Mrs. Yang's Challenge

Note taking is a vital part of the learning process because it provide a direct reference of cues for students to use to reiterate a lesson. It is a focal point for reference when studying for tests, and may be all the information a student will retain after a bombardment of verbal lecturing over a long period of time, most of which can escape the brain quickly.

Mrs. Yang’s priority is to get her students to write better notes. Since many notes in the secondary years are written on the board or overhead projector, Mrs. Yang should use a variety of cues to keep organized, comprehensive notes for her students to copy on paper and mentally digest.

Organized visual displays like hierarchical and comparative displays can retain students step-by-step understanding, like a well-made flow chart. Representative diagrams are good visual examples for show-and-tell reasons; students better understand what they can sense, not just know about.

Also instructional cues by the teacher to indicate importance or emphasis will be effective for students to know what their notes need to contain. Sometimes the bombardment of information from verbose language usage is lost in the scramble and students are unsure what information is most important. By the time they can figure what the main points are, the lesson has gone on to something new.

Another tactic Mrs. Yang can try is effective questioning of the students regarding main points from the lesson. Correct answers might not mean the students retained the material yet, but at least have as a reference from which to study. Asking one question at a tim, and prividing proper wait time for response can be important in this process. Also, the questions must be answerable based on what was emphasized.
Mrs. Yang could try a variety of different methods, but the use of concise and comprehensive visuals of only pertinent material is the key to note-taking. “Keep is simple, silly.”