learning to a real-life example. I like to find examples that are so unrelated, I’m bound to remember it. A (dumb and fun) example is how I remember the differences between saturated and unsaturated fats. I think of saturated fats as frat boys: tight-knit (tightly packed), lots of them (so high intermolecular forces and LDFs), (I’m not trying to be controversial) straight (chains are straight) and solid (stays solid at room temperature). I think of unsaturated fats as sorority girls with a mole (double bond) in their group that leaks their gossip to the outside world: not too close (not as tightly packed), not a lot of them because of the mole (lower IMFs and LDFs), don’t trust each other (bent) and not as committed (liquid at room temperature.

This is only my way of remembering an important concept. You can come up with acronyms, songs and even jokes that help you understand concepts better. The bottom line is that you don’t move on to the next concept until you feel like you could answer any question about this (the frats and sororities example helps XD).

3) Abbreviate and use arrows & symbols:

I said this in my previous blog post as well. Arrows and other symbols make writing notes so much easier. You don’t have to repeat a word. You can have a bunch of arrows coming off that word and you can describe away. Abbreviation saves time because instead of writing intermolecular forces (20 letters), I can get the job done with IMFs (4 letters). Some arrows I use often are ↳ and →. Other common symbols in my notes are = for is/are, ≠ for isn’t/aren’t and / for or. Abbreviations depend on the subject because there are overlapping abbs that mean diff. things in diff. contexts. (see what I did there?)

4) Make your notes ASAP:

One of my bad habits used to be preparing for a test for the first time while making notes. What I mean is, my first attempt at studying for a test, usually only a couple nights before it, was by making notes. This is probably how a lot of people my age study, but there is a flaw in this method.

A lot of times, while making notes, my mind would come up with a lot of questions that could only be answered by my teacher. But because everyone studied only a couple nights before the test, everyone would have questions for the teacher a day before the test. And to accommodate every question the teacher would only give a student the chance to ask one, maybe two questions. Because of this, half my questions always went unanswered and I suffered during the test.

To combat this, I began setting some time aside every day to make notes of chapters I knew I would be tested on. I wouldn’t wait for the teacher to tell us when the test was. This way, I always knew what I wanted to ask my teacher, and I clarified my doubts when the teacher was free and relaxed. So, when you begin a chapter in class, begin making notes for it at home. Even a little work will add up to something you will thank yourself for.

5) Revise your notes every chance you get: Besides making your notes as soon as possible, get revising as soon as possible. Now, if I have the need to make notes, I make them from my textbook as well as from my class notes. This way I will have both notes in one place, know where my teacher and textbook overlapped and what additional information I must know. And revision helps you think of the concepts in a less pressurizing way. You can reread parts you may have absentmindedly copied from your textbook. You can brainstorm possible questions that could be asked on a test. You could even find any mistakes in your notes based on what you know your teacher wants you to know.

True story: When we began learning about carbohydrates in Biology, my teacher told us that α glucose + fructose -> sucrose. But the worksheet she gave us later, said β glucose instead of α glucose. The night before the unit test, I spotted this error, asked her about it and got it clarified. The next day, that very question was on the test: which monosaccharides join to form the disaccharide, sucrose. And I got the answer right, all because I had looked at my notes with a relaxed mind. So, revise!

This is how I like to make notes. You may have different ways and I would love to know what they are. You can comment below or email me at rueshi.25@gmail.com. - Aarushi