{"id":535,"date":"2017-10-06T14:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T14:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mytutorweb.co.uk\/blog\/?p=535"},"modified":"2021-08-18T15:50:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T15:50:20","slug":"taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking notes is an undervalued skill. For most students, taking notes isn\u2019t even practiced until the Sixth Form and for others, until university. If you\u2019ve spent years mindlessly copying from a blackboard, sitting in a lecture with a blank sheet of paper and no instructions\u00a0on what to write down can be daunting. At my secondary school, the transition from spoon-feeding to independent note-taking came about rather abruptly: I remember dozing through a Year 10 English class<\/a>, listening to my teacher lecturing on \u2018Lord of the Flies\u2019, waiting for her to hand me the booklet with\u00a0all of it nicely written down, when all of a sudden she slammed her ruler on my desk, arched a mean eyebrow and screeched \u2018Have you a perfect memory? Or have I yet to say something interesting enough for you to write down?\u2019 I was alarmed and rather frightened, and hastily pulled out a pen and paper. She resumed her monologue, and I developed blisters on the side of my hand from frantically scribbling down everything she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There are three key mistakes people make when taking notes: writing too much, writing too little, and writing nonsense. I sat next to a girl in English who, every once in a while, would go into autopilot and write notes like \u2018the imagery of flies reminds us of decay, death, stop chewing gum Harriet\u2026<\/i>\u2019 I myself used to take too few notes, and at the end of the year found myself faced with the task of decoding \u2018The war (which war?) lasted long time, led to others, see notes (which notes???)<\/i>\u2019. Taking notes should be about making life easier for yourself. After years of experience, this is my advice:<\/p>\n

1) Invest in good quality paper – there\u2019s no point making the effort to take notes if they will have disintegrated by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

2) Don\u2019t waste money on a fancy pen, in the bustle of school you\u2019ll probably lose it. A biro will do.<\/p>\n

3) Before writing down information ask yourself, \u2018Do I need to know this?\u2019 If you do, write it down. If you\u2019re unsure, ask \u2018Do I have time to write this down?\u2019 If you do, write it.<\/p>\n

4) Learn symbols for common words, for example \u2018&\u2019<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0Bullet points are your best friend. Memorizing paragraphs is very difficult, bullet points however, are a piece of cake.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0Be specific with references, if you are referring to something from a textbook include the title and page number.<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0Be neat, there\u2019s nothing worse than getting to the end of the year and finding that you can\u2019t read any of your notes.<\/p>\n

8) Keep yourself organised. Keep your notes in a folder, buy dividers and group notes together by subject.<\/p>\n

9)\u00a0 Practice. The more you take notes the easier it gets!<\/p>\n

\n

Written by\u00a0Katya Sikuade<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taking notes is an undervalued skill. For most students, taking notes isn\u2019t even practiced until the Sixth Form and for others, until university. If you\u2019ve spent years mindlessly copying from a blackboard, sitting in a lecture with a blank sheet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[789],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTaking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense? | MyTutor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Note-taking is an undervalued skill that most don't learn until university, despite the benefits being evident throughout your life; learn how to do it now!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense? | MyTutor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Note-taking is an undervalued skill that most don't learn until university, despite the benefits being evident throughout your life; learn how to do it now!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/en-gb.facebook.com\/MyTutorUK\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-06T14:00:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-18T15:50:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MyTutor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MyTutor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/\",\"name\":\"Taking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense? | MyTutor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-06T14:00:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-18T15:50:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eb46e4b27ee828e9c64641fdca042c7b\"},\"description\":\"Note-taking is an undervalued skill that most don't learn until university, despite the benefits being evident throughout your life; learn how to do it now!\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eb46e4b27ee828e9c64641fdca042c7b\",\"name\":\"MyTutor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea1dc30e69fb867e4795c71eb9610de1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea1dc30e69fb867e4795c71eb9610de1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MyTutor\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/author\/mytutorweb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense? | MyTutor","description":"Note-taking is an undervalued skill that most don't learn until university, despite the benefits being evident throughout your life; learn how to do it now!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense? | MyTutor","og_description":"Note-taking is an undervalued skill that most don't learn until university, despite the benefits being evident throughout your life; learn how to do it now!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/","article_publisher":"https:\/\/en-gb.facebook.com\/MyTutorUK\/","article_published_time":"2017-10-06T14:00:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-08-18T15:50:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MyTutor","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MyTutor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/","name":"Taking notes \u2013 do you write nonsense? | MyTutor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg","datePublished":"2017-10-06T14:00:30+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-18T15:50:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eb46e4b27ee828e9c64641fdca042c7b"},"description":"Note-taking is an undervalued skill that most don't learn until university, despite the benefits being evident throughout your life; learn how to do it now!","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/students\/taking-notes-do-you-write-nonsense\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/notebook-2694903_640.jpg","width":640,"height":426},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/eb46e4b27ee828e9c64641fdca042c7b","name":"MyTutor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea1dc30e69fb867e4795c71eb9610de1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea1dc30e69fb867e4795c71eb9610de1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MyTutor"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/author\/mytutorweb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8279,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions\/8279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mytutor.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}