Prior to reading Chapter 7, I had never distinguished between note-taking and note-making. According to this chapter, note-taking occurs when students take notes from an oral source such as a lecture or movie. Note-making, however, occurs when students make notes from a written source. These differ because in note-taking, students usually only have one chance to get the information whereas in note-making, students can usually go back to the written source as often as needed. I definitely agree with this chapter in the fact that note-taking and note-making serve such a vital role in education, but are rarely "taught." Throughout Chapter 7, a variety of different note-taking and note-making options, as well as how to teach them, are described.
One of the methods I particularly liked was the one they suggested using in social studies. In this method, there are headings and subheadings, with bullet points and lists in order to organize all information together per chapter. I really like this idea because it organizes subpoints under a larger point that all has to do with the overall point. It makes finding information in notes easier, as well as the aesthetic appeal of it being so clean and to the point. I am very Type A in the fact that I like things to be very organized and put together. I do not like having notes in my margins or out of order. Because of this, I also agree with the book when it said that teachers should also organize their lectures to be easy to follow and take notes on. When I have to squeeze more notes into a subheading because a teacher flip flopped back to a previous subject, I get a little anxiety. I enjoy a well organized lecture, that transposes into well organized notes.
One of the methods I did not particularly like was the dictoglos method used in language arts. This method seems to take a great deal of time that is just not found in the average school day. I also find it unnecessary to have students believe they need to recreate their notes to be verbatim to what the teacher has said. This can cause anxiety to over-achievers, such as myself, and have students believe that making small, bulleted notes is not enough. Although I can see where this can help students pay attention to detail and block out distractions, I think it could backfire in the future.
I agree completely that note-taking and note-making should be taught in school, but I do have a few questions. One has to do with differentiated learning. As we can see through all of the blogs that will be posted, every student has their opinion as to what "good" note-taking is. How can note-taking be taught in a way that every student can benefit? and When should note-taking begin being taught?
Hayley,
ReplyDeleteVery thoughtful post! I definitely agree that teachers should instruct their students on proper note-taking techniques, or at least stress the importance of good note-taking/note-making! And in response to your question, "when should note-taking begin being taught?" I think it should begin in the fourth grade on a very basic level. I think students can be asked to note key vocabulary words and brief meanings in note books, and be taught how to review them. From this, students can, perhaps, be read a paragraph of text and be asked to write down the "main idea." This could be a start to learning how to pick out strong key points in a passage and "make note of it!" I challenge you to ask your clinical teachers about this, and see at what point they think students are capable of this!
Overall, great post!!!