04.03.21

Got some work done, brought back a litre of cold brew and will finish my week strong.

During college I mostly took online classes which forced me to learn from reading the textbook. I decided to make a post about how to take notes from your textbook for this semester due to almost all colleges being online. Maybe you can use some of my tips and tricks.

1. Be ready to read

Make sure you have high energy to read.

Drink coffee, a Red Bull or just plain water.

Have a pen or highlighter in hand or readily available

Stock up on sticky notes

Have a sheet of paper set to the side

DON’T BE AFRAID TO WRITE IN YOUR BOOK

2. Actively Read

Make sure you read every paragraph with some sort of understanding.

After every paragraph go back and highlight only what’s important

On a sticky note write down questions you want to ask the professor or questions you want to research later

Try not to highlight full sentences.

3. Note taking process

Create an outline of the chapter by using the section titles or use the Cornell note taking method

Rewrite your highlighted areas of the textbook IN YOUR OWN WORDS. This is important because you will have more of an understanding and it’ll be easier to write a research paper on that topic without issues from plagiarism.

Summarize after every section of the chapter. This forces you to understand and pin point important information.

4. Don’t read everything all in one sitting

Try to break up your reading in 5-10 page chunks. After reading those pages, take a break. Exercise, eat, play a game, something else besides read. After your break come back and try to remember what you read before and go on to your next chunk of pages to read.

• september 29, 2019 •

First midterm is over... notes on the cerebellum, anyone?