How To Make Students Believe Again in the Power of Note Taking
Parent Question: “After a year of virtual learning, my student no longer ‘believes in’ taking notes. What can I say to convince otherwise?”
Answered by SOS4Students’ Coach Kelsi:
First off, your student isn’t the only one feeling this way. Many students found that their virtual learning experiences looked vastly different than in-person and struggled to translate their skills. We heard many students say they couldn’t find a method of online note taking nor the time within brief lectures to record their learning. With the return to in-person, we can once again remind our students that note-taking is both a valuable skill and tool to deepen their learning.
Why is note taking important?
- Do you find your mind wandering in class? Taking notes is a great way to stay focused during instruction and gives your brain a second way to process information.
- Do you struggle to remember important information from a lecture? Taking notes frees your brain from having to memorize on the spot. It then also allows you to review the information for further analysis and reflection, leading to deeper understanding of the material.
- Do you have a hard time grasping concepts the way your teacher presents them? Note taking allows you to personalize your learning experience. Try out different styles of note taking, including visual, to allow more opportunities for your brain to process information in a way that works for you.
- Do you panic before tests wondering what to study? One of the greatest proven benefits of note taking is the ability to study from your notes. Reviewing your notes allows a greater chance of moving information to our long-term memories and also finding out what questions you still have! You can start your studying by interacting with your notes; write questions, make connections, or add drawings that will help information stick!
Check out our free note taking download.
At SOS, we are passionate about helping make learning easier for our students! We believe in the power of note taking and its benefits to learning. If your student could use a refresher on how to become a more effective note-taker, check out our Secrets of Successful Note Taking summer workshop for 9th-12th graders!