During Lectures

Have you ever wondered if you were taking in class notes the right way? Well let me tell you there is no exact right way. 

What are lectures for?

Lectures are a way to introduce you into a new topic, it provides you with an overview of what the topic is about and it summaries key ideas, principles and arguments. Lectures or class time is very important especially when it is an entirely new topic you are learning and even though it's lame, you need to attend these sessions. If you don't you are really going to struggle what you are learning and you will be extremely panicking when it comes to exams or coursework hand ins.

What to write?

What you want to be focusing on is getting all the necessary information down on your notepad or electronic notepad (hail 21st century technology!) 

When I mean necessary, I don't mean copying every single thing on the lecture slide and why would you, when these slides should be uploaded to whatever platform your school or university has, my university has BlackBoard. These platforms should be available to you when you need documents or slides your teacher or lecturer has used within your class time and should be uploaded here to be able to use all hours of the day, if not question your teacher immediately. 

You should be note-taking important information said by your teacher or lecturer, the information they are talking about is easier to digest then complex terminology used on any slide or handout - basically dumbed down for you so you can understand. This information can then be used directly into your work.

So please, for me, don't copy off the screen or handouts - make your own notes that you can understand and refer back to.

Layout
Some of you may be concerned about messy notes, I feel the same way. I am a perfectionist and I need to be in control of the way certain things look - organised and pretty!

There are two types of layout for in class notes:
1) The Cornell Method (in England this doesn't exist) so find out more information here
2) Sentence/Outlining Method

I use the sentence combined with the outlining method because it works best for me. Writing every new thought, concept, idea or fact on a separate line numbering or bullet pointing as you progress under each subheading and heading.

What else to do
I tend to also record my lectures just as a back up in case I missed anything my lecturer was talking about or if I misplaced or lost my lecture notes entirely...it does happen.

As well as actively listening you also need to actively participate, there is no good and just sitting there being one of the silent ones when you could feel great about yourself answer or raise questions to your teacher or fellow peers.

Don't just switch off or what was the point in attending the session?

I know it may be hard in lectures especially to be on your laptop and instead of taking notes your looking for shoes or being on Facebook, it is definitely not going to help you in the long term so stay focused and off your phones.

Me
I am no way perfect no matter how hard I try to be - perfection does not exist. But you can do your best and try really hard to concentrate and get the work done. Education is so important and not everybody has a chance to have one.