Tips for Notetakers

Thank you for your assistance as a notetaker. Your notes will be important for a student, who, because of a disability, is unable to take adequate notes and still concentrate or participate in class. As a notetaker, you can either use NCR paper (provided by Disability Resources) or ask the student to have D.R. staff copy your notes. Talk with the student requesting your notes to arrange these details. If you have any questions, D.R. can be contacted at (541) 463-5150.

Tips

• Be very clear when taking notes

• Be on time to class; you cannot have complete notes if you are not in class from the beginning. Often, important information is given out just as the class begins, or as the class ends, such as exams, cancellations, etc.

• Get feedback from the student about your notes. Establish an attitude of openness that will encourage communication about any difficulty the student has reading or understanding your notes.

• Be unbiased. Do NOT let your own opinions or attitudes show in the notes.

• Number, title and date each page, so that the student can keep track of the notes easily.

• When using NCR paper, use only one set of NCR page at a time.

• Use a ball point pen; black is easiest to read. Make sure you are printing hard enough to make a readable second copy on the NCR paper.

• Write legibly: A complete transcript is not worth anything if it is not readable.

• Take as detailed notes as possible, so the student will be able to understand your notes at a later date.

• Leave blanks when you are unsure, and then go back after checking with the instructor or textbook and fill in the missing information.

• Mark points of emphasis, such as test dates and assignment due dates, with circles, stars, underlines, and capitalization.

• Use abbreviations carefully. Include a key if necessary.

• Include all information on the board, since it is usually important.

• Record all technical facts, names, dates, places, equations, diagrams and examples.

For additional notetaking tips, visit the off-campus web site at Guide to Online Schools.