Best Notes?

[hopeemoore]

What is the best way to take notes that are organized and helpful in history?

[ellie]

I recommend the Cornell method. It's a bit tricky to explain, but check here: http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html. Write notes as you would in class, but after each lesson (preferably) or at least every week, do the key points and summary part. It helps you remember better.

I also recommend (either as you study or after you've finished a topic) to make timelines. Knowing chronology is immensely helpful and helps you keep things clear, and knowing years and even dates for some events is great for the exams. I would always, if reading a real history book, take notes as I read and after finishing the chapters I was reading, I'd organise what I found in OneNote (a program for taking notes) in tables, small lists, short timelines, add pictures and make little boxes for the important people (e.g. Lenin and Trotsky when studying the Russian Revolution). I found that really helpful and much easier to refer back to than just a list of bullet points.

Good luck with the IB!

[IB_taking_over]

With textbooks, I tend to write the section headings and make a bullet lists of major points under that. Sometimes I write quotes or copy tables out of the text. I'm not a huge fan of Cornell notes. Some people swear by them, but I don't see a huge benefit to them.

With articles, I enjoy highlighting and writing all of over them. I've tried using different colors for things (EX: yellow for dates; pink for people/places; green for important ideas; etc.) but halfway through I get confused which is which. So most of the time I stick to one color and just the important stuff. 

In class, it often varies on the type of lesson. With powerpoint lectures I tend to scribble down what the powerpoint says and what the teacher talks about. With group work, I don't take a lot of notes.

For review purposes, I like to re-write my notes as it forces some degree of paying attention. 

 

Realistically, the best notes are the ones that work best for you. Which probably means playing with some styles and figuring out which you like best. 

 

[Seung Hun Han]

To be honest, why don't you use wiki or blogs when you first learn about the topic. I usually do that and once I get a hang of the topic in terms of dates and what really happened, I used many books to supplement different views and specific details about the event. 

[LuckyHoof]

It depends, for me, if I am taking notes at home for a general topic, I will divide my page into subheadings and take notes, colour co ordinate etc.

If it is for a specific area, for example, the Bantu Education Act, I will draw a big mind map, place the title in the middle and then make 4 large stems coming from this, for example, opposition, purpose, method and results and then fill in the dates and make notes like this. This is also great as an essay planner.

If I am making revision notes, I LOVE flashcards, for example, my Cold War ones feature a key date, the event and a small description. Testing yourself is a great way to learn.

Timelines are good, especially detailed ones, and lastly, just writing and highlighting the information is also useful.If it's dictators, comparison tables are really useful too!#

As for organising, keep a binder with dividers for each dection. Mine has these sections: Classnotes: Apartheid, Classnotes: Cold War, Classnotes:Authoritarian states, Past Questions and Essays, Extra Reading: Authoritarian States, Extra Reading Cold War and then Extra Reading Apartheid, and this works really well for me.

Hope this helped  

Edited May 17, 2016 by LuckyHoof