Summarizing+and+Note+Taking+-+Marzano

Rather than apply this to just one lesson plan, I am applying this as a blanket to almost all of my classes. Taking notes is a tool I have used in my classroom in attempting to use it as a tool for reinforcement learning. However, I am always trying to figure out ways to make it better.

Most students do not see the importance of using the notes as reinforced learning. Some students do not get anything out of copying teacher-provided notes. By taking suggestions from Marzano's article, I can reshape the notes to make this tool more effective for my students.

Old way: I would put together the notes for the chapters and hand them out to the students. The students would copy their notes into their notebooks. The students were introduced another way to the chapter by recording the notes.

New way: Provide the students with a skeletal outline in which they must go through and determine what information is important and relevant to the chapter, and sift through that which is not as important to what we are learning. By doing this, it can open more doors for the students as well. Whereas they may determine that certain ideas are not relevant to what is being taught for the chapter, it may peak their interest in finding out more about certain people, places, or ideas. This will allow them to delve into certain aspects of history, even if it may not be a pertinent part of the chapter.

Technology: Students will not be bound to their textbooks in locating information. While a good deal of the note taking information will come from the textbooks, students will be encouraged to use the classroom laptops to either expand on the information they are working with, or to even come up with information that the textbook does not cover.