My innovation was the implementation of highly distilled “Über Notes.” These notes make it easy to see the main ideas of class discussions and reading assignments. I have two kinds of Über Notes, one is something akin to a study guide and one is a simple cheat sheet. (I’ve found that my Science classes are the ones that benefited the most from both types of notes, but that they are applicable to any subject.)
My study guide Über Notes tend to just be main ideas pulled from other notes. I know for me, when I’m taking notes in class or as I read textbooks I tend to write everything the same size and the same way, which makes it hard to see the main ideas of a source of information. Über Notes let me emphasize bigger points and carefully sub-label details that I need. On top of that, I can omit small things that aren’t important; this allows me to consolidate my notes onto one sheet. The main difference between Über Notes and a regular study guide is that I make study guides only at the end of a unit, when a test is near. Über Notes work best if they are constructed the whole way through a unit. The upside of this is that you can add to them everyday when things are still fresh in your mind, but it does require a fair bit of effort to carve out that time-slice to get it done every day. On something of a formatting note, I like to keep the heading of notes “Über Notes” because there really should only be one set of Über Notes per class. Don’t make a different one for each unit (You can make different pages if you like, but make sure to either paperclip them together or have a special place in your binder where all of your Über Notes go) and defiantly make sure that your Über Notes don’t become anywhere as plentiful as your “normal” notes.
For me, I prefer the “cheat sheet” Über Notes. If you are taking or teaching a class which requires a lot of little bits of information that are crucially important (Chemistry equations, theorems, kingdoms of organisms, important people, countries, vocabulary words, etc.) then making a simple list is very helpful. For me, as I take Chemistry, it makes it easy to see everything I need to know. I have one side where I put all of the equations that I need to know to find energy or other things about atoms. On the other side, I put a key of all of the symbols, what they mean and, for some of them, their values. The difference between these sheets and regular ones is that on Über Notes it is imperative that I put minimal to no explanation of what the equations meant, so that when you review them, you will be testing yourself to identify which one would help with a specific problem. Also, I can use these notes as a quiz, to see if I can identity what each equation does and when I would use it. This allows Über Notes to play both the role of a reference sheet and a study guide.
Though Über Notes are powerful tools, they cannot replace regular notes outright. Notes taken in class are pieces of information that need to be captured rapidly; Über Notes require planning of the structure of both the content and page layout, neither of which should be taken lightly. Naturally this takes too much time to do in class, and must be done at home after school. While it is helpful to start to move your regular notes towards Über Notes, the two should ultimately be different. The nice thing about this structure is that the Über Note itself is just a concept and framework of what you end up putting down on paper. Each one should be unique in both layout and porous to a certain extent, but if they get too specialized, it kind of takes the point out of having standardized fact sheets. The specifics of Über Notes are up to you, so you don’t have to do annoying work that you don’t like. As a guide, I’ve posted a picture of what some of my Über Notes look like. I suggest you draw yourself a template for your own before comparing with others, so that they won’t influence you too heavily.
- Gabriel Seltzer
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