As I gear up for on-campus classes in the Fall...

[Hunter's Moon]

I have a perfectionist/OCD question on note taking. 

 

I hate my handwriting. It is never the same, I think it looks ugly, and I always end up wanting to tear the page out and start over. It is completely legible, I just have OCD and perfectionist tendencies. 

 

Did any of your college-aged kids have this same struggle? It seems so insignificant, but I never focus on what I am hearing/reading because I am so focused on trying to make my handwriting look better. Are there any strategies to quickly (within the next 6 weeks) improve my handwriting? 

 

I know this sounds silly, but it is one of my "things". Please humor me. 

 

Elizabeth

[Hoggirl]

Do you have a laptop you could take to class so you could just type your notes?

 

When I was in school (long before there were personal computers!) I would always just write my notes as fast and furiously as possible. Then, each evening, I would recopy those notes neatly and in a more organized fashion. For me, this helped to solidify the information in my head AND fulfill my need to have something that was written neatly. If you know you are going to recopy them later in the day, maybe it won't distract you because you will know that you can focus on making your handwriting look better when you do it the second time. :)

 

It's not silly at all.

[trulycrabby]

I'd get one or two printing books, practice your letters for thirty minutes a day for a few days, then I would get a book and copy the book as neatly as possible for thirty minutes to an hour a day.

 

Good luck with your classes! 

 

You could always record your classes then transcribe to paper. I recomend writing them by hand, then typing. Once I started doing this, it was straight A's all the way through college.  

[Hunter's Moon]

I always hate rewriting notes because I feel like I am wasting paper. I know it isn't waste, but y'know.

 

I found some handwriting techniques online that use more of the upper arm and shoulder muscles than the wrist and finger muscles. I definitely rely on my fingers and wrist when writing, which makes it cramped.

 

I'll keep working on my handwriting. I like the idea of taking notes in class and then typing into a computer after. I may try that, too.

 

Thanks!

[Ravin]

90% of my law classmates type their notes. I still handwrite, mostly because I prefer to map my notes. I'm thinking about trying OneNote or Evernote this fall.

[Musicmom]

 

Do you have a laptop you could take to class so you could just type your notes?

 

When I was in school (long before there were personal computers!) I would always just write my notes as fast and furiously as possible. Then, each evening, I would recopy those notes neatly and in a more organized fashion. For me, this helped to solidify the information in my head AND fulfill my need to have something that was written neatly. If you know you are going to recopy them later in the day, maybe it won't distract you because you will know that you can focus on making your handwriting look better when you do it the second time. :)

 

It's not silly at all.

I also went to school looooong before there were personal computers, and I did the same thing my first semester of college. I'm a perfectionist also and was really worried that I wouldn't take good notes because I'd be all hung up on the formatting, the organizing, the placement/size of the diagrams (had to be "just so" you know!), abbreviating words (again a perfectionist on this!), and handwriting too (I didn't have a very distinctive style--it varied all over the place and I didn't like it!)

 

I found that knowing I would recopy my notes later--filling in all the holes and making everything neat and well-organized the way I wanted them to be-- really helped me to let go of my worries in class and just take notes like crazy. And quite thoroughly as it turned out! Then the actual recopying also had the side benefit of cementing the knowledge in my head--this was a physiology class so there was lots to remember! In later semesters, people actually borrowed my neat notes to study from.

 

I had a somewhat light load that first semester, so I had time to do this initially. But in subsequent semesters I found I really didn't have as much time to do the copying--but by then I had also found that through the copying process, my initial notetaking got better and better. Also, as I copied, I was able to see that my original notes taken in the physiology class were really not bad at all, even if not the neatest--the organization wasn't perfect, but easy enough to follow, the original diagrams I'd drawn were fine, I could figure out my abbreviations... So, I had a much easier time taking original notes from then on.

 

What you might do is try a method similar to the above, recopying or typing your notes later (so you don't have to worry about how the original looks) and at the same time practice your handwriting on the side--perhaps while recopying notes or anytime when you're not rushed. If you practice the handwriting a lot when you're not rushed, you'll eventually find it creeping in when you are rushed, and you may find your original notes look more and more the way you want them to.

 

Good luck! :)

[Peach]

It's true that  copying them again, whether written or typed into a computer will help get it into your head better. I've debated this too and thought about using my netbook for taking notes in class. However, I discovered here that quite a few professors don't allow the use of laptops and such in class as they think you get sucked in and it hampers discussion and involvement in class. Some specifically noted that they don't allow recording devices either, so it's worth checking on. I was a little surprised by this. 

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest is OCD and has notetaking on her laptop listed as an accommodation from the Student AccessAbility office. Any time she had a pen or a pencil to take notes with, she would end up shading over her notes until her entire page was colored in.

 

Her OCD counselor and psychiatrist listed it as an accommodation she needed so my dd could take it to the office on campus and get it approved. She can take notes on her computer even when that particular professor doesn't ordinarily allow it. She just has to submit the paperwork from the Student AccessAbility office.

 

[Dana]

It's true that copying them again, whether written or typed into a computer will help get it into your head better. I've debated this too and thought about using my netbook for taking notes in class. However, I discovered here that quite a few professors don't allow the use of laptops and such in class as they think you get sucked in and it hampers discussion and involvement in class. Some specifically noted that they don't allow recording devices either, so it's worth checking on. I was a little surprised by this.

Some students will try to multi-task in class and miss large parts of class. Laptops can also be a major distraction to students sitting behind the one with the open laptop. So those are some of the reasons laptops or similar electronic note taking systems wouldn't be allowed.

 

Recording can make students uncomfortable asking questions if they're being recorded.

Instructor policies are typically made after having problems with a student. Avoid that problem in the future by not allowing the behavior. It can be a frustration for the student who wouldn't be a problem, but we have to teach everyone. Disability services are different and accommodations will be allowed, but for instance working with a laptop, my request would be to sit in the back of the room so other students don't see the screen. It's really tricky to take notes for math on a computer for students at a basic level of math anyway.

[Vida Winter]

In college I would take my rough notes in a regular-size spiral notebook and later transcribe them (neatly!) into those little wire-bound 4x6 index card sets. The act of summarizing and highlighting in that smaller space helped me memorize them.

[Hunter's Moon]

I do have an OCD diagnosis, but I do not think to the point of needing accommodations. I would hate lugging the laptop around, anyways. 

 

Thankfully, my notes are legible, I just have this ridiculous urge to toss them whenever I look at them because of how inconsistent my handwriting is. 

 

I have been practicing my handwriting. A few sites recommend practicing moving the upper arm and shoulder in the air while keeping the forearm, wrist, and fingers more steady. I am doing big letters in the air, and will make them progressively smaller as the muscles get easier to control. 

 

I appreciate the input!

[Peach]

I've re-written notes too for some classes because the professor talked so fast I had to fly to keep up and my notes were hard to read. My freshman year, I was in a math class that had chalkboards down both sides of the class and across the front. The professor would start in the back left corner, writing with his right hand and erasing behind himself with his left. Down that side, across the front and up the other side he'd go. By the time he'd covered the homework and questions, he's be in the opposite corner, all the boards clean, and look at us and say "Now, isn't that easy?" I threatened to bring a video camera to class :)

I have a perfectionist/OCD question on note taking. 

 

I hate my handwriting. It is never the same, I think it looks ugly, and I always end up wanting to tear the page out and start over. It is completely legible, I just have OCD and perfectionist tendencies. 

 

Did any of your college-aged kids have this same struggle? It seems so insignificant, but I never focus on what I am hearing/reading because I am so focused on trying to make my handwriting look better. Are there any strategies to quickly (within the next 6 weeks) improve my handwriting? 

 

I know this sounds silly, but it is one of my "things". Please humor me. 

 

Elizabeth

 

Taking notes, like taking tests, is one of those skills that we learn how to do really well while in school, and then rarely do later.  I wouldn't worry so much about handwriting, as much as note-taking skill in general.  So, if you haven't taken notes for a while, I'd practice a bit first, and maybe read up on note-taking skills.  Do you have a strategy for note-taking?  Outline style?  well-known abbreviations and symbols?  If not, I might check out a couple of teaching company lectures from the library and do some practice runs of note-taking before school starts.

[Peach]

My engineer hubby introduced me to Cornell note paper and oh I wish they'd had it when I was in college the first time. That extra wide column on the left is so useful.