Notetaking Tips for Students

Notetaking Tips for Students Maybe youve encouraged your students before to take good notes, but do they know what that means? Here are a few tips to help your students improve their notetaking skills: Take down key ideas. Your students should write down information that is obviously significant. You can help by pointing out during class work or lectures when something is important. Paraphrase, dont replicate. Remind your students that notes are for summarizing big ideas. Trying to write down every word you say wont help them remember it. Bullets and abbreviations are better. Jot down terms/formulas/definitions. Have your students write down words/formulas that they should study or memorize. Record questions. Putting down questions in a margin is a great way for students to remind themselves of topics to clarify later. These cues can serve as a useful study guide. Explore notetaking apps. Your students are digital natives. They might like using a notetaking app that allows them to store their notes and sync them across multiple devices. Check out GoodNotes, Microsoft OneNote or Evernote. Keep notes organized. Teach your students to date their notes, label sections, use a highlighter or different colored pen to call out important information, and use visual cues like boxes to highlight key words or arrows to connect ideas. Notetaking isnt finished when class is over. Your students need to get into the habit of looking over their notes each evening to fill in any blanks, add or correct information, and neaten things up. Adopting a good notetaking system will help your students retain and recall information you cover in class. Done right, notes can enhance your students learning and make studying easier. But dont assume your students inherently know how to take notes effectively. Give them some guidelines and in-class practice! See how Huntington can help your students succeed.

How to pass Maths GCSE

How to pass Maths GCSE GCSE maths is a core subject that you need to pass as it's a must-have for higher education qualifications, universities, apprenticeships and a wide range of careers. Passing maths GCSE requires knowledge of various mathematical basics, as well as more advanced maths theory. The following are all core areas both in the foundation and higher tier GCSE. (1) Number - fractions decimals, percentages(2) Algebra - quadratic equations, factorising, indices(3) Ratio, proportion and rates of change - compound measures, measurements(4) Geometry and measures - angle theorems, 3 D shapes, vectors(5) Trigonometry - Pythagoras theorem, congruency (6) Statistics and probability - averages, data, sampling Step one: Practice all the time Aside from tutors and teachers, there are many websites and revision guides that offer tips on everything you may come across in the maths GCSE syllabus. It's good to practice what you learn as you go as this helps with memorization. Read practice questions and familiarise yourself with how questions are asked and what various terms mean. A tutor or teacher can help here to understand what examiners want to see in your answers. Write down - this means no explanation is needed for an answer. Just answer. Calculate - this means solve, and show your working out Draw - this means plot accurately using the graph paper Step two: Use the official syllabus as a revision checklist If you don't know where this is, ask your maths teacher/tutor and read through each part so you have everything covered by the time your exam comes around. Step three: Show the working out on exam questions To get a high grade, you need to write down every step of your working out, when asked. This is because even if you get the answer wrong, you will get some marks for providing a partially-correct solution. Step four: Memorise formulas Both memorisation and practice that will bring you a top grade in GCSE maths. And the best way to improve memory retention is by repetition; keep doing practice questions over and over again. Step five: Revise everything you have studied That's everything from year 10 and 11 as you never know what questions you will be asked so check through all the key subject areas (see above). Step six: Read the questions properly Make sure you understand what the question is asking, as some will be 'multi-step' questions. For example, part (b) of a question might require you to know information from part (a). The number of marks is given at the end of each question or part question. Step seven: Check your answers It's really easy to make small mistakes when you're stressed, so always factor in some time to check your work and answers. Step eight: Ask and accept help Asking for help from a maths tutor or teacher doesn't mean you cannot do maths. It's simply a way of ensuring you have a good understanding of the subject knowledge and strategies around revision and exam technique.