Dear Matt,

The other teachers in my department seem to emphasize the importance of students taking notes in class, yet when I ask students to do this they seem to spend more time and effort trying to get all the details written rather than understanding what they’re writing. It’s also hard to do this when they are engaged in activities. What do you think is the proper use, if any, of note taking in math class? Is it appropriate for middle school students or just for advanced high school students? What should students do with them once they’ve written them?
Uncertain Middle School Teacher

Response:

Dear Uncertain:

For most people, keeping a written record acts as a summary of thinking and a tool for future reference. Such records are appropriate for middle school students, and younger students as well. There are many ways of taking notes that are useful and different students will find different types of written records helpful for different occasions. Here are some suggestions that will work for an activity-based classroom, which your question implies you have.

• Terminology and definitions are useful items for most students to record.
• Summaries act as powerful learning and remembering tools.
• Allowing students to use notes on classroom tests and quizzes is a motivator to learn to take notes that are orderly, clear, and helpful.
• Revisiting and revising notes, and refining the written record as a class allows for adding precision to the mathematical ideas and terms.
• The most well-remembered ideas are those that are developed by each student individually and stated in her/his own words.

In a classroom where many class periods are used for student activities, it is extremely important to allow time after the activity for students to write (in their own words) a summary of their thinking, results, confusions, new terms and concepts. Definitions are best understood and remembered when they follow experiences and activities rather than preceding them. It is not necessary to focus on all of these each day, but some record of each day is important

Your professional planning is an important piece of this approach to note taking, since you need to be clear on the goal for the lesson, and plan prompts accordingly to align with the goal. Since this kind of note taking occurs at the end of class, it is also necessary for you to plan to allow enough time for this activity. A timer can be very helpful here. Let’s look at several different types of written records, and how they might play out in class.

Vocabulary terms should be useful and used by students. A word wall can help students see the terms that have been introduced, and when appropriate, they should be defined with examples and non-examples somewhere in a student's notes so they can be used as a resource.

Here is a possible prompt for vocabulary: “Today we talked about the concept of….. Define this concept in your own words and give 1-2 examples.”

Summarizing is also important—for both teachers and students. Students need to review the goal for the day and see if they 'got it'. Teachers need to assess as well to plan how to follow up. This doesn't always have to be done in writing, but a combination of verbal and written reflection will help students remember. Here are some possible prompts for summarizing: “What was the big idea in today's lesson? How does it connect to the work we have already done?” “ Here is a problem related to today’s work that Stella and Harrison tried to solve. Stella thinks that …and Harrison thinks that ….Who do you agree with? Why?”

Writing/drawing, etc., can help students reflect on their learning, make connections among different concepts/ideas, and/or challenge students to represent ideas in different ways. On those occasions when you want to ensure that all students are clear on an idea, you can use a written summary as an exit slip, to be handed in before leaving class. Then as you review them after students have left, you can plan your next lesson to embed clarifying activities if needed, or arrange to meet with a small group for moving their thinking toward the goal. Here are some possible prompts for general writing: “What math do you know now at the end of class that you did not know at the beginning?” “What material is still confusing you? What material is becoming clearer to you?”

You might want to have students use one part of their journal or notebook for the written summaries, another for vocabulary, definitions and terminology, and possibly another section for personal reflections. If students know they will use these for future work, including tests, they will learn to produce orderly and clear notes, organized in a way that helps them to retrieve information as needed. They also will learn from sharing with other students ways of expressing their ideas and organizing their work.

This type of note taking probably will look very different from the note taking you remember from your former math classes. But it is designed to help your students learn and remember. Good luck trying out some of these ideas, planning for your students’ note taking, and your students will have a good year of learning mathematics!

Matt

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