Taking Notes HELP!!!! Please? :)

zoe92 · Sep 3, 2012

Hm, maybe read these 2 threads: https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/study-note-taking-310965.html, https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/best-way-take-443835.html. I hope that helps.

kenyacka · Sep 3, 2012

If you plan to keep your book.... I like to highlight what I find important in yellow. Then when the teacher is going over things in class (if you're in a lecture and the teacher does this), I highlight was she/he says is important in blue.... Then, I go home and anything in green (yellow and blue make green) I know is VERY important and I make notes from that. Remember to make notes of your notes... in other words... just write down whatever you feel is important as you're reading. Then, go over those again and revise them. I always try to focus on the questions at the end of the chapter, and also the objectives at the start of the chapter. If you know the answers to all of those, odds are you're learning the right things.

MusicEMT · Sep 3, 2012

one thing that helped me alot with my physiology class is I got a white board (a small-medium size one) and started to draw out or write down the concepts over and over agian.. im a very hands on type of person and this helped me alot!

littlekaneRN · Sep 3, 2012

I wasn't much of a note taker. I tape recorded all lectures and listened to them while I highlighted in my textbook. I also watched videos when possible!

Austincb · Sep 3, 2012

Buy a live scribe pen

Saysfaa · Sep 4, 2012

Notes fromtextbook…

focus on vocabulary words. I’ve discovered if Ithoroughly understand the vocabulary of any field, then I’ve got about 90% ofthe concepts. I do the thorough understandingpart before I write anything down (as notes, I sometimes use scrap paper to scribblethings out in the process of understanding something). The notes are just to jog my memory later. It is the returning to the concept and gettingmy memory jogged that is half of learning (the other half was the initialthorough understanding part).

I list thewords but I sort them as I list them – or redo my notes to sort them after justlisting them. How I sort them depends onthings like how much I already know about them and what the professor has saidabout what things I will need to know about them. Sometimes I sort them more than one way andhave two sets of notes – for example, if I’m learning significant people, Imight have one chronological and another alphabetical or by type ofcontribution this person made.

If I needto know a definition or application word for word, I write the whole thingdown. Otherwise I write a short(non-complete sentence) blip about the word. If I need to know more than that about a single word or need to define aword in the blip, then I indent and make a dash/dot/number on the next line(s)and write it there as a short blip. Iuse a lot of shorthand and abbreviation, some is standard either to nursing orto English but much of it is my own. Mysole purpose is to put it so that I will know what it means. B/c for because, w/ for with, w/o forwithout, ch for characteristics, a dash for “ing”, a star for important aresome of the most common ones I use.

I use whatI learned in psychology class – people can hold only 5 to 7 things in theirworking memory at one time. So if thereare many things under one heading, I chunk them until each subheading has lessthan seven. I don’t worry about puttingsomething in one place. If it goes withmore than one other thing then it gets written more than once. “Going with” can mean it contrasts or couldbe easily confused with another term. Iwill sometimes put duplicates in italics or captials or a different color ofink if it is an important word.

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Sep 4, 2012

Not everyone learns best from taking notes. It sounds like you and I are in the same boat. Although I do take notes during lectures, I find that other methods work a lot better for me. Try these:

-Record the lectures. You should be able to buy a little recorder and even upload the lecture to your MP3 player later on and listen to it while, say, exercising or cleaning the house or something. (You know, just to make something that already isn't fun downright excruciating - but it works!)

-Highlighting/starring in the textbook. I find following along with the book and taking notes in the margins helps me make more sense of the notes I do take. Plus, it's already written for you once in the book anyway.

-Talk to yourself/some study partners! I'm a pretty introverted studier, but getting a dialogue going, even to myself, is very helpful. Either I summarize the textbook, answer questions on a study guide aloud, or work through assignments by talking them through. The trick is to do it verbally - that way you're not just staring at answers already on a page; you're finding them using the knowledge you already have.

-If your professors post powerpoints online, download and print them out. Scribble notes in the margins, highlight, all the same stuff as above. It helps you know what they are trying to emphasize in their lectures.

-While in lecture, write down key terms/concepts on notecards. Not their definitions or details or anything, just the concepts. Later, go back through your book/powerpoints and fill out a flashcard for it. If you know the answer without even looking it up, so much the better.

-Like someone else said, videos! If you are having trouble with a specific concept, look it up on YouTube and see what's out there. It is a huge lifesaver.

-If you find yourself getting bored or sleepy, it can help to just get up and pace while reviewing concepts. Taking frequent breaks, chewing gum, etc. also helps. If you are a kinesthetic learner, things will probably stick a little better if you're moving around. Not the best way to take notes, true, but your goal is to pass the class, not basically write a new textbook that everyone can study from.

Good luck!

Austincb · Sep 4, 2012

I do all of the things listed above I think with A&P you have to reinforce the material in as many ways as possible since we're learning such a mass quantity of material in such a short period of time. On top of all this and notes I skim my text before a lecture and read it entirely after.

Nurse2b7337 · Sep 5, 2012

A&P is a lot of memorization all the tips stated above are awesome. I'm a kinesthetic learner and I have to rewrite notes or highlight. I have to put myself in the learning process by highlighting or retaking notes over and over until it sticks. Do trial and error until you find your niche!! :)