Do this consistently, and it will help you keep your notes organized and make reviewing course material much easier. While listening to a lecture, or reading a text, take notes only in the right-hand section of the page. Include any information that the professor writes on a board or shows in a slideshow. Whenever you come across an important point, make a note of it.  Look for signals marking important information. If an instructor says something like "the three most important implications of X are…" or "there are two basic reasons why X happened," then this is likely information that you will want to record in your notes. If you are taking notes from a lecture, listen out for points that are emphasized or repeated, as these are likely important. These tips hold true if you are reading a text and come across statements like these examples. Textbooks will often put key terms in bold type, for example, or restate important information in graphs or charts. Think of your notes as an outline of the lecture or reading. Focus on getting just the key words and points down so that you can keep up with the lecture or reading—you will have time later to review and fill in the gaps.  Rather than writing out complete sentences, use bullet points, shortcuts (like “&” instead of “and”), abbreviations, and any personal note-taking symbols you have.  For example, instead of writing out a full sentence, such as “In 1703, Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg and ordered its first building, the Peter and Paul Fortress,” you could write simply “1703—Peter founds St. Pete & builds Peter & Paul Fort.” The shorter version will make it easier to keep up while still recording the essential information. Go for the big ideas in the lecture, rather than trying to record all the examples the instructor may give to illustrate these ideas. Paraphrasing not only saves time and space, it forces you to make connections between the ideas presented and your own expression of them, which will help you remember material later.  For example, if your instructor says in lecture (or a book states) that: "In constructing St. Petersburg, Peter hired engineers, architects, shipbuilders, and other workers from many European countries. The immigration of these intellectuals and skilled workers gave St. Petersburg a cosmopolitan atmosphere, accomplishing part of Peter's goal to make the Russian city a 'window on the West'," don't try to copy that word-for-word! Paraphrase the information, for example: "Peter hired engineers, architects, shipbuilders, etc. from all over Europe -- his plan: St. Pete = 'window on the West.'" This will help you to mentally organize the material. It will also help you to focus on studying different parts whenever you need to. If there is something you do not understand, or want to know more about, jot this down in your notes. These questions help clarify what you are absorbing, and will be useful for studying later. For example, if you were taking notes on the history of St. Petersburg, as in the examples above, you might make a note "Why couldn't Peter the Great hire Russian engineers?" If there are any parts of your notes that are hard to read or don't seem to make sense, fix them while the material is still fresh in your mind.

Summary: Write the course name, the date, and the lecture or reading topic at the top of your page. Take notes in the largest section of the page. Use notes to listen or read actively. Keep it simple. Record general ideas, not illustrative examples. Leave a space, draw a line, or start a new page when you come to a new topic. Make a note of any questions that arise while you are listening or reading. Edit your notes as soon as possible.


For this simple project, you’ll need:  Two tin or aluminum cans, or two papers cups Five-to-ten meters of string A hammer A nail Two tin or aluminum cans will hold up better than plastic ones. The string is less likely to tear through the bottom of a tin or aluminum can. Make the holes in the cans large enough to feed the string through the holes. Take the entire length of string and thread one end of it into one of the receivers. Make sure you feed the string from the outside of the receiver through the bottom and into the receiver. Each can will be act as a receiver. Pull the string through far enough that you can tie a good knot in it without having to reach inside the receiver.  If the first knot isn’t large enough to keep the string from falling out of the nail hole, then knot it again. If you’re using plastic cups instead of cans for your receiver, tie the string to the nail and leave the nail inside the cup. This will help keep the string inside the cup, as the string is more likely to tear a larger hole in the plastic. Make sure you secure the string in the first side before threading it into the other receiver since it will simply pull away from the first one. Now that you have finished your first receiver, you need to thread the other end of the string into the second receiver and secure it. Again, if you’re using paper cups for receivers, then you may want to get a second nail that you can use to help tie off the string. All sound is created by sound waves traveling across a substance. This is the same for voices and even sounds vibrating down stringed instruments, such as violins or guitars. So, you want the string to be stretched tight like a violin string in order for the sound to travel across it effectively. Of course, you don’t want to pull so tight that the string breaks or pulls the string out through the bottom of your receivers. Just pull the string tight enough that you can pluck the string and it will twang. Now that you’ve finished the setup for your walkie talkie, use it communicate. Speak into the receiver as the other person listens on the other receiver and send some secret messages.  Do not pull the string connecting the paper cups or aluminum/tin cans too tightly when using the walkie talkies. Too much force could cause the string to pop out of the cups or cans. If you make the receivers with tin or aluminum cans, be careful when placing your ear or mouth to the cans in case there are jagged edges around the lip of the cans.
Summary: Gather your materials. Poke the nail through the bottom of each can/cup. Thread one end of the string into one of the cans. Tie the string inside the receiver. Repeat steps 3 and 4 on the second receiver. Stretch the string out until it is taut. Talk to the person on the other end.