Porter Notetaking Directions 1 Notetaking Directions Simplified Cornell-Bullet System Research indicates that hand writing notes is more beneficial to students learning than typing notes, unless there is a necessity for typing. However, there are many notetaking systems out there and many factors to consider as you experiment with which handwritten system works best for you. Quite honestly, there are so many systems that sorting through them can be overwhelming, so I ve synthesized some of that information here for you, creating a simple foundation you can build on. Consider the following before you put together your own notetaking system. 1. Will you use loose leaf paper in a binder or a bound notebook? A loose leaf system will allow you to use dividers, add pages, and move things around; a bound system allows you to keep everything together. You might decide by reflecting on the kind of student you are. If you tend to be messy and lose things easily, a bound system is probably best. Use a spiral notebook with a folder or tape handouts into the notebook so you don t lose them. If you use a binder and loose leaf paper, you ll want a portable 3-hole punch, dividers, and a pocket folder to keep handouts. If you have a bound notebook, you ll want a folder to keep all additional papers in. It s best to use an 8.5 x 11 or larger size notebook or system, as all of the handouts you will get from instructors will be on that size paper. Also, you ll want to have one notebook for each class. Certainly there are classes that have a smaller paper trail than others, but the best students have one notebook for their English notes and a different notebook for their history notes. It makes keeping track of your work and studying much easier. #protip: when you find a notebook or system you like, buy multiples of it. When school supplies go on sale in August, I tend to buy up stacks of whatever I like at the moment. It saves me from having to track it down later. #protip: label it. Write your name, phone number, and email on all of your materials. 2. What style paper will you use? This is personal preference again. Some people like to draw and sketch in their notes, so a dot grid or blank page might be best. If you write big, wide rule paper might work. I prefer college rule, but others like graph paper. Again, your style of writing and thinking matters for the kind of paper that will work best. If you use a loose leaf system you can have some lined, blank, and graph paper in the binder and move them around as you need them. In the google doc folder linked to the course page you will find printable paper in various formats you can use as well.
Porter Notetaking Directions 2 Decide on the thickness of the paper and whether you ll write on the front only or the front and back. When I take notes I tend to write only on the front of the page it keeps the notebook neater, easier to read, and gives me room to add things later if I need to on those blank backs. Also, the ink doesn t bleed through to the other side. 3. What kind of utensil will you use and how will you write? Nobody likes to write with a shitty pen, so find a pen you like and buy a few. In general, writing in script with a pen is faster for most students than writing in print with pencil. Some students want the benefit of erasing, but crossing out or using a white-out pen will work just fine. It s important to see your notes as a place for learning and experimentation and not as a place for perfection. A utensil that doesn t bleed through the pages is nice. There are hundreds of YouTube tutorials about notetaking wherein artistic students showoff their multi-colored notebooks. Each color symbolizes a certain kind of information and these systems get quite complicated. It s all very pretty but NONE of it is necessary. If you want to develop a more complex color-coded system later, that s fine, but for the purposes of this class and most notetaking you ll do in college, one ink color and paper is all you ll need to be successful. 4. What sections does your notebook need? Each class will require you to keep track of different kinds of information, but most notebooks will have the same basic layouts. Always reserve the first few pages for the INDEX. In this kind of notetaking, the INDEX functions like a TABLE OF CONTENTS. This is a must and will make your life easier as you study for finals and try to track down information you need for an assignment. You should also have a LEGEND or KEY of symbols and shorthand you develop as you use your system. If you re at all familiar with the Bullet Journal system, there are gobs and gobs of symbols you could start incorporating. There is no need to get complicated. We ll use a few obvious ones this semester and you can add as you go. The LEGEND can be it s own page or you can put it on a post-it note so it can transfer between notebooks. The bulk of your notebook will be the NOTES section. Setting up the Notebook 1. The INDEX. Every time you make a new entry the NOTES, you ll write the topics of those notes in the INDEX. That means you ll need to: Leave a few pages at the beginning of your bound notebook for the index, Skip a line or two between topics so you can add more page numbers as you add pages to your notes, Indicate what topics you wrote about in your notes, And paginate your notes.
Porter Notetaking Directions 3 All of this will take practice that will turn into habit the more you do it. You can also fill in your INDEX as a review strategy. 2. Leave a page or two between the INDEX and the NOTES for the LEGEND. Some users put the LEGEND on a large post it so they can move it around. The main abbreviations we ll be using to start with are:? or Q = Question N = Notes F = Freewrite T = Takeaway C = Add to my calendar GTS = Google that shit 3. The NOTES section will take up the bulk of the document. To set it up: You ll date and number each NOTE page in the top right corner of the page if you re only writing on the right page. (If you want to write on the left you can do that too, just date and number where it makes sense.) I recommend leaving the backs of the pages blank. When you re writing NOTES from discussion or lecture, you ll draw a vertical line down the page at the 1/3 mark (though which side you draw it on will depend on your personal preference and the kind of notebook you re using). The Vertical line is to divide your NOTES from the space you leave blank for cue words, questions, drawings and key concepts you want to highlight from the body of the text. Some people like to carry a ruler for making their vertical lines, but you can use any edge like a folder or book to make a straight line, too. We ll FREEWRITE and put our daily TAKEWAY in the NOTES section as well. To help you keep these sections separate in your notebook, draw a horizontal line between them you might even go so far as to draw a box around the TAKEAWAY and put an F, N, or T in the margin so when you re flipping quickly through your notes you can identify those sections. There may be times when you are specifically skimming your notebook looking only for FREEWRITES, and these little markings can be helpful. When you re freewriting, write FREEWRITE and the topic of it at the top of the section and begin writing. When you do a TAKEAWAY draw a box around the section when you re done with the whole thing. We ll discuss the TAKEAWAY more in class, but there is an article about it in the additional resources module of d2l if you d like to read more. 4. There are visual examples of all of this in the following pages so don t worry if you can t follow the written directions. I will also have physical examples to show you in class during our Q & A session, so bring your questions and your expertise.
Porter Notetaking Directions 4 Supplies for Effecting Notetaking Necessary Notebook/binder and paper Pen you like to use Folder/pocket for handouts Not necessary but some people find helpful White-out tape Post-its Tape for taping handouts into notebook Hole punch for putting papers into binder and dividers Highlighters and colored pens/pencils A ruler for straight lines Sample INDEX Page Save 2-4 pages for this depending on the size and style of your notebook; save one page for your LEGEND if you plan to use symbols and graphics. INDEX Contact info: Name, phone, email Class Procedures 1-2, 7 Writing Process 8 (diagram), 10, 17, 19, 32-43 Freewrites (F) 2, 4, 10-11, 13 Takeaways (T) 2, 5, 6, 7, Thesis Statements 23, 27
Porter Notetaking Directions 5 Sample Note Taking Pages 1 June 2, 2016 What if I have a field trip? GTS metacognition C NOTES --Attendance is mandatory but we should stay home if we re sick and email. -- No late arrivals as it is disruptive to the teacher and the other students. --We work in groups quite a bit and we should all participate. --Metacognition and self-reflection are key key aspects of the learning process. --She would like everyone to meet with her outside of class either in person or via video conference at least once this semester. Can meet in pairs if we have a friend or writing partner we work closely with. N FREEWRITE What do I want to learn in this class? formatting? I m confused about formatting. Each teacher I ve had so far has had different directions and reqs about how to format the assignments and I am confused about why. If there is such a thing as college or academic writing, why does it seem to be different in every class? Why does every teacher have their own rules? Are they just trying to confuse F
Porter Notetaking Directions 6 Sample Note Taking Pages 2 June 2, 2016 citing sources? integrating quotes? FREEWRITE cont d us? Is this a game? Is it some stupid thing they do to make themselves seem more important than they are? I don t know. I d also like to learn more about citation. Teachers are always saying things like don t just plop you quotes down in there but integrate them, and I don t even know what that means. How is plopping them different than integrating them? F C TAKEAWAY The main thing I got from our class today is that I can t be passive. This class will require me to take notes, work with my peers, arrive on time, ask questions, and even meet with the teacher outside of the class though that s not actually required, just highly recommended. It s going to be a lot of work. Maybe it wasn t such a good idea to sign up for so many units this semester. I better sit down with my calendar tonight and really make sure I have Time in my schedule to study for my classes and work all the hours I m scheduled. T