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Is It Okay to Read Notes During an Interview

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Effective note-taking is not recording or transcribing. It is an active part of the learning procedure that requires you lot to quickly digest the lecture fabric and write down its key elements in a manner that suits your learning fashion. Afterwards properly preparing for the lecture, optimize your process for taking notes. These steps, along with prompt revision and reorganization, y'all can get a improve lecture note-taker.

  1. i

    Consummate notes before the day'southward lecture. Teachers assign notes then that y'all will be familiar with the topic being discussed in class. If yous do the assigned notes before grade, y'all'll already know many of the groundwork details. So you can focus your note-taking on key concepts.

    • Read through your notes from the previous lecture before class as well. This will help you become back upwards to speed on where you final left off in the class.[1]

  2. 2

    Check for online course materials and lecture outlines. If your teacher provides outlines, PowerPoint slides, or fifty-fifty a basic summary of the upcoming lecture, utilize it to your advantage. Recall of it equally the framing for a house, which yous will then complete and furnish with your note-taking.

    • It may be tempting to but print out that lecture outline or slideshow and figure you can skip note-taking during class -- or just jot down a few things on the printout hither and there. But it is much better to use these materials to structure your notes. This is the best way to process information, which is after all the goal of annotation-taking.

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  3. 3

    Consider the pros and cons of typing notes during a lecture. Many students are more comfortable typing than writing, simply there are still reasons to consider the tried-and-true method of putting pen to paper. Some studies point that students who hand-write notes are more able to comprehend and recall lecture material than those who blazon. It can exist easier to fall into transcription manner on a laptop. You then try to blazon everything said instead of actively discerning what is almost important to write down. Writing things down by paw tin can aid y'all attain greater focus.[2]

    • On the other manus, using a laptop or other electronic device makes it easier to format, save, edit, share, and read notes (with no worries almost messy handwriting).
    • Note-taking aids available on laptops are most endless, such every bit: "notebook layout" formatting on Microsoft Word, etc.; software that connects a recording of the lecture to your notes; annotation organization programs that allow you unite materials of diverse blazon and formats, such as emails and PDFs; and collaborative note-taking platforms that allow y'all to team up with others to take notes in real time. These may be lifesavers or distractions for you. Only you can approximate what works best.
    • Some instructors and institutions ban the employ of laptops in class, and so don't disbelieve the need to know how to write notes past paw.

  4. 4

    Sit near the front of the room. Cull a spot in the class where y'all will take few distractions. Then you will be able to pay attention better and take better notes. Find a spot where you can see and hear the lecturer clearly. You should also exist able to run into the board clearly. Show up to course a footling early on to ensure you lot become your pick of seats.

    • If you lot find yourself distracted by noisy fellow students, an ac vent, or an unfortunate glare on the projector screen, discreetly move to a new seat if you tin practice and so without causing a significant disruption. Otherwise, do your best this fourth dimension and detect a new spot for the side by side time.

  5. 5

    Make sure you are well-stocked with notation-taking supplies. If you accept notes by manus, bring extra pens or pencils and paper. If you lot take notes on a laptop or other electronic device, make sure it is sufficiently charged and set to go as soon as class begins.

    • Some people prefer using loose annotation sheets so they can lay them out on the table or floor when studying, while others observe bound notebooks more tidy.

  6. 6

    Label your paper with the date and topic of the lecture. Brand sure your notes are conspicuously labeled for future reference. Write the engagement of the lecture and the topic at the pinnacle of each page.[iii]

    • If you have multiple pages of notes, include page numbers as well. This will help you lot go along your notes in order.

  7. 7

    Consider formatting options for your notes. The more orderly your notes are at creation, the easier they will exist to understand, revise, and written report. One option is the outline format, particularly if the lecture is clearly structured and/or presented in such a way. In this format, you'll take department headings. Underneath each section heading, write down ideas in bullet course and supplementary ideas with indented sub-bullets. This is much ameliorate than just writing down everything as a new bespeak.

    • Be warned that lecturers are not always organized about post-obit main points with subpoints. Keep in mind that you may have to reorganize your notes subsequently the lecture.

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  1. ane

    Remember to take notes instead of transcribing the lecture. In order to have meliorate notes, yous need to be an "active listener." This ways that you don't just record what is said. Instead, you should engage with the textile and determine the essential elements of what is being said.

    • For instance, instead of spending time writing down every detail of Theodore Roosevelt's diverse foreign policy deportment, strive to establish fundamental concepts of his overall strange policy and identify the examples as support. This manner, you lot have already begun the procedure of learning and understanding (or, in other words, studying).
    • This necessity of active appointment is one reason why many experts advise confronting recording lectures.[4] [5]
    • If yous have an access requirement that means it would be important to record lectures, or y'all feel it would be helpful to, make sure to ask the professor beforehand if it's okay to tape. The lecture is considered the professor's intellectual property. In addition, some institutions accept specific policies regarding recording - brand sure to enquire almost this, and sign any paperwork as necessary.

  2. ii

    Listen carefully to the introduction of the lecture. Don't waste time easing your way into note-taking style at the beginning of course. Exist ready to go from the very start.

    • Lectures often begin with an explicit preview of what will be covered, or at least implicit "leads" nearly what is to follow. Listen carefully to the opening of the lecture for context clues that can help your organization and discernment of what will exist most of import.
    • Don't pay attending to students who arrive late or who are not nonetheless ready to take notes.

  3. 3

    Copy down what is written on the lath. Every instructor organizes each lecture into some sort of outline, fifty-fifty if it'south implicit and loosely followed. The information that is included on lecture slides will give you a solid thought of how to keep your notes organized.

  4. 4

    Learn to pick upward on the lecturer's cues and clues. The lecturer will apply vocal patterns, mitt gestures and other indications to emphasize important parts of the lecture. Starting time observing these patterns and gestures in order to discern what is essential information..[half-dozen]

    • Recognize master ideas past identifying bespeak words and phrases that bespeak something of import is to follow. Your teacher is not going to send up a rocket when she states an important new idea or gives an example. Just she will use signals to convey what she is doing. Every good speaker does it, and you should await to receive these signals. Examples include:
      • There are three reasons why...
      • First... second... tertiary...
      • The significance of this is...
      • The impact of this is...
      • From this, we can run across…
    • Larn to place other clues as well. When making a key point, the lecturer may speak more than slowly or loudly; repeat a word or phrase; take a longer pause before resuming speaking (perchance even to take a drink of water); gesture with his or her hands more than demonstratively; stop walking around and / or look more attentively into the audience; and and then on.

  5. v

    Make up your own shorthand method. Shorthand writing is a way to utilise shortcuts and so that you don't take to write every single word. You can also write notes more quickly, an essential skill when listening to a classroom lecture. But when taking notes, don't use true autograph similar a stenographer. This requires lengthy transcription. Instead, develop your own set of shortcuts, abbreviations, symbols, sketches, etc. Even if no i else knows what your autograph means, you'll know what y'all mean.[7]

    • Use abbreviations and skip unimportant words to take notes efficiently. Only record the important words that you need to get the idea of the point made. Skip words like "the" and "a" that practise not convey additional meaning to the lecture content. Create abbreviations to help you write things down quickly, such as cartoon arrows for increase/subtract or to evidence causation, and specially for terms used over and over once again (e.g., IR for international relations).
    • Paraphrase everything except formulas and specific definitions or facts that volition likely exist required verbatim on the exam.
    • Underline, circumvolve, star, highlight, or otherwise identify key examples, definitions, or other important materials. Devise your own marking code to indicate each type.
    • Endeavor drawing diagrams or pictures for concepts you tin't chop-chop describe or immediately understand. For instance, draw a pie chart to roughly indicate the relative strength of political parties in a particular election instead of writing these details out.

  6. vi

    Write legibly. Make sure your letters and words are fairly spaced and legible so that you tin can read them later. Few things are more frustrating than beingness unable to read your own handwriting, especially when trying to report for a biological science test.

  7. vii

    Go out space to work with later. Don't try to cram as much as possible onto each canvas.[viii] Give yourself lots of white space on your page. More spaced-out writing allows plenty of room for revision and annotation later. This manner is too easier to read and assimilate the data when studying.

  8. 8

    Pay attending at the end of the lecture. Information technology is easy to zone out as the clock ticks near the finish of the class flow. Other students may be starting to get together up their materials and whisper to their friends about the latest gossip. However, the conclusion of the lecture is just as vital as the introduction in laying out the big film and fundamental themes and concepts.

    • If at that place is a summary at the end of the lecture, pay close attention to information technology. You can apply information technology to cheque the arrangement of your notes. If your notes seem disorganized, copy down the main points that are covered in the summary. It will assist in revising your notes after.[9]

  9. 9

    Ask questions. During lecture, every bit well as at the end of the lecture, brand sure to ask questions about points that you don't understand. When other students ask questions, write downwards the questions and the instructor'southward answers.[ten] This additional data might answer questions you have as well.

    • If you are self-conscious well-nigh property up the class by asking a question (and annoying the students who already have one foot out the door), ask your professor after course. Yous'll likely find other students doing the aforementioned, and can listen in on their questions equally well.
    • You can likewise bring a list of questions to your professor's office hours.

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  1. ane

    Review your notes as soon as possible. Do your review within 24 hours after the lecture. By this fourth dimension, you lot may have already forgotten 80% of the lecture fabric.[eleven] Build upon what you lot have learned, instead of having to re-larn the fabric.

  2. 2

    Revise, don't only re-write, your notes. Think of your in-form notes every bit your draft re-create, and the revision as your edited copy. Create a new version of your notes. This will be helpful especially if your notes are sloppy, disorganized, or deadline illegible. Don't merely re-create downwards your notes equally you originally wrote them. Make this part an active procedure of revision.[12]

    • Use the clues y'all picked up during the lecture regarding structure and key concepts to reorganize what you wrote downwards.
    • Fill in weak spots with textile from the textbook.

  3. 3

    Highlight important parts of the lecture. When you are revisiting your notes, you lot should besides spend time to highlight or underline important parts of the lecture. Use different colored highlighters or pens to color-code recurring concepts. Marked-up notes will be valuable when you begin to study for the test. These allow y'all to quickly and efficiently call back key parts of each lecture.

  4. 4

    Get notes for missed classes. If you have missed a form due to illness or another reason, you lot should exist sure to get notes from a classmate. Talk with the instructor as well then that you understand the material.

    • Don't rely on a notes-for-sale service. Well-nigh universities have a policy against using these types of notes.[13] Remember, using purchased notes is not "active learning" that aids in understanding and retention.
    • If you have a physical or other documented disability which makes annotation-taking difficult, discuss options with your professor and your establishment'southward student services. Various options, including peradventure special lecture guides, notation-taking assist, permission to record lectures, or tutoring, volition likely be bachelor.

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  1. ane

    Separate your paper into three sections. The Cornell Method is a way to take notes that involves outset taking notes and then developing questions from those notes. Dissever your canvas into 2 sections by drawing a vertical line well-nigh ii.5 inches from the left margin. Continue this line until nearly 2 inches from the bottom of the sheet. And so draw a horizontal line two inches from the lesser border.

    • For laptop users, there are programs that can format your word processor in Cornell Method style.

  2. 2

    Write downwardly the main ideas of the lecture. In the largest section of your now-divided page, take notes on the main ideas of the lecture equally you go. Go out ample space for later revisions.

    • Add together examples, diagrams, charts, and other textile that the instructor discusses.

  3. 3

    Pose questions to yourself afterward the lecture. The left-side section of your folio is used for generating your own questions from the lecture notes. These questions may assist clarify points, definitions, and so on. Review your notes within one or two days. This will ensure that your call up of the data volition be stronger.

    • Yous can develop potential test questions from this fabric. What do you think the instructor is going to inquire on an exam?
    • When you are studying your notes for an exam, cover the right-hand side of the page. See if you tin reply the questions that you've included on the left-hand side.

  4. 4

    Summarize the lecture notes at the bottom of the page. Use the bottom section of your page to provide a summary of this page's notes. This will help you recall the important points for this portion of the lecture.

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Add New Question

  • Question

    Can you give some abbreviations for lecture notes?

    Community Answer

    Sure. Just use the start letters of the phrase or word, just remember to write downwards what information technology means subsequently; otherwise, you'll forget what it means. You could as well employ these: and: & with: west/. Search "abbreviations for notes" and you'll run into a list of them. However, it is best to brand upwards your own as they make virtually sense to yous and it can be helpful to have them coded in case someone tries to copy them without your permish.

  • Question

    How tin I set myself to study?

    Community Answer

    Yous can practice this by relaxing your mind and reviewing what you have learned in the previous class. Mayhap requite yourself a reward after y'all've completed each task.

  • Question

    How tin can I do well in high school?

    Community Answer

    Follow the advice hither to take good notes, pay attention in form, talk to your teachers if you have difficulty and participate in extracurricular activities to have a well-rounded experience.

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  • If you miss a lecture, make sure to write information technology downwardly in your notes as well, so that you volition not forget. This way you ensure that you will become the notes from a classmate instead of missing out on the fabric entirely.

  • Have a proper attitude. Listening well is a thing of paying shut attending. Exist prepared to be open up-minded about what the lecturer may be saying, even though yous may disagree with it.

  • Collect notes for each form in 1 identify, in a separate notebook or section of a notebook. Brand certain your notes are organized chronologically and are titled. Consider using a loose-leaf notebook rather than a notebook with a permanent bounden, so yous can re-organize notes in the most effective way when it comes fourth dimension to review for exams.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

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  • Avoid doing anything that might distract y'all or others from taking notes, such as doodling or pen flipping. These activities break middle contact and concentration; they are also likely to annoy those around you. Therefore, if you learn best while doodling or borer your human foot, sit down near people who do the aforementioned or find a more isolated spot.

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Article Summary X

To accept lecture notes, focus on writing down key terms and concepts instead of transcribing the unabridged lecture. Y'all'll as well want to write downwardly whatever is on the board or in lecture notes. While taking your notes, effort using a shorthand to be more efficient. For example, merely record important words, skipping words like "the" and "a." Additionally, draw arrows to bear witness causation, increases, or decreases, and try equal or add-on signs to betoken how topics are related. Yous can likewise use abbreviations for repeated terms, and draw diagrams to prove how things are related. To learn how to revise your lecture notes to make them more than effective, go along reading!

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