A New Look at Note-Taking

Hello, everyone looking at this page.

I have made a recent discovery that challenges everything I have done in my classroom for the last sixteen years.  In the past when I saw a student doodling or drawing in my classroom, I assumed the student was not paying attention.  If I didn't directly call the student out from the front of the classroom, I would at least walk over to the student and quietly point out that he/she was not paying attention to what was being taught.  Of course, if the student made any type of objection, I wouldn't be listening because I knew, from my experience as a student, that if a student was drawing, he/she was not paying attention.

Well, I just watched a video that might have blown everything I have ever known out of the water.  In a Ted Talk video featuring Rachel Smith (click to view video), she discusses how students can effectively take notes using a combination of drawings and words.  While this might not be the perfect note-taking tool in every situation, it might help students who are more artistically inclined or those who have struggled with traditional note-taking styles such as Cornell notes.  Will these work for everyone?  Probably not, but I wanted to share this so those it might help can start taking advantage of this opportunity.

If any of my students have additional questions about this note-taking tool, please let me know.