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How do you write your notes in lesson?

I tried multiple options in the first half term and I think I’ll just opt for exercise books similar to what we used at secondary school because others are too heavy and using refill pads for subjects like Lit and English Language gets hectic. I still use a refill pad in Media as we write in booklets most of the time.

I’m curious as to how everyone else likes to write their notes (preferably for essay based subjects, but I’m curious regardless).

Reply 1

Kingston Eve

Official Rep

Original post by pist4chio

I tried multiple options in the first half term and I think I’ll just opt for exercise books similar to what we used at secondary school because others are too heavy and using refill pads for subjects like Lit and English Language gets hectic. I still use a refill pad in Media as we write in booklets most of the time.
I’m curious as to how everyone else likes to write their notes (preferably for essay based subjects, but I’m curious regardless).

Hey @pist4chio!

In terms of essay subjects, I studied English Lit and Economics at A-Level. I primarily used refill pads, but looking back I'm not sure it was the most effective method: I ended up doodling quite a lot in class because knew I could just tear the page out at the end of the lesson, which was a habit I never had when I used exercise books.

The advantage of using refill pads is obviously that you can eventually re-order the pages how you like, and group certain materials/topics together for revision purposes. This can be really beneficial if you're learning the subject specification in a slightly disjointed manner and switching in-between topics at times. However, if you're being taught topic by topic, exercise books should work just as well and might be more effective in keeping all your notes in one place. 🙂

Eve (Kingston Rep).

Reply 2

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Original post by pist4chio

I tried multiple options in the first half term and I think I’ll just opt for exercise books similar to what we used at secondary school because others are too heavy and using refill pads for subjects like Lit and English Language gets hectic. I still use a refill pad in Media as we write in booklets most of the time.
I’m curious as to how everyone else likes to write their notes (preferably for essay based subjects, but I’m curious regardless).

Im using exercise books like in secondary- it’s what im used to so i dont see a reason to change it! A lot of people i know are using folders but i dont see the point- i dont read my notes back from my exercise book anyway because during the week i make flashcards and notecards with neat notes on anyway so i can use those for revision instead. With actually taking notes i use what i call the arrow method. Basically like this:

You write out the title or a key term/concept
↪️ then you use arrows off it to add an explanation
↪️ or examples
↪️ and you can add arrows off the examples too

It works well for me and i used it throughout my GCSEs and now into my a levels (not essay subjects but it works really well in biology which has a lot of content even so).