This week read the chapter on taking notes, writing and speaking and then make two comments on any of these topics:
Psychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
Many students have difficulties with writing assignments because of writer’s block. Read the section on writer’s block in the text and comment on some ideas that you can use to overcome it.
Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
Ask a question or discuss any aspect of college success that is relevant to your college experience at this point.
Make a comment on another student's post.
In my school life there are many steps I can take towards being a genius by being selective in my school work. First I can be selective in the notes that I take while listening to a lecture. By only writing down what is important or crucial I will be able to get the main points of a lecture without getting lost. I plan on using the abbreviations and telegraphic sentences that were presented this week in the collegscope chapter. I can also be selective in my choice of seating. Right now in high school, I tend to chose seats, in an open seating classroom, that are near my friends or people I know. Sometimes sitting with friends can affect my learning, so when I do start college I will begin the school year off by choosing a seat that will put me in the best location to learn. I will chose a seat that is in the front, as I do where glasses but sometimes my vision is not very well, and I will place myself away from my friends so they do not pose a distraction for me while I am in class.
ReplyDeleteTo become a better note taker, I intend to do my notes in an outline format. Being that my personality type is a judger, I like to have order and by taking my notes in outline format, I will feel as though my notes are organized in a way that I am comfortable taking them in. I also intend to use abbreviations and telegraphic sentences. That is a thing that I am struggling with right now. I have a hard time copying down notes in small amounts of time because I do not use abbreviations. I intend to make sure that I am able to find and highlight the main idea or thesis of every lecture. I also intend to at least scan over the material that will be covered in class so I can be somewhat familiar with the subjects that are going to be discussed in the lecture, being familiar with the material will also allow me to make a greater connection with the material because I will have the background basis of the notes. Lastly I intend on setting time aside after class for immediate review of the topics learned in lectures so that there will be a greater potential for long term storing of the material.
ReplyDeleteThese are also things that I need to work on. Usually I do not review my notes until a few days before the exam, then I start to cram. I think it would help me a lot if I start to study every day. I also write full words, and need to work on abbreviations. I think this would help me to write down more information, and help me not miss as much information while writing.
Deletei tend to do the same thing Elijah and cram review before the test, it is something important to get better at to pass your classes.the best thing to do is start reviewing notes early and everyday is also good i think the both of us will do better with notes if we just commit to studying them early and try not to procrastinate.i wish the best of luck to you as i will try to do better also.
DeletePsychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteBeing selective in life is very essential. Being selective involves setting your priorites straight and focusing on what matters most. First, I will take steps to be selective in school by becoming organized. I'll put my notes in order, and get rid of all useless information. While i take notes, I will listen for main points and ideas. Before class, i will skim through the sections to get a general idea of what matters. At work, i will be selective by constantly being busy. I will overlook socializing with employees complete all of my job assignments more effectively. In my personal life, i will rid myself of all negative issues in my life. I will continue to spend my free time in an effective manner, and i won't procrastinate.
Ask a question or discuss any aspect of college success that is relevant to your college experience at this point.
ReplyDeleteA very important topic that is very relevant in everyone's college experience is procrastination, temptation, and low self-esteem. I witness this all the time. I believe these 3 topics are highly attributed to the reason why student success rate in college is so low. And it seems to affect so many students' education. Procrastination is normal in college. Especially in today's society will all these new electronics we have. Many people don't know how to manage their time affectively, so they spend most of it doing pointless things, resulting in low grades. Having more of a social life than a school-life also plays an important factor. Temptation is also a major distracter. Whether it be drugs, alcohol, parties, sex, limited relationships, and so on, they are all negative impacts on a students' life. Also, in my experience at college, i have witnessed low self-esteem in so many students. Low self-esteem results in confusion in life. Many people tend to think that their goals are unachievable due to their background or lack of knowledge. They focus more on these negative topics, rather than finding ways to achieve it.
I agree with your reasons for low success in college. I think that self-esteem is particularly important. Many students believe that they can't do the work or can't get a college degree. Then they don't read or complete assignments and their thoughts become truth. It is the little steps that lead to success. What you do each day is important.
DeleteA few things that will be good for me in taking better notes would be. First would be time saving, if you've taken a great set of notes you don't have to go back and re-read or look up information more than once which makes it easier for you to have more time to study the correct notes instead of unimportant notes. My second would be getting better at organizing, because a good set of notes on a topic will be easier to add into your filing system in school work then having everything mixed around. If I am unorganized it usually causes me to become confused not knowing what belongs to what. My last is better retention; having a good set of notes will help you learn key facts more thoroughly than a bunch of un-organized scribbles on a page. I usually write way to fast while taking notes and I look back at it later on trying to figure what I wrote down in class. So I am going to actually pay more attention on what I am writing down in class instead of rushing and writing down unnecessary materials. Hopefully doing all these things will make a huge difference in my note taking and writing skills.
ReplyDeleteHow can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteBeing selective in your tasks is a very important part of becoming successful. It helps to remove the unnecessary or harmful things from your life, and replace it with productive activity. Being selective at work can help one to work smarter, not harder. One can be selective in everything from the friends they choose, to how they spend their time in class. It is important to pick friends that are positive, hard working, and have a good influence on you. I know so many people that were very motivated when they started college, but then lost the motivation once they started hanging out with the wrong friends. It is also helpful to be around positive people. Negativity rubs off on people, and can cause people to lose their motivation and enjoyment of life. Being selective in school allows one to get work done, without wasting time. By choosing to take notes, and being selective in what gets written down, one can retain more information without working as hard. By prioritizing homework assignments, one can work on the more pressing or more important assignments first, resulting in better grades.
Elijah,
DeleteI couldnt agree more that being selective can really help improve your life. I also try and pick positive and motivated people to hang out around and help eachother out with school. When I am around a lot of negative people at school that I find myself in a bad mood about school as well. It is so important to do the best we can in school, and being around others that are negative and not serious about school will only set us back. You had mentioned that being selective about homework assignments can also be very helpful. I agree because a lot of students tend to get overwhelmed with all of the homework they have do, but if they prioritize it in order of what is due first, then it will be easier to manage.
Psychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.”
ReplyDeleteWilliam James' quotation essentially means that brilliant people know how to identify what is truly important and focus on that. Being selective can help me be successful in my personal life by identifying what I should and should not be spending my time doing. I love that he put the emphasis on "overlooking" things. Sometimes the problem is not identifying what is important and what we need to do; it is identifying what we DON'T need to do. Some questions I could ask myself are, "Do I NEED to do this? What's the best way to spend my time right now?"
When it comes to school, being selective is going to help me find the main idea and what material is important to learn. I don't want to review everything that is in the book because not everything is going to be tested on.
Psychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteI think steps toward being a genius aren't that difficult to achieve, but it's a matter of how often you practice those steps. One step I can take would be to become better at staying focused in class and take notes to keep me from becoming off task and tired. Usually, staying awake isn't an issue, but when I'm in a three hour lecture that feels like it's taking an eternity, then those are the times where I have to stay focused and not pay attention to the time. If I take notes and keep that mind set, then school should no longer be an issue of hard work, but intelligence.
I agree with you that practice is they key to be a better writer. The best writers work on mutiple essays at the same time and read as well. I take thorough notes so I can be well-prepared before the test and go over my notes nights before it.
DeleteTips for Avoiding Writer's Block:
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I do when I encounter writer’s block is draw out a web diagram to help me. By doing this I write down all the words that can help me remember ideas about the story or thesis. Another system one can use is a flow chart with arrows, boxes, outline or pictures. The best thing to do is to keep jointing everything down before you forget them. After compiling all these ideas, I try to find good quiet place to write so that I can concentrate and then I start freewrting. I sit down for about 30 minutes and just start writing whatever comes to my head. I realize that most of it will be deleted when I go back to proof read but as least I am writing and getting my ideas down on paper. After this period of freewriting I try to organize my paper in a logical order so that the story flows well. After working on the paper for a good hour or sometimes longer, I will set it aside and come back to it later or another day. One of the things I try not to do is procrastinate because this makes it more difficult to get the assignment done and often times the paper is of poor quality.
Hi Michael! I agree with you on this. It is very important for students who do not lose focus. Sometimes I do have writer's block, but only because I know a lot, perhaps too much about a certain topic, that I just have all of these ideas and I don't know how to organize them into an essay or response. In order to prevent a writer’s block, students should right down the main ideas of the topic. Organizing an outline will become very beneficial as well. By constructing an outline, students can organize each topic/main idea, examples, a thesis, and possibly an attention grabber. After students have done an outline, the writing process becomes much easier. Students can start free writing.
DeleteTo become a better writer I intend to:
ReplyDeleteI intend to plan ahead so that my writing is done on time avoiding any excuses as to why I did not complete it in a timely manner
I intend to use a web diagram or flow chart to joint down ideas so that I can free write on each of them
I intend to organize my ideas so that I know what I am going to put into my paper; this will include getting references from the internet or library.
I intend to write my ideas down into a rough draft which consists of an introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.
I intend to edit my paper once finished looking for any errors in spelling or grammar.
I intend to have at least one other person proof read my paper for mistakes
I intend to hand in my assignment on time and be proud of my work and accomplishment.
To become a better note taker I intend to:
I intend to attend class daily
I intend to stay awake
I intend to listen actively and identify the main points of the lecture
I intend to write notes on the front side of the paper only
I intend to copy the main point of a Power Point
I intend to use abbreviations as long as I can read them
I intend to explore new uses of technology of note taking
I intend to review my notes daily after school
Hello Michael,
DeleteYou bring up a great point of planning ahead. It is so critical and it is in one's best interest. By attending class, there is so much help one can get through the instructor giving us tips on our paper. Once, I find out I have to type a paper, it is always good to get an outline going and even save a word document to my computer with the paper. By doing this, one is able to discipline themselves and come back to the work they need to do. Going to the library is a great place for references that a person did not think about doing. Librarians know so much and they are able to assist us.
I have always considered myself a pretty good writer. Ive always been able to get my point, thoughts and objective through better in writing then I have talking. I have realized though that I find myself stuck because I focus so much time on the format of my writing, making sure that my thoughts or flowing . Next time I write a paper I intent to free right first and get all of my thoughts out on paper.
ReplyDeleteHello Vanessa,
DeleteIt is a talent to be able to write papers because all through college, we are consistently writing and writing. I also recommend sometimes having a second pair of eyes to look over the paper to go over it and see what their thoughts are. Sometimes someone is able to give you ideas and help with a paper. On top of it, the earlier one starts on a paper, one will never regret it.
Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
ReplyDeleteI have always been pretty good at taking notes and knowing what to take out of lectures to prepare me for a test. There is, however, always room for improvement. I intend to use my cell phone less during lecture time. When I use my phone during some of my more difficult courses I realize how important the information is that I missed once we are having a class discussion on it and I feel behind even though I have attended all the classes. I also intend on looking over my notes after lecture from now on to see if that really does help a significant amount.
Many students have difficulties with writing assignments because of writer’s block. Read the section on writer’s block in the text and comment on some ideas that you can use to overcome it.
ReplyDeleteI have always found myself struggling with writers block and am going to try a few new things I learned from the reading. I will brainstorm and set up something organized. I am also going to try to free write with my ideas and thoughts before starting to write the paper.
By brainstorming and coming up with ideas before writing is in one's best interest. I know when I do this, I am able to strive and get further than I was once able too. I also know keeping a positive attitude is always helpful. I like to do outlines before I write and try to come up with ideas. This is always in one's best interest.
Delete1. Many students have difficulties with writing assignments because of writer’s block. Read the section on writer’s block in the text and comment on some ideas that you can use to overcome it.
ReplyDeleteMany students have difficulties with writing assignment because they don’t know how to write, like when it comes to writing they struggle because they don’t have no idea what are they supposed to write. But I’m one of them when it comes to writing I struggle and forget everything. So I decided to free write a writing assignment at home to practice every day so I can learn.
2. Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
ReplyDeleteI will indented on how to become a better writer or note taker by if I need to become a note taker by I will go to class every day and pay attention to the teacher and take note when it’s in the board and or take just take the main ideas. And don’t talk in the class and write good note so when you go back you would be able to read your note. And write the main things in your note.
this is a good idea going to class I know will for sure help become a better note taker not only cause you will be able to write better notes with more information but also by being able to practice more. also abbreviations are very help for notes and not writing all the ideas down just the main ones and to write in bold for main topics and smaller for less important topics.
Delete
ReplyDeleteSome tips that the chapter talks about for writers block are to write freely. Start writing about anything that is about your topic, make a mind map of ideas .This is just the rough draft to get your ideas out so it does not need to be perfect at this stage. A lot of people think that if it is not perfect from the begining then they are doing something wrong and will be getting a bad grade. If you find that you are stuck go back to brain storming you might come up with some different ideas. Find a good place to write. Depending on what type of learner you are you made need to find a quiet place where you can be alone to start your writing, or you may need a noisier busy place like a coffee shop. Another idea that I myself have trouble with is to break the assisgnment up into smaller parts . This is a great way to help avoid procrastination. Make a schedule of when parts of the assisgnment need to be due and stick to it. This will make the paper not seems to big and help reduce your stress about it
Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
ReplyDelete- From this chapter I learned a few important things to help me with writing and note taking. Writing comes easier to me than taking notes, but takes me a long time to complete. I intend to start my essays way sooner than I usually do, and make brainstorming charts to help start my writing. I think the easiest thing for me is to start main ideas for each paragraph, then complete the paragraphs later. Opposed to just writing the whole essay from the begining. With note taking I intend to sit in front of the class more often and not near friends that will distract me. I intend to also pay more attention to the lectures in class and try my best to just focus on the main points and try to look at the big picture. This is important because Professors dont typically test on little unimportant details, and test on broad ideas because they want to make sure we understood the main idea. I think all of these things will be very helpful towards improving my ability with writing and note taking.
I agree with you when you say that you intend to start essays way sooner than you actually do. I do the same thing. I set a day and when the day does not go as smooth as expected, I cannot start the paper on that day as planned. Similar to your strategy of starting with the main ideas of each paragraph, I some times start with a outline. This helps me to write a paper, especially when the paper is an extremely long one. An outline helps me since I do not repeat myself in the essay/paper. It is good that you do not fall into the temptation of sitting with your distracting friends.
DeletePsychologist and philosopher William James discusses the importance of being selective and knowing what to overlook. It is important within our life not to look at every little thing and analyze the things that are important. For instance, when looking at a grade for our class. We want to look at the total points for the course and pay attention to the percentage specific assignments are worth. For instance, if an assignment is worth only 3 percent of our total grade, it might be something that we will try to do very good on. If there is an exam worth 20 percent of our grade, of course, you are going to pay more attention and put a lot of effort on this.
ReplyDeleteI struggled a lot with writers block myself. I did not know what to write or how to write. Until today, I still struggle with this. It is not easy typing a five to ten page paper when you are not good at this. The best advice I have is to come up with an outline. By doing this, it will give someone a chance to understand what they are doing and it will help with writing. The worst thing to do is to drag it out and wait until the last minute to type the paper.
Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
ReplyDeleteI am not the best writer and I struggle with this a lot. I think the best way to handle this is to always take an English or some writing course every semester in college. By doing this, it will allow me to always be on top of my writing and practicing this everyday. I also recommend doing outlines for my class before I write my papers. Papers and writing is not going to be the best thing in the world. I know it is hard and a struggle. It is in one's best interest to always stay positive.
There are many ways that you can take steps to become a genius in your life. One of the ways is to make sure that you are very selective at school, which can be done in many different ways. One of the ways is to make sure you only take classes that are needed for your studies. Another way is to make sure that when you are taking notes to overlook the points in a lecture that do not seem important, and make sure to know when an important point is being presented. Do not let partying and sitting next to friends interfere with your studies.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things that I can do to make sure that I become a better writer. One of the things I can do is to make sure that I brainstorm in many different ways when I am struggling with a topic. That will allow me to make sure that I can write down as much information that I know about that topic and will allow me to take the next step in writing my paper. Another thing that I can do to help out my writing skills is to make sure that I revise my paper numerous times to make sure that my paper is written to perfection.
ReplyDeletei agree with you Dominic.there are many ways to become better at writing.i should try brainstorming to make sure i have plenty information to write my paper comfortably.practice and repetition does work best when writing trying to get better.that's why we always have to revise our writing to make sure it is a great paper and get a well deserved grade for the hard work we put into the paper.i will definitely try to work on my wring more because i know its important in college.
DeleteWrite some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
ReplyDeleteThe best way I can become better at writing is to pratice by writing essays on complex topics. Brainstorming for information is the best way to organize my thoughts and never forget to cite my work. First of all I have to take the English classes that can make me a better writer. My writing skills only get better when I know much about the topic I am working or take interest in it. Also writing numerous papers can be challenging but help my writing skills. I work on two essays a week from time to time. I try to stay on point with the main idea as much as possible.
How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteOne word that really draws my attention in this question is the word selective. Yes, I know the basic meaning of it, but because of who I am, I went ahead and looked the word up. The meaning is "tending to select; characterized by careful choice" and this is exactly why this word is important to me. Every decision is a selective decision and this is why there are many directions a person can go when making a decision. One major selective decision is the one when it comes to choosing a career. You choose a selective decision in a area that interests you. This is what being selective is all about. Being selective is who you are and each person is selective in a different path and that is why being selective is so important in life. Being selective is one of the keys of what puts us on the track that we should go.
-Jennifer Waugh
Psychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteI believe we define what genius is, when people thing genius they think someone who is wise and knows everything about everything, but really being a genius is understanding your self and being able to understand anything you want to put your mind to. To answer this question, we must be selective and prioritize correctly, we have to figure out what is important to us in order to focus and study correctly in order to seize our education and become genius.
Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
In order to become a better writer, note taker, and over student you must always pay attention and stay interested in what you are learning. I believe the key to being a good writer is organization. By practicing good organizational skills I believe we can collect our thoughts better and transfer them on to paper better making us overall better writers. As far as note taking there is so much we can do to become better. Again organization is key, if we take clear notes, that explain the topic and use symbols to help memorize important thoughts and key words we will become better note takers. Also we can use drawings to help trigger our memory, as well as colors, to help connect key words with things you are already familiar with.
I intend to become a better writer and note taker. I think that to become a better writer I will work on more than I have to to become a better note taker.
ReplyDeleteI intend to actually brain storm
I intend to be able to write a good thesis fast and one that can shape my essays
I intend start to proof read my essays more
I intend to start essays as soon as I get them and work on them more then the day before.
I intend to listen better in class when taking notes
I intend to be more attentive
I intend to study my notes
I intend to have my notes be worth the time I take to write them out
I intend to write neater to help me read my notes
I intend to abbreviate to keep them shorter and more to the point
I like this! Caught my eye!
DeletePsychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteI think that this can be really important to be selective at school or at home doing home and this is because that there is always something else that you can be doing. Even though that there is always something else that you could be doing you have to prioritize and pick what is most important and do that first. This is really important because if you do some of the things that are not as important and you wait till the last minute to do the thing that is most important you will wind up with a finishing product with less quality than if you had started sooner.
In order to become a better writer, I need to set a routine of writing so many words a day so that I can get started on writing my story. If I ever intend on getting a story written then I have to get myself to sit down and write otherwise I will never get it written. That is my biggest problem most of the time is getting myself to do whatever it is that I need to get done completed. It is often hard to get motivated to do things that are most important to you like writing a story sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI intend to improve on my writing by becoming more organized. I also intend to improve my writing by prepare myself more efficiently. I intend to structure my essay better than I already have throughout all my years of writing essays because there is always room on improvement. I intend to write my essay more professionally, so that I will have less to revise once someone has looked over it. Sometimes I do have writer's block, but only because I know a lot, perhaps too much about a certain topic, that I jst have all of these ideas and I don't know how to organize them into an essay or response.
ReplyDeleteI think before I can become a better writer I need to practice on my note taking skills. I need to learn how to improve on how and what I take my notes on. By becoming more organized this will improve my overall notes and writing. Organization in my notes will also help me be able to find important information and make them easier to read. Also, learning how to structure a essay right will help my overall writing. I think by writing the more important topics and listening more during lecture will help. I tend to write all I hear and not always listen to what is being said.
ReplyDeletePsychologist and philosopher William James said, “The essence of genius is knowing what to overlook.” How can you take steps toward being a genius by being selective at school, at work or in your personal life?
ReplyDeleteThere are many wise steps one could take in order to become a genius. The first step is being selective in school; many times students like myself procrastinate a lot. Procrastination needs to stop and that’s the first step a student should take in school. Being selective at work could make your life so much easier. One must balance everything out in order to be a good and hard worker.
Write some intention statements about what you will do to become a better writer or note taker.
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous steps in becoming a better note taker. First, always remember that notes should never be complete sentences, it should always be the main points or words. Once notes start looking like a text book it defeats the purpose of notes. They should always be clear and visible to read. Notes should also always be organized just so you can understand what you wrote and why you wrote it.
Taking Better Notes
ReplyDeleteThere are several things that can make me a better note taker. One is to make my notes a lot neater and nicer and less crazy. If I can organize my thoughts in a more efficient way it will give me a better rate of keeping up with the lecture. The next thing is to only use short hand notation so that Im not constantly writing down every word word by word.
"The steps toward becoming a genius is knowing what to overlook"
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement whole heartedly. I feel like becoming a genius is something that is relatively simple. Most people are very intimidated by the word "genius" and so they don't even give it a chance. If you can be selective with what you allow to influence you then you can actually become smarter.
Taking Better Notes
ReplyDeleteThere are many things you can do to become a better note taker, and some of those things may have nothing to do with actually writing notes down. Some people think that you need to write down everything your instructor says, but I am totally against that. You should be able to listen the the instructor and pay attention to what they are saying and get a good, mental understanding and write down what you think it means in your own words so when you go back to look at the notes you will be able to comprehend what you have written down for that chapter.
i believe for me to become a better writer I need to become better a note taking and brainstorming. First step in writing a good paper is to get a good idea. You do not even need a pen or paper. If there is a topic you are writing about, understand the topic and brainstorm before writing it out. Also, when learning about the topic, listen to the teacher and take good notes that will help you later understand the topic that much more.
ReplyDelete