Learning as a Way of Teaching

A common problem of junior high students involves note taking.  So much of instruction involves lecture it is imperative that students learn how to take effective notes.

How many times have you said the following (or something similar):

•  ”It was on the board.  You should have written it down.”
• “Where are your notes?”
• “Why are you not taking notes?”

LD students struggle with note taking as much and in most cases more than their non-disabled peers.  Some of the struggle comes from disorganization, inattention, and unmotivation.  Even if those hurdles are cleared, there is still a skill that is unlearned in taking good notes.

Joseph R. Boyle, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University researches note-taking, cognitive strategies, and early reading techniques.  He suggests that for students, notes serve two purposes:

1. They aid student understanding of lecture information, and
2. They serve as reference material for later study.

Students who struggle with note taking do so for various reasons.  It is important to diagnose the reason so that a plan can be executed.  Whether it is an attention deficit, mechanics of writing, vision, hearing, assimilation, motivation or comprehension; pinpointing the issue is key in developing an accommodation or modification.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 2:23 pm and is filed under modifications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.