If you aren’t certain about something your teacher said, or didn’t understand the way something was presented, make sure to raise your hand and ask for clarification. The best notes in the world can’t help you if you don’t understand what you’re taking notes on. Remember that the objective is to learn, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.Some professors may ask for you to hold your questions until after the lecture. Make sure to write them down to help you recall what you wanted to ask when the time comes.
If you aren’t comfortable speaking in front of the class, try approaching your teacher after class to clarify things you are unsure of.;
, In order to take effective notes, you will need to learn to pick out the important portions of what your teacher or professor says during their lecture. Disregard conversational material and focus on things your teacher places an emphasis on during class. Make sure to make note of any new topic, questions you have, and anything the teacher places a large emphasis on while covering the course material.If there was assigned reading prior to the class, make note of anything covered in the lecture that differs from how it was presented in the book. Your teacher likely wants you to follow the methodology taught in class.
Things teachers write out on the board are usually important and should be considered when note taking.
Make sure to record new topics, formulas needed to solve equations, and anything the teacher suggests is important.
 Taking great notes can help you to retain information in the first place, but studying for an exam or test should always include a thorough review of your notes. You should always go over your notes again after class, then refresh your memory by reviewing them once more before a test. You may also want to compare notes with a classmate to help ensure you both took down all of the important information.Studies have shown that after a week, you can usually only recall 35% of what you learned in class. Retention and recall can drop as low as 21% after two weeks.
Reviewing your notes or going over them with a friend can refresh your memory and help to ensure you retain more of the course material.
 Some people may prefer to use their laptop for note taking rather than writing by hand. If you feel as though you could write faster or take more efficient notes using a laptop computer, you should consider doing so. Some teachers and professors don’t permit open laptops in their class, so make sure laptop use is permitted before you start.Laptops can help you to organize your notes and even type them faster in some cases.
Make sure you don’t allow yourself to get distracted by using other applications on your laptop during the lecture.
You may want to ensure the laptop you use to take notes in math class has a keypad to record numbers faster.
 It can sometimes be hard to keep up when taking notes in class. Using an audio recorder during class can allow you to revisit portions of the lecture that you may have missed, or listen to the entire class again while you’re studying to help clarify topics or refresh them in your mind.If your teacher or professor does not address the use of recording devices ahead of time, you may want to ask them before recording them.
Digital recorders often allow you to transfer recordings to a computer to better control which portions you want to listen to.
 When taking notes, it’s perfectly normal to skip unnecessary words, use abbreviations or even come up with your own shorthand. However, don’t allow yourself to skip steps when writing out how to complete math problems, or copying them from the board.Although you may know how to complete a problem in class, you might have trouble remembering how to in the future.
Writing out all of your work will help you to recall each step in the future.
 There are a number of ways you can incorporate different colors into your note taking methods to emphasize the importance of sections or to help you organize your notes. Use different colors to write titles, draw lines between sections, or to help you pick out important elements.Use a highlighter to highlight important things as you take notes or after class when reviewing them.
Try different colored pens for titles or to add emphasis to sections.
Use markers or colored pencils to make colorful divisions between topics or sections.
 Sometimes the concepts you need to take notes on in math class involve more than just numbers and equations. When your teacher or professor is going over concepts that require you to take notes that aren’t math problems themselves, use a form of shorthand to limit how much you have to write.Try leaving out unimportant words. An example could be, instead of writing “Pythagoras made influential contributions to mathematics,” try simply writing, “Pythagoras was influential.”
Use abbreviations and punctuation to reduce your writing. Your notes only need to make sense to you, so feel free to use + (plus) signs instead of the word “and,” km instead of kilometers, or any other abbreviations you can easily understand.
Ask questions when needed.
Identify important elements of the lecture.
Review your notes after class.
Use a laptop to take notes.
Use an audio recorder in class.
Skip words, not numbers.
Use color for emphasis.
Use a form of shorthand.
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