Chapter 7: Notetaking and note making

            Some people would probably rather get teeth pulled than read a chapter on teaching notetaking. I am not one of those people. Personally, if I didn’t know a notetaking strategy that worked for me I most likely would have struggled in high school and would continue to struggle currently. After reading this chapter I realized that my notetaking skills could be improved especially after reviewing the “Notes evaluation criteria” in figure 7.4.

            One thing that surprised me was finding out that there is a difference between “notetaking” and “note making.” I always assumed they were one in the same. All of the types of notetaking styles were very interesting to read about. The style that caught my interest the most was the “Cornell” style of notetaking. This style peaked my interest so much that I actually did more research on the style and am really considering using this style to replace the style that I currently use. The part of this style that really grabbed me was how much more organized it looked (fig. 7.1) compared to the notes I take.

            Never, in my entire life, was I directly taught a strategy to take notes. I was taught how to copy notes from an overhead or fill in the blanks from a print-out I was given. I have always just taken notes in a similar fashion to how I copied notes off a projector, which results in an unorganized mess. We, as teachers, must teach our students a notetaking strategy if we expect them to be successful. This quote says it all to me, “better notetakers generally do better in school and specific types of notetaking produce better results (124).”

            I would have liked to a more in-depth reading that explained each type of notetaking style and how to teach each one. Much of what I read was a lot of in-depth scenarios depicting the use of notetaking styles in each subject area. This wasn’t a bad thing; I am just saying I feel I would have benefited more from the chapter if it focused on explanation versus scenarios. I did like the examples that were given in the figures because I was able to see how each type looked.

            While reading this chapter I realized two important things. First, there was and still is a lot of information I do not know about notetaking. Second, was the realization of the crucial importance of teaching students how to take notes. The question I leave with is, what is the grade appropriateness of teaching notetaking to students?