Selecting Where to Sit In the Classroom or Lecture Hall

In general, it is best to sit on the right side of the room when the lecturer is right handed so that his/her body does not obstruct your full view of the writing on the board or overhead.  Furthermore, if your initial seating selection does not allow you to properly see, hear or concentrate on the lecture it is best to relocate yourself quietly, so as not to disrupt your classmates.

Another important factor in seat selection is to minimize the possibility of disruptions to your note taking and focus on learning.  For a right handed lecturer you are least likely to be called on if you are sitting in the front left of the room when the lecturer is facing the students and most likely to be called on if you are sitting in the back right. The opposite is true for left handed lecturers and below is an example classroom with the optimal seating zones displayed with green boxes.

General List of Note Taking Strategies

1. Include the date and a heading for each set of notes
2. Do not get bogged down in details focus on the main points
3. Whenever possible use a word in substitution of a phrase and a phrase in substitution of a sentence to ensure short, yet highly effective notes
4. Ensure accurate quotation of authors, lecturers, handouts, pamphlets, movies, etc.
5. Do not include derogatory comments about any lecturers, presenters, material or classmates in your notes.
6. While the important information varies for each class, be sure to include these and other relevant items:
   1. Dates and events
   2. Names
   3. Theories
   4. Definitions
   5. Arguments, debates, laws, cases, etc.
   6. Descriptions/names of images, depictions, works of art
   7. Questions you come up with
   8. Dates of upcoming assignments or tests
   9. Assignment details
   10. Handouts given
   11. Extra Credit Opportunities
   12. Class Dates and cancellations
7. Listen for "signal words" (first, second, and then, most important, etc.) and pay attention to the material that follows.
8. Do not detail erroneous, unnecessary or common knowledge information that has been covered numerous times in previous classes, but ensure you include any new information or updates to past information.
9. The use of text color, background/fill color, font formatting, outlining and numbering can greatly enhance the usefulness and organization of notes, especially when used in conjunction with a standardized or consistent note taking method.
10. Include specific references to materials such as "painting p. 714 blue text" for a reference to a painting on page seven-fourteen (seven hundred fourteen) of a blue textbook.
11. If you are taking handwritten notes, it is best to leave blank space or skip lines following important topics to facilitate the addition of information that may be revisited or expanded upon later in the lecture.
12. It can be tempting to copy PowerPoint slides completely, but this is generally inefficient and unnecessary. Summarizing the main point of the most important slides and focusing on the instructor's accompanying lecture usually results in more useful notes.
13. When a lecturer looks down at his or her own notes, pay special attention to the material that follows.
14. The best notetakers always read through their notes immediately following class to ensure readability, add information they were unable to include during the lecture and ask the lecturer about any topics they were unsure of during the lecture.

 

MakeUp Notes Quality Checklist

Though successful Notetakers will employ the tactics detailed on this and the linked pages, all notes must:

1. Have the correct date of class
2. Include the important topics discussed
3. Be readable, organized and thorough
4. Include, if applicable, quiz, test and assignment information

Handwritten Lecture Notes

As you take lecture notes for your classes, you will discover that some subjects may require you to take notes by hand rather than on a computer, while other students may prefer to take all their notes by hand. When this happens, a Notetaker needs to take extra precautions to ensure the quality of their notes. Here are a few issues that a Notetaker uploading handwritten notes must take into consideration:

1. Handwriting style is easily readable
2. Ink/lead is dark enough to be read following scanning/picture
3. Scanner/Digital camera quality is high enough for clear image
4. Skip lines while taking the notes to allow later additions

Promoting Your Notes

Makeup Notes Notetakers have many methods of self-promotion available to them to increase their note sales. A Notetaker can use the resources that are available to them on MakeUpNotes like the print and email ready flyers located in the "Promote Notes" section of "My Locker", or they could have business cards printed with their MakeUp Notes username at a reasonable price from many sources on the internet.

1. Print/Email Ready Flyers
   
   MakeUp Notes provides Notetakers with two styles of flyers to distribute to their classmates. Both styles are pre-populated with the class information that the Notetaker has provided to MakeUp Notes. When printed, these flyers come two to a page allowing the Notetaker to save some cost on printing. At the top of the page is a unique address dedicated to the notes that the Notetaker has uploaded to MakeUpNotes. Post these flyers on bulletin boards across your campus to increase your exposure. When emailing a flyer, a Notetaker can upload their classmates email addresses or unique MakeUp Notes usernames to their address book and automatically send them a flyer with one click of a button.
   
   
2. Unique Username
   
   Each member of MakeUp Notes creates a unique username for use in identifying their notes among others. This username can be used to direct users specifically to your notes when they search, allowing you to gain sales that you may not have received otherwise. Your username can also be posted on forums, blogs and social networking websites like Friendster™, MySpace™ and Facebook™.
   
   

The Bottomline

Let's face it, most of us have missed class due to schedule changes, work conflicts, traffic, illness, family tragedy, honest forgetfulness or just our social lives getting in the way and were left wondering what we missed in class and how to catch up before the next class meeting.

Then there are the times we make it to class, but are not in the best shape to take notes that allow us to get the grade we want or even need. Honestly, some of us just can't take good notes in the first place. Regardless of why we need them, we will buy your high quality, reliable class notes that you upload to www.makeupnotes.com. Every time someone buys one of your notes you receive $1.50. You are getting paid to help our classmates and our student government which receives $0.05 for every note sold at our school.

Do you type your notes or write them by hand? Either way uploading them to MakeUp Notes is quick and easy. If you type them all you have to do is upload them like attaching a file to an email. If you handwrite your notes, use a scanner or digital camera to digitize your notes and upload the image files as your notes like adding a picture to an email.

With prices everywhere going up, tuition included, you cannot afford not to take notes if you are a skilled Notetaker, and you surely cannot afford to repeat a class or lose a scholarship if you struggle at taking notes.

Want to sell some Notes? Click here.