Learning to take notes/tests in middle school

[Anonymous]

Do your middle school kids study for tests only from the notes they take in class? If so, how did they learn to take the “right” notes? Ours does not have textbooks and they are to take notes during class from videos shown in class and power points the teacher shows. For student new to taking notes and test questions, what help did you find worked for them to take right notes for class/feel more prepared for tests? Posting today as DC took test today and said they can remember score got (which is not good), but not questions. I tried to pull test up on child’s account but not there (assume will get later but not posted yet to see what got right and wrong). Any good suggestions? Or just tell DC to go see teacher? TIA

[Anonymous]

DC is in 8th grade and hasn't learned any of that.

[Anonymous]

We have an exec function tutor that is starting to do this with my 6th grader -- essentially, teach her the skills that she will need to be a successful student. Our ES certainly did not teach that (with virtually no HW, let alone studying for texts), and thus far the MS seems to expect kids to know how to take notes and study.

[Anonymous]

Unless they are in private school, they probably aren’t taught how to take notes. You can sign your kid up for an Outschool class on how to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless they are in private school, they probably aren’t taught how to take notes. You can sign your kid up for an Outschool class on how to do that.

Do you recommend a specific te her on outschool? There are so many classes and choices on that website. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Agreed with previous poster. I asked about this in the past because as an 8th grade student i was graded on my notes. Now DD as a Freshman is rewarded for keeping paper notes by using them in open book History tests.

[Anonymous]

There are 2 components in taking good notes: organization and substance. My kid was horrible with organizing his notes and his handwriting was illegible. His notes looked like the writings of an unhinged lunatic. We worked on how to set up the page, spacing, indenting, and emphasizing key words or ideas with underlining, asterisks, etc. Always start with the date and the class at the top of the page. I showed him my notes from work to give him a visual picture of what it looks like on the page. We also had to work on handwriting because he was writing so fast that it was illegible. Even if your DD types her notes, organization is key.

As for substance, it takes practice but listen for key words from the teacher (“this is important” or “this might be on the test”). Also, things like lists, definitions, or examples are good to jot down. Most teachers will give you a roadmap of what they’re doing on that day—write it down at the top of the page, even if it’s just one word.

There are probably resources online to help kids with this, too.

[Anonymous]

As an educator and parent, I was horrified to learn that explicitly teaching note-taking seems to be discouraged now in public schools. For years, I taught a variety of note-taking styles and gave open-note quizzes to encourage students to take good notes. At the end of this past year, I was dinged for observation of a single class that had note-taking. I would have written it off as a fluke, but at the start of the year, I was told by the SDT that teaching note-taking isn’t as important anymore because of technology. I thought this was crazy and said so. The SDT said she could share research that supported her claim and she hoped I wouldn’t waste class time with teaching how to take notes. I’m so grateful my own children are in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an educator and parent, I was horrified to learn that explicitly teaching note-taking seems to be discouraged now in public schools. For years, I taught a variety of note-taking styles and gave open-note quizzes to encourage students to take good notes. At the end of this past year, I was dinged for observation of a single class that had note-taking. I would have written it off as a fluke, but at the start of the year, I was told by the SDT that teaching note-taking isn’t as important anymore because of technology. I thought this was crazy and said so. The SDT said she could share research that supported her claim and she hoped I wouldn’t waste class time with teaching how to take notes. I’m so grateful my own children are in high school.

So similar theory to don’t need to teach vocabulary or spelling patterns because their is spell check and interest hovering of words for definitions now. But here we are with phonics coming back in fashion so kids can spell and then read better. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Guess proving point good to have spelling lessons as spell check did not correct the “their” in above post. Will make a note to correct that in future posts!

[Anonymous]

Try The Study Pro’s course on taking notes.

https://thestudypro.com/study-skills-course-2/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless they are in private school, they probably aren’t taught how to take notes. You can sign your kid up for an Outschool class on how to do that.

Another NP asking if you have recommendations. The Study Pro course is $800. We need similar help with note-taking, basic executive function skills like using a planner and test prep for our 8th grader and would like to start with something more economical. A lot of this was supposed to be taught in 5th grade which was Covid and it's a gap we're seeing even more than any sort of actual academic content missed that year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless they are in private school, they probably aren’t taught how to take notes. You can sign your kid up for an Outschool class on how to do that.

Another NP asking if you have recommendations. The Study Pro course is $800. We need similar help with note-taking, basic executive function skills like using a planner and test prep for our 8th grader and would like to start with something more economical. A lot of this was supposed to be taught in 5th grade which was Covid and it's a gap we're seeing even more than any sort of actual academic content missed that year.

In a similar boat and wondering how much they missed by having fifth grade in covid times and how much just isn't taught any more. My eighth grader rarely writes anything down in class. I keep suggesting taking notes but it's like a foreign concept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try The Study Pro’s course on taking notes.

https://thestudypro.com/study-skills-course-2/

Geez. $850

[Anonymous]

They don't teach it because the lead teacher told me that there would be no time for them to take true notes. Rather, they just fill in pre-made packets. Ugh.