imagine falling in love with life itself despite everything it throws at you⦠yeah i think thatās peak contentment (i wish i am tho)
will byers stan first human second
Cosmic Funnies
Mike Driver

ā
taylor price
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH

JVL

izzy's playlists!
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
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we're not kids anymore.

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Love Begins
Xuebing Du

ē„ę„ / Permanent Vacation

#extradirty
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@sreemoels
imagine falling in love with life itself despite everything it throws at you⦠yeah i think thatās peak contentment (i wish i am tho)

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Dark academia questions
Rococo or Renaissance? Neo-classical or Classical? Apollo or Artemis? European Gothic or American Gothic? Hamlet or Macbeth? Tragedy or Comedy? Iliad or Odyssey? Frankenstein or Jekyll and Hyde? Romanticism or Decadence?Ā
towards a gentle academic
be up front and honest about the things you do not know
acknowledge the intrinsic value of othersā knowledge bases, even if they do not seem important to you from your institutional context
do not feign mastery where you have none
respect the gaps in othersā knowledge bases
be generous, not only with others
but also with yourself
you overwork yourself at the risk of legitimizing a culture of overworkĀ
privilege voices and perspectives that have historically been left out of the academy
nothing is ever neutral orĀ apolitical
support the progress of other scholars
collaboration over competition
idk who needs to hear this but when your english teacher asks you to explain why an author chose to use a specific metaphor or literary device, itās not because you wonāt be able to function in real-world society without the essential knowledge of gatsbyās green light or whatever, itās because that process develops your abilities to parse a text for meaning and fill in gaps in information by yourself, and if youāre wondering what happens when you DONāT develop an adult level of reading comprehension, look no further than the dizzying array of examples right here on tumblr dot com
this post went from 600 to 2400 notes in the time it took me to write 3 emails. iām already terrified for whatās going to happen in there
k but also, as an addendum, the reason we study literary analysis is because everything an author writes has meaning, whether it was intentional or not, and their biases and agendas are often reflected in their choice of language and literary devices and so forth! and that ties directly into being able to identify, for example, the racist and antisemitic dogwhistles often employed by the right wing, or the subconscious word choices that can unintentionally illustrate someoneās bias or blind spot. LANGUAGE HAS WEIGHT AND MEANING! the way we communicate is a reflection of our inner selves, and thatās true regardless of whether itās a short story or a novel or a blog post or a tweet. instead of taking a piece of writing at face value and stopping there, assuming that there is no deeper meaning or thought behind the words on the page, ask yourself these two questions instead:
1. what is the author trying to say? 2. what does the author maybe not realize theyāre saying?
because the most interesting reading of any piece of literature, imho, usually occupies the space in between those questions.
Why do you dislike the 2005 Pride and Prejudice so much? I thought it was a pretty good movie?
Okay, hereās the thing. Like, it is aĀ āpretty good movieā - itās visually gorgeous and the soundtrack is stunning and yeah, okay, from many angles it can be considered a great movie.Ā
But itās not Jane Austen.Ā
Let me explain: the thing about Pride and Prejudice is that it is fundamentally a social commentary expressed through a comedy of manners. So much of Austen is about claustrophobia and people rubbing each other the wrong way in these tiny social circles because travelling was so much more effort. But in order to make his film so beautiful, Joe Wright completely disregarded this.Ā
For example, possibly my biggest pet peeve about this movie is Darcyās first proposal scene. In no way shape or form did that need to take place in a thunderstorm. That pathetic fallacy is completely unnecessary and actually detracts from the drama of that scene. The whole point is that theyāre in this tiny room together with these emotions running high but they canāt raise their voices, they canāt get away from each other because of the social rules theyāre still bound to.Ā
Whatās brilliant about the BBC version is that it captures that perfectly. Jennifer Ehles does such a good job of this seething rage beginning to get the better of her so that when she finally saysĀ āyou are the last man in the world I could ever marryā she brings herself up short because she knows sheās gone too far, sheās been too rude. Elizabeth may be witty and ahead of her time but she remains a product of her time and she wouldnāt get all up in Darcyās face about it.Ā
I donāt dislike Keira Knightly as an actress, Iāve enjoyed her performances in many things but she was not right for this role at all. (Though the thing about film acting is that itās so dependent on the director and the editing that hey, maybe under different circumstances she could have done a good job, but Iām unsure). She played Elizabeth as a modern woman in a Regency Era setting, and that just doesnāt work. Sheās too loud, too physical for the kind of environment that Pride and Prejudice takes place in.Ā
But while her performance is too big and too unrestrained, things that should have been big were too small. Again, Tom Hollander is an actor I like very much, but his Collins was all earnest and small. He barely made my flesh crawl at all, which he really should. (And when you look at David Bamber, heās flawlessly slimy, and hilarious to boot). One of Austenās strengths is this wonderful melding of big and small - her principal characters are stuck in these tiny communities with these huge supporting characters that only increase the sense of claustrophobia.Ā
One thing I will say for the 2005 version is that Jane and Bingley were lovely. Though I will never understand how that one thing was so perfectly Austen while everything else was trying to be a Bronte novel.Ā
WHICH IS ENTIRELY THE THING. Joe Wright tried to play Pride and Prejudice as if it were written by Emily Bronte. Like that scene with Darcy walking through the fucking mist in the morning to confess his love to Lizzy again - thatās just wrong. And I know what youāre about to say:Ā āif youāre complaining about that, why arenāt you complaining about Colin Firthās wet shirt in the BBC version?ā Well Iāll tell you: because it was played right. When Lizzy and Darcy come across each other in that scene it is painfully awkward because it would be. Darcy asks if her parents are well about three times and Lizzy can barely make eye contact. It might not be in the book but, were it to have been, thatās how it would have gone down. Instead, Joe Wright gave us this⦠whatever it was with dramatic whispering and hand kissing.Ā
(Donāt even get me started on thatĀ āMrs Darcyā scene, which luckily wasnāt in the UK version because everyone knew weād hate it as a nation)
And the thing is, this style might have worked for a different Austen novel: Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion are all novels that are in dialogue with the Romantic ideology of the time, and maybe Joe Wrightās style would have worked with them, but it doesnāt with Pride and Prejudice.Ā
So that was really long, sorry.Ā
TL:DR - it is by many standards aĀ āgood movieā much like Game of Thrones is by many standards aĀ āgood showā. The cinematography is good, the score is good, the acting is good (because poor characterisation and bad acting arenāt always the same), but it completely misses the point of the original text upon which it is based.Ā

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Reblog if you're black tumblr.
You donāt have to be black, it just means you support us, you stand by us and youāre for us.
Avatar AU! (plus my OCš)
Frustration / longing / love
TAYLOR SWIFT: MISS AMERICANA (2020), dir. Lana Wilson.
I see a lot of people who tell young peopleāespecially young people who are heading into collegeāthat they shouldĀ ādo what they love.ā And theyāre right. You should do what you love.
But thereās a world of difference between doing what you love for you,Ā and doing what you love for a paycheck.Ā
I went to undergrad for graphic design and 3-D designāart and more art, I usually sayāand I loved it. You know what I didnāt love? Trying to collect my fees from clients. Trying to meet unrealistic, over-simplified or over-specific briefs from people who didnāt know what they were talking about. Coming home, having worked creatively all day, with no creative juice left for the things I wanted to do.
You know what I would tell you instead? Do something that you can be interested in, with people you like.
You donāt have to love it. Loving your work can be a lot, and it often means you have to live in your job 24/7. Some people can do that. Not everyone can, or should.Ā But if you can find work thatās interesting enough that it doesnāt feel tedious, and people you can enjoy spending your 9-5 with, and you can make money, thatās great! It means you can do the things you love for you.
Iām in law school now. Itās interesting work, and difficult, and I like doing it. I like how complicated it gets, and I like the stories it tells. But I donāt come home and read law journals for fun. I come home, and I sculpt, and I draw, and I paint, and I read. I do these things for me.
And I love it.Ā
Gods I wish Iād had this ten years ago when everyone was pushing for me to do art for a living. Probably wouldnāt have burned out as hard as I did

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types of healthy coping skills
1. self-soothing
comforting yourself through the 5 senses
Touch: stuffed animals, stress balls, taking a bath, a soft blanket
Hear: music, audio book, guided relaxation
See: snow globe, glitter, calming images, art, anything that pleases you visuallyĀ
Taste: tea, mints, gum
Smell: lotion, candles, incenseĀ
2. distraction
removing your focus from the stressor for a period of time
puzzles, art, crafting, reading, movies, gaming, exercise, being social
3. opposite action
doing the opposite of the impulse that aligns with a positive emotion
affirmations, inspiration, lighthearted and encouraging focus
4. emotional awareness
identifying and constructively expressing what youāre feeling
journaling, listing emotions, using a emotional identification chart, drawing, therapy
5. mindfulness
centering and anchoring yourself to the present moment
meditation, guided relaxation, yoga, breathing exercises, candle gazing, going for a walk
6. ask for help
this is important to do when you feel like your coping skills are not enough or they are too negative and detrimental Ā
therapy is ideal for helping a person create a healthy coping strategy and incorporate it into their lifeĀ
*a coping skill is considered healthy if it helps you to deal with stress more positively, does not hinder your progress, and isnāt harmful physically or mentally. A coping skill can become negative when it is used to completely avoid dealing with the stressor.Ā
this is important
In case someone needs it for the holidays!
last semester i wrote a paper about the yerkes-dodson law, which basically states that performance on difficult complex tasks improves at a higher arousal level while performance on easy tasks is best at a low arousal level. basically, this is why you need to de-stress before taking a major test! ā ā ā ā ā ā ā posted on Instagram - https://ift.tt/36Ou5tC
GOOD STUDYING VS BAD STUDYING
GOOD STUDYING
Use recall. When you look at a passage and try to study it, Ā look away and recall the main ideas. Try recalling concepts when you are walking to class or in a different room from where you originally learned it. An ability to recallāto generate the ideas from inside yourselfāis one of the key indicators of good learning.
Test yourself. On everything. All the time. Flashcards are your best friend. Use quizlet if you donāt want to hand-make flashcards. Get somebody to test you on your notes.
Space your repetition. Spread out your learning in any subject a little every day, just like an athlete. Donāt sit and study one subject for 2 hours, do half an hour every day.
Take breaks. It is common to be unable to solve problems or figure out concepts in math or science the first time you encounter them. This is why a little study every day is much better than a lot of studying all at once. When you get frustrated, take a break so that another part of your mind can take over and work in the background. You need breaks in order for your brain to retain the information. Try the Pomodoro method if you have trouble timing breaks!
Use simple analogies. Whenever you are struggling with a concept, think to yourself, How can I explain this so that a ten-year-old could understand it? Using an analogy really helps. Say it out loud, like youāre teaching it, whether itās to an imaginary class or your sister who couldnāt care less. Ā The additional effort of teaching out loud allows you to more deeply encode.
Focus. Turn off your phone / iPad / any distractions and clear your desk of everything you do not need. Use apps like Forest if you canāt stay off them!
Do the hardest thing earliest in the day, when youāre wide awake and less likely to push it aside.
BAD STUDYING
Avoid these techniquesāthey can waste your time even while they fool you into thinking youāre learning!
Passive rereadingāsitting passively and running your eyes back over a page. This is a waste of time, frankly, and doesnāt do anything to help information pass into your brain without recall.
Over-highlighting. Colouring a passage of text in highlighter isnāt helpful at all. Itās good for flagging up key points to trigger concepts and information, but make sure what you highlight goes in.
Waiting until the last minute to study. DONāT CRAM!!!
Doing what you know. This isnāt studying! This is like learning how to juggle but only throwing one ball.Ā
Neglecting the textbook. Would you dive into a pool before you knew how to swim? The textbook is your swimming instructorāit guides you toward the answers.Ā
Not asking your teachers for help. They are used to lost students coming in for guidanceāitās their job to help you.Ā
Not getting enough sleep. Your brain practices and repeats whatever you put in mind before you go to sleep, as well as retaining information and repairing itself. Prolonged fatigue allows toxins to build up in the brain that disrupts the neural connections you need to think quickly and well.Ā
The way that we learn about Helen Keller in school is an absolute outrage. We read āThe Miracle Workerā- the miracle worker referring to her teacher; sheās not even the title character in her own story. The narrative about disabled people that we are comfortable with follows this format- āovercomingā disability. Disabled people as children. Helen Keller as an adult, though? She was a radical socialist, a fierce disability advocate, and a suffragette. Thereās no reason she should not be considered a feminist icon, btw, and the fact that she isnāt is pure ableism- while other white feminists of that time were blatent racists, she was speaking out against Woodrew Wilson because of his vehement racism. She supported womanās suffrage and birth control. She was an anti-war speaker. She was an initial donor to the NAACP. She spoke out about the causes of blindness- often disease caused by poverty and poor working conditions. She was so brave and outspoken that the FBI had a file on her because of all the trouble she caused.
Yet when we talk about her, itās either the boring, inspiration porn story of her as a child and her heroic teacher, or as the punchline of ableist, misogynistic jokes. Itās not just offensive, itās downright disgusting.
the reason the story stops once hellen keller learns to talk isĀ no one wanted to listen to what she had to say
howās that for a fucking punchline
Itās not that I disagree that we should all be aware of what a badass Helen Keller became, because she had a long and amazing career as an activist and yes, a feminist hero. Itās that somehow when people talk about the ableism of the way Helenās story is told they always seem to forget this: Anne Sullivan, her teacher, was blind. Seriously. From Wikipedia:
āWhen she was only five years old she contracted a bacterial eye disease known as trachoma, which created painful infections and over time made her nearly blind.[2] When she was eight, her mother passed away and her father abandoned the children two years later for fear he could not raise them on his own.[2] She and her younger brother, James (āJimmieā), were sent to an overcrowded almshouse in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (today part of Tewksbury Hospital). He, who suffered a debilitating hip ailment, died three months into their stay. She remained at the Tewksbury house for four years after his death, where she had eye operations that offered some short-term relief for her eye pain but ultimately proved ineffective.[3]ā
Eventually some operations did restore part of her eyesight, but by the end of her life she was entirely blind. Also:
āDue to Anne losing her sight at such a young age she had no skills in reading, writing, or sewing and the only work she could find was as a housemaid; however, this position was unsuccessful.[2] Another blind resident staying at the Tewksbury almshouse told her of schools for the blind. During an 1880 inspection of the almshouse, she convinced an inspector to allow her to leave and enroll in the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, where she began her studies on October 7, 1880.[2] Although her rough manners made her first years at Perkins humiliating for her, she managed to connect with a few teachers and made progress with her learning.[2] While there, she befriended and learned the manual alphabet from Laura Bridgman, a graduate of Perkins and the first blind and deaf person to be educated there.ā
So Anne Sullivan, disabled and born into serious poverty, learns the manual alphabet from a deaf and blind friend; passes that alphabet on to her deaf and blind student. This isnāt the story of an abled-bodied teacher swooping in to āsaveā a disabled child; itās a series of disabled women helping each other. Helen Kellerās story is the story not of one badass disabled woman, but of two. Anne and Helen were lifelong friends; Anne died holding Helenās hand.Ā
Also is there a book called āThe Miracle Workerā? I thought that was the movie/movies based on āThe Story of My Lifeā by Helen Keller. But I could be wrong. And I didnāt learn any of this in school in general but thatās neither here nor there.Ā
I can recommend the ā62 version of āThe Miracle Workerā with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. Itās blatant about Sullivanās impoverished background and eye problems - her rage on Helenās behalf isnāt abstract at all, itās very, very personal. And thatās the most amazing thing about this movie: Anne and Helen are the angriest people on earth. I have no idea if that was erased from the remakes but in the original they are both allowed to have a ton of anger about what has been done to them and what they have been denied.Ā
Anyway, Iāve rambled enough. Hereās a picture of Helen Keller meeting Charlie Chaplin:
omfg I am so mad right now because not only did the kids biography of Helen Keller I read when I was younger erase all her activism, but it very explicitly completely erased anything about Anne being blind herself.
There were scenes of her WATCHING Helen from across the room or yard, and it was all very āoh my, I just MUST save this poor little disabled girl, no other deaf blind person has EVER BEEN EDUCATED and basically it was awful and shitty.
I think everyone should read Helen and Teacher. Itās an absolute brick of a book, hundreds of pages, but it is wonderful. Itās about their whole lives, right up to Helenās death in old age. It talks about Helenās feminism, socialism, and campaigning for everything from equal rights to sexual health. Helen Keller was not a syrupy, greeting card girl who existed to make able people feel warm and fuzzy, she was a tireless academic, political activist and writer. She was making noise about the issues she cared about from the moment her partnership with Annie Sullivan began, and she never stopped.
Reblogging because I had no idea Anne Sullivan was disabled and that makes this entire story mean so much more to me.
I read everything I could get my hands on about Helen Keller AND Anne Sullivan when I was a kid. Stay curious!
I want there to be a calendar of Disability history, with birthdays and historical events related to disability history on every page ā such as the date Anne Sullivan enrolled in the Perkins School for the Blind, among others.
Itās just so frustrating that people think Disability Rights (or even the existence of disabled people) is some sort of modern fringe thing that only happened within the last generation.
And what frustrates me even more is how insular this conversation is to the Disability Community. Ā I want this to be talked about in the mainstream culture.
me: okay time to jump into the action scene
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: donāt say it
me: ⦠āSUDDENLYā
My go-to fixes for this:
but before [Character] could [verb], ACTION!
[Character] was about to [verb] when ACTION!
but no sooner had [something] than ACTION!
but just as [something boring], ACTION!
BANG!/CRASH!/BOOM!Ā ACTION!
āCharacter dialogue starting some sentence aboutāā ACTION!
Characterās internal monologue starting some sentā ACTION!
Narrator starting someā ACTION!
⦠ACTION!
Why extend your readers the courtesy of aĀ āsuddenlyā except to vary sentence structure?

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Common mistakes when studying for exams:
1.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Not starting early enough While many students intend to begin studying for final exams a couple of weeks beforehand, that timeline often slips as exams approach. After several days of convincing yourself, it will be OK to skip this one day and get started tomorrow, suddenly what was supposed to be a week of studying turns into one or two frantic nights of cramming. Studying for exams often takes more time than you might anticipate, so make sure you get started early!Ā
2.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Studying in chronological rather than priority order One common approach to studying for exams is to sit down and look through all of the notes from class in chronological order. In addition to being a very passive study strategy (more on this below), it also puts you at risk of running out of time to review the material you learned most recently, which is often emphasized more heavily on the final exam. Instead of studying in chronological order, try studying in priority order, spending the majority of your time on the information that will be most important for you to know for the test.Ā
3.Ā Ā Ā Practicing in the wrong formatĀ (not how youāll be tested) I often find that students will study the same way for all of their exams, regardless of the format. For example, they might study for history by making flashcards for all the key terms in their notes. This might be a great strategy for a test that is mostly multiple choice and matching questionsā¦but it could get you into trouble if your test is the mostly short answer and essay questions that require you to answer āwhyā and āhowā questions about the bigger-picture concepts from the class. If you want to be prepared for your exams, you need to make sure that the way you are studying for your test is similar to the way you will actually be tested on the material.Ā
4.Ā Ā Ā Reviewing information you already know Even when students are testing themselves and using active study strategies, they often spend the majority of their time on topics they already know. Doing problems you are familiar with and know how to solve is more comfortable, and gives you a nice boost in your self-confidence. The problem with this approach is that you often end up running out of time to work through the challenging problems that you donāt know how to solveā¦and those are the ones that you end up missing on the test. Donāt waste your time studying things you already know! Once youāve confirmed that you understand and can answer questions about a certain concept, check it off your list and move on to something more challenging.
5.Ā Ā Ā Memorizing, rather than understandingĀ I frequently see students who have been studying by trying to memorize all of the facts from a class, rather than truly understanding the underlying concepts. Memorizing can work well in some classes, especially in elementary and middle school, but it often backfires in more advanced classes. If youāve memorized a definition but donāt really understand what it means, then as soon as the information is presented in a slightly different format, or youāre asked to apply it to a new type of problem, you will have no idea how to proceed. Rather than memorizing the information from your classes, use study strategies that encourage you to understand it. Explaining ideas out loud in your own words, or teaching them to someone else, are great examples of study strategies that promote understanding.
6.Ā Ā Ā Calculating Your Final Grade A lot of students try to figure out what effect different final exam grades will have on their final grade in the course. (For example: āI have to get at least a 90 on the final to get an A in the class.ā) Indeed, almost every e-mail I get asking for exam preparation tips seems to be prefaced with some range of scores the student has to hit in order to get some desired final grade.
Donāt do this! No good can possibly come from such a superficial focus on the numbers. It will add stress. This, in turn, will make it harder for you to execute a reasonable, specific, and efficient study plan. Also, itās just plain crass. You donāt want to be that personā¦Forget about your G.P.A., and focus, instead, on how you can best prepare for the specific challenge in front of you. If you screw up, you screw up.
SourceĀ
College Note-Taking System
Having cohesive and effective notes is one of the key skills I think one should have, especially in an academic setting. When youāre receiving a ton of information each day, you want to be able to keep track of that and remember what youāve learned. Iām constantly trying out ways to make my note-taking more effective and tailored to my needs. Hereās what my note-taking system looks like so far.
Quick note: click on the images for better quality!
Class Notes
Taking notes in class is an invaluable way to keep track of the new knowledge youāve gained. However, depending on the mode in which the lecture material is conveyed, I take my notes differently. Hereās a summary of how I take my notes for each type of lecture, as well as some examples from the classes Iām taking now.
Slides (e.g. Macroeconomics)
Macroeconomics is a class in which you should be able to intuitively understand a lot of concepts but also remember a lot of things. Because of this, Iāve tailored my note-taking method and habits to achieve that goal.
I write my notes by hand because handwriting is more effective in committing things to memory.
As for what I actually do - and this is what Iāve done for other classes in which the professor/lecturer uses slides:
Read/skim over the slide.
Read each bullet point as the professor goes through them.
Copy it down if itās straightforward or write it down in a structure and diction that I understand better (not necessarily in my own words - sometimes itās just restructuring, e.g. splitting things up or joining different bullet points together).
Take note of any other important details the professor says about any particular point unless I think itās intuitive or common sense.
Hereās an example from a Macroeconomics lecture.
Oral Presentation (e.g. Anthropology)
During classes in which the professor just speaks and doesnāt use much visual material, I listen before I write instead of attempting to write down every single detail mentioned.
Also, I type up my notes instead of handwriting them since the exams are all open-book so I donāt really have to commit things to memory.
Hereās what I do:
Listen for a cue that tells you what this particular part of the lecture will be about (and write it as a heading).
Write down main ideas and their supporting facts/details. If the facts/details come before the main ideas, then Iād usually draw an arrow.
Write down ideas and details from readings in their own section/subsection.
Sometimes, my professor also shows short clips in class, in which case Iād write down the message that I think the clip was meant to convey, as well as things that the professor points out that I didnāt think of on my own.
Iād also look up concepts/ideas/people/events (in real time) that are important to my understanding of the lecture material.
Hereās an example of a Google Docs document from an Anthropology lecture.
Demonstrations and Sample Problems (e.g. Computer Science)
Classes in which the lecture is mainly going through demos and problems are kind of tricky, because you want to know and understand what the professor is doing, but you also donāt want to be writing down every single step thatās being executed. Hereās what Iāve found to be the most effective so far:
If there are any, I import the slides/handout onto OneNote and annotate directly on the slide. If not, I just write down things like definitions, important concepts, and syntax-related things.
I focus on understanding what the professorās doing with the demo or problem.
I then summarize the steps they took and
Write down comments and points they brought up, e.g. common errors, desirable habits/practices.
Also, these kinds of classes are usually classes in which youād learn better when you actually do problems yourself, so I definitely learn more when I do assignments and labs than when Iām in class.
Hereās an example from a Web Programming lecture.
Hereās one from an Object Oriented Programming and Data Structures class. I often draw things to help me visualize the general points.
Rewritten Notes
My rewritten notes have definitely changed a lot since high school. Since most of my classes donāt require a lot of memorization, I organize my notes in such a way that theyād be easy to index or find information from. Here are some of the ways I do that:
Establishing a Visual Hierarchy
Having a well-defined hierarchy helps me flow through my notes really well as i read them. It helps me organize information like a mind map without actually making a mind map - I know the big topics and their subtopics and sub-subtopics and details ⦠basically itās easier to see how these ideas fit together.
But why donāt I just make mind-maps? See, the thing is, a lot of my notes require sequential or linear thinking, e.g. in macroeconomics it might be the sequence of events following a change in the economy, or in computer science it might be a general algorithm for solving a certain type of problem, or it might be proving or deriving a certain equation. These sorts of things just generally donāt work well with mind maps. Instead, establishing a visual hierarchy in my notes helps me organize different ideas while retaining the linear nature of the information.
Hereās what the hierarchy looks like.
Here is an example from my Web Programming class, which is a purely project-based class, so no prelims or exams. As you can see, I draw rectangles around important terminology so that I can easily find them while Iām working on a project. I also include examples from in-class activities as well as notes on syntax so I have an idea of how to implement certain things. These examples and notes are further grouped by terminology/concept.
Structuring Them for Easier Flow
My syllabi for my college courses are nowhere near as detailed as the syllabi for my high school courses - those of you who take/have taken Cambridge exams would know. In college, my syllabi are only lists of topics and not what youāre expected to know for each topic. Because of this, I have to find a way to arrange information so that I can achieve the most comprehensive and cohesive understanding of that topic, i.e. so that the flow of my notes is similar to the flow of my thinking.
For example, in my economics notebook, I like to have the details first (e.g. the separate markets: the goods market, the assets market, and the labor market) and then the big picture later (IS-LM-FE). Some people prefer the other way around - seeing the big picture and then going into the details - which I can understand and have done myself for certain topics.
Making Use of Proximity and Spacing
I very much dislike notes without good use of spacing and grouping things together. Keeping related ideas in visual proximity helps your brain (or at least mine) organize this information. Itās also a lot easier to find things and visualize your notes when theyāre not just a huge chunk of text.
One thing I should probably mention is that I donāt use colored pens anymore because it just takes a lot of time to switch pens and think of a color palette. I also donāt have much use for it. In the past, I used color to help me memorize and group things in different categories, but now, Iāve found that there arenāt a whole lot of categories I need to keep track of, and when I do, I can do so with just one pen but changing the style of the text.
And thatās what my note-taking system currently looks like. Itās working well so far, but I still think there are other things I could try out that might be a better fit.
So yeah, hope this was helpful, and as always, feel free to drop an ask if you have any questions, or even if you have any suggestions or would like to share your note-taking system. Have an awesome week!