Student’s guide to note-taking
What’s worth writing down to get you at A+ mark later
Maybe you were handed a notebook on the first day of school sometime in grade school and expected to just...know what to do with it.
Write this down. No, wait, that too. Actually, maybe just write down everything. Because if you write everything down, surely you’ll have what matters, right?
Or, maybe you were provided or encouraged to get a laptop or an iPad and assumed that typing as fast as possible was the goal, as though generating a word-for-word transcript of the lesson was the same thing as learning it.
It isn’t, as it turns out. And that’s not a character flaw, it’s just what happens when we don’t encounter note-taking learning strategies, and when we don’t learn what taking notes is actually for.
What you were never taught about taking notes
Notes help us capture content, yes. But the very act of taking notes helps us:
Pay attention to whomever is speaking
Find links between what we’re listening to and things we’ve heard or read in the past
Pinpoint confusion or shaky understanding so that we can remember to ask a teacher or TA afterwards
And, indeed, notes help us with the material that comes up in a class, whether in-person or online, that’s alongside a textbook, reading, or slide deck.
So what’s worth writing down?
This is one of the most common questions I hear, whether they’re students in grade 7 or post-secondary learners in their third year. I also hear from worried parents who notice that their kids take super messy or unintelligible notes, and from instructors who see their students scrambling to ‘keep up’ in class.
I want to share with you here what I say to students, families, and educators every time: You were never taught this. (But you can learn it.)
Note-taking is one of those skills we’re expected to have figured out somehow…along the way…by doing it. But “figuring it out,” usually alone, in the midst of lessons and lectures, while someone is talking? That’s not really a fair ask.
So let’s change that.
What should a learner write down when taking notes?
The Recap to Recap Method
Over the decades as a learning strategist, I’ve come up with a framework that students tell me feels clear, kind, and strategic. It’s ultimately my response to the question, what exactly do I write down?
I call this The Recap to Recap Method.
A lesson almost always begins with some form of review of the prior lecture and ends with a summary of that day’s lesson. Everything in between has identifiable signals that say, this is worth noting. When you know how to spot those signals, you stop trying to capture everything, and instead begin to capture what really matters.
Make your notes mean something with this simple 9-step checklist method to make sure you’ve captured what really matters.
Most students study by taking beautiful notes, but it doesn’t actually matter how many highlighted sections and stylized headers you add. If your notes don’t contain the most vital information your teachers are communicating, you’re in trouble.
That’s why we created this FREE student-friendly PDF guide that teaches you what’s really worth writing down: The Recap-to-Recap Method.
By paying attention to 9 simple queues, you can study more effectively and understand lessons with ease.
✔️ No more confusing review sessions
✔️ No more pointless re-copying
✔️ Just a clear, repeatable method that works for all lectures, classes, and subjects
This product will be emailed to you a secure downloadable PDF file/
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