Why I Teach My Students How to Take Notes

I’ve been focusing a lot on autonomy and student-centered learning this year. One of the most critical aspects of this is effective note-taking, so that they can actually use their notes as resources. I mean isn’t that the whole point of taking notes during class?

If you know me personally, then you’d know that I’m not much of a talker. The LAST thing I want to do is stand up in front of my students for an hour and lecture. Instead, I do a few example problems on the board and have the students try a few while we are all still together. Then, I send them off to do an activity or start the homework. This is also known as I do, we do, you do. There are definitely different opinions about this method and I do not run my classes like this every day. I am all for discovery learning (especially in the math classroom), but there are some days where I need to explain a new concept and the students just need to watch, listen, and take notes.

Watch, listen, take notes

My students are typically pretty good at the watching piece of class. Some days I think if I didn’t tell them to take out their notebook and a pencil, 90% of my students would just stare at the board the whole period. In regards to their listening skills, it’s hard to measure how well they are doing because I’m not inside their brains. However, I definitely think that they are hearing what I’m saying while they’re staring at the board. Are they retaining the information? Now that we may never know.

Once they get out their notebooks, this is where my students tend to go rogue. Now don’t get me wrong, I have some students who take excellent notes. They label each section, number each question and write down every definition and equation. Some even use colors! *Insert heart eyes emoji here*. But, I teacher 9th and 10th graders, so the organized students are few and far between. I find many students taking notes on a scrap piece of paper that they ripped out of their notebook or the back of a previous worksheet. To make matters worse, they then take said notes and shove them into the abyss that is their backpack.

There are three things that I remember vividly about my 8th grade social studies class.

1. Paper wasps. One of my classmate’s older brothers showed him how to make them, then soon enough half the class was flinging them across the room. Paper wasps are just tiny pieces of paper folded up, then bent in half over a rubber band. When you pull the wasp back and release, the rubber band slingshots it at the target.
2. Memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution. I’m honestly not sure why we did this, but I’m sure there was a reason. I mean there must have been, right?
3. Taking outlined notes. In the moment, I most likely did not enjoy this, but I found it incredibly valuable as a high school and college student.

Here is how I learned: At the beginning of the year, my teacher turned the whole whiteboard into a giant notebook. She showed us explicitly how to label each section, what was considered a header and what wasn’t, and how to indent properly. Our homework was often to read and take notes using this method. The next day we showed her our notes and she counted our headings and sub-headings to make sure everything was in order.

How I teach note-taking

Obviously this is not exactly how I teach note taking especially as a math teacher. But, there are many similarities and concepts that I took from these lessons.

1. Start with a title.

If the students don’t label their notes, how do they know where to find them? The most important part about taking notes is being able to actually use them as a resource.

2. Vocab sheets.

This is a concept I saw another math teacher use. I thought it was genius because organized writing such a struggle for many students. They haven’t established an organizational system, so two example problems take up an entire piece of paper. I created these vocabulary sheets to help my students organize their notes a little better and have a “one-stop shop” to find all of their definitions when they are studying.

3. Modeling

This one might go without saying, but if the teacher’s notes aren’t organized and labeled explicitly on the board, then how would we expect the students’ notes to be? Our school has SmartBoards, which is an amazing luxury, especially for math classrooms. I have one or two example problems on each slide in the SmartNotebook application. With this program, I can easily organize, save, and print all of the notes from class. This has been extremely helpful for para-educators, students in the special education program, and students who are absent.

4. Consistency

Students need consistency and structure in the classroom in order to be successful. The same can be said for note-taking as well. As with everything, taking notes is a learned skill and I have found it crucial to set expectations, have note-taking routines, and check in throughout the lesson.

The transition to high school is such a pivotal time for many students. There are many skills that they are expected to have, but haven’t quite mastered yet. Small changes to our classroom routines can make such a big difference in the success of our students in the future. As I reflect on my 8th grade social studies class, I think about the only three things I remember: paper wasps, the Preamble, and taking notes. I may not remember much about World History, but I learned how to create an outline and that skill has been an incredibly valuable one to have.