Dear 1L Fall Grades
Dear 1L,
I have been trying to think of more ways you might change things up this spring, should you be disappointed with fall grades.
Here are two to consider.
1. Here you tried taking class notes by hand? Here’s why it might work better for you than that laptop note-taking.
🔹 If you felt you never attained full mastery of certain concepts during fall term, or that you never quite saw how distinct concepts fit together in the broader scheme, you may not have been retaining information from class as well as you could.
✏️ Several studies say that students retain information better when they take notes by hand. I don’t know if that is true, much less true for everyone, but if laptop note-taking did not produce the content-mastery you hoped for in the fall, taking notes by hand might work better for you. It’s worth a try.
🔹 In Property class, particularly, there will be a lot of highly abstract, multi-step conveyance hypotheticals that are understandable only through an illustrative diagram.
✏️It is much easier to draw diagrams and fill in labels, arrows, and explanatory words when taking notes by hand.
2. Force yourself to sit down with your class notes as soon as possible after class. Do it during a break in the day, or each evening, if you can. Never let it go more than a few days.
-Fill in partial words and sentences that you did not capture fully from class.
-Circle any concepts on which you still lack full understanding, so that you know to focus your practice-problem and other review efforts there.
🔹 The longer you wait to go over your notes and make sure they are coherent, the greater the chance you will forget things from class.
🔹 Revisiting class notes takes enormous discipline, but if you wait too long to synthesize and digest, your notes can become largely useless for future studying purposes.
What is your reaction? Might either of the above be something you are willing to try?
Anyone already trying these approaches and having success?
To those who have been a 1L, how else might law students shake up their approaches this semester? There are only so many hours in a day.
I am here cheering you all on in the process and will continue to try to think of more tips for you.
Fondly,
Amanda