#in class notes

[sarahelizabethstudies]

Professors will know your name, you will be a better student, and you will learn more, if you become comfortable with being wrong.

I get it. It’s easy to say “it’s okay to be wrong!” But if you can learn to be okay with being wrong, you’ll be so surprised with the positive outcomes. 

It’s not about being wrong. It’s not about caring whether you’re right or wrong. It’s about being comfortable being wrong.

It might be terrifying to put yourself out there when you’re not 100% sure. And that sense of shame you might feel when you are wrong? The only way it goes away is with practice.

You know that silence when the professor asks a question? fill it. guess. they don't care. you’re trying. they will love you. they will love your effort.

Only know a bit of the answer? say “well, I know this ___, and I think that has something to do with it, but I'm not sure how.” 

Another strategy to help you practice? literally say “how about ____?” I did this the other day. my prof asked the class how countries can gain multilateral leverage, and I raised my hand and said “how about FDI?” totally not the answer he was looking for, but when you put it in a form of a question, they can politely go “nope! not what I was looking for, but I understand why you might think that, so let’s talk about it.” 

Do you ever do that thing were you answer a question in your head during class and it’s just totally wrong? Ask the prof why your answer doesn’t apply. Like “I was thinking ___, can you explain why that is incorrect?” or “Why does ___ not work?” It helps it helps it helps. I promise. 

Being comfortable being wrong in a lecture/classroom setting will help you learn. I promise you if you get it wrong in class you won't get it wrong on an exam. You’ll remember what you first thought and you’ll remember why it was wrong.

Being comfortable being wrong in a lecture/classroom setting will help you gain the respect of your professors. And usually they’ll be even more willing to help. When you go into their office hours they’ll be able to more easily dial in on what you’re struggling with.

Being comfortable being wrong helps you grow as a student. It’s sooo much easier to learn if you can walk into something saying “I don’t know! but I want to!” We learn better from our mistakes.

So your cheeks flush when you get an answer wrong. No one cares. So someone rolls their eyes. Fuck them. You're learning. You’re bettering yourself. They're just being an ass.

And if there no no no no no way you can do so in a lecture/classroom setting, start small, start in office hours, start doing it with your friends, start doing it with your siblings.

It gets easier, and it’s so worth it. 

[student-succulent]

8.23.18

School is going to be crazy but I am really excited so have some reading pics and notes from in class.

Remember we CAN do this! I believe in you!

[math-with-molly]

"Don't over complicate things." I know my professor was referring to using zeros and ones in counterexample matrices, but I think it's honestly pretty good life advice.

[mariesstudyjourney]

In-class notes ! I did good on the first semester, so I'm quite happy. 🙂 (also, look at that "R" !)

[overlycaffeinatedorganization]

• Liz •

Remember, your class notes don’t have to look really pretty! Just get the information down!

[studywithcaffeine-blog]

april 18th 2017 // some messy in class notes! from today’s psychology class //day eighteen of the April study challenge!

How do you like to take notes? What method is your favorite? I don't really have a particular method of taking notes yet. I usually take my notes by hand in class or while working with the subject, and then I transfer them into OneNote as I find it very helpful to have them available on my computer in case I need them in class or something. If I'm studying for a test I will read the chapter(s), and take notes on my computer while doing so. I will not use these notes later, the only reason I write them is because it keeps me more focused than if I'd only read.

[sarahelizabethstudies]

Some things people always notice about my notes:

I lend my notes out from time to time when a friend has missed class or whatnot, and these are a few things that I always hear that people like so I'm sharing a little of how I do notes:

My notes are,,, funny,,,? Like,,, humorous?

(Literally I thought everyone did this but I guess not.)

when I’m writing my notes in class, I write down jokes that my profs make about the material (my professor started class once by asking us why we should believe Montesquieu and not Ron Swanson), and really anything I'm thinking of in class.

like in my con. law class, instead of writing “the Court threw out the case on the grounds of...” I'll usually write something like “the Court was like ‘Bitch, no! you can't be...’” 

it’s usually faster to write.

I make myself laugh while studying.

I remember it better

Arrows!!!!

I use a lot of arrows in my notes. Profs lecture in circles sometimes, so it’s really important to remember what goes with what. 

I use arrows to add to bullet points

when profs repeat themselves, I write it down again, but draw an arrow to the first reference.

it can make your notes a little messy, but it really helps you see how everything is connected.

Brackets

tangents can be important sometimes. if you think it’s important, write it down, but put brackets around it so you can remember that it is a tangent, and it won’t confuse you when you go back to study it.

this is really helpful if someone asks a question and the prof goes “that’s a great question, and important, so I'll answer it, but it is not necessarily relevant to today’s material”.

or just for answers to in class questions in general.

brackets for me are basically saying, this is important, but it doesn’t necessarily go perfectly with these notes.

I might add to this later because there's more but I’m done rn

[sarahelizabethstudies]

note taking tip

if your hand is achy from writing/taking notes, try switching to a gel/rollerball/marker pen. These don't require nearly as much writing pressure as a ballpoint pen will and might help alleviate some ache. 

I know it seems a pretty simple tip but this has saved my ass (but my hand I guess) when I have to write in-class essays.