Interpretive Note-taking

INTERPRETIVE NOTE-TAKING

As a new adjunct lecturer, I found myself completely overwhelmed with the amount of prep and marking.  I still do but have figured out a few ways to help lessen the constant inflow of essays.

Tip #2: Interpretive Note-taking

Interpretive Note-taking is my reworking of traditional annotation.


WHAT I DO:

I ask my students to annotate the text using more than yellow highlighter!  They need a legend to explain the various symbols used.  They underline words they don't understand, acknowledge figures of speech, take note of repetition, create images that capture the written word, and more.  I created a INTERPRETIVE NOTE-TAKING rubric to offer suggestions and help guide their work.

After the individual mark up is done I get them to work in groups to explain and explore their findings.


REGARDING MARKING:

The marking of their annotation is fairly easy to do compared to marking an essay, for instance.  I read several of the comments to get a sense of what their approach to the assignment is.  I record their questions and spend a lecture answering the most frequent questions or questions that seem interesting and/or important. 

This semester I am having a tougher time concentrating (I seem to still be suffering from a concussion from a few months ago). This type of assignment is perfect because I can stop and go back to where I left off and do not need to start all over.  

STUDENT FEEDBACK:

The students work hard on this assignment - I think perhaps some of the appeal is that they too can stop and start over several days. Furthermore, I say they are being marked entirely on effort not whether they have figured out the answers to their own questions or the text itself.  The images above are from my class when the students work in groups - this works very well and allows students to review their findings with their peers and gives them an opportunity to discuss the issues in-depth.

Here is one example - there are more in my product on TpT: INTERPRETIVE NOTE-TAKING



Having worked at both the High School and College levels, I am sure this idea will work extremely well with your students too.
Best,

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Why Socratic Seminars?

As a new adjunct lecturer, I found myself completely overwhelmed with the amount of prep and marking.  I still do but have figured out a few ways to help lessen the constant inflow of essays.

Tip #1: SOCRATIC SEMINARS

Socratic Seminars are wonderful for several reasons.  The students enjoy them and they thoroughly prepare.  It allows all students a chance to speak.  The seminar gives students the opportunity to participate in constructive discussions without feeling the pressure of asking questions during a lecture - for this reason, I believe, they ask more questions in the seminar.  It introduces students to annotation and engages them in analytical debate, critical thinking, and textual analysis.

WHAT I DO:

I ask my students to read quite a small section of text and prepare by marking up the text using my Interpretive Note-taking guide.  They also have to answer a series of questions that I upload onto Google Classroom.  Both are due before the seminar starts although they have access to these notes during the seminar.  After the seminar, they also have to reflect upon the seminar.  Both sets of questions are available in my Socratic Seminar (ANY TEXT).

I do have inner and outer circles where half the class participates in the inner circle while the other half only takes notes and listens to the inner group.  I then switch the groups.  This works perfectly as my classes are 80 minutes long and meet twice a week.  I have between 30 and 35 students in a regular class (15 to 18 in the seminar) so the size works well too.
  
I have added a new component to my seminars!  The outer circle engages in Visual Notetaking while the seminar is taking place.   I do this for several reasons: they are more focused on the discussion; this helps them prepare for a larger VNT assignment; they are not allowed any electronics in the outer circle and this gives them a way to be engaged without tuning out the discussion; VNT helps them remember the material more than traditional note-taking.  Here are two examples:

For high school teachers this method would work well too.  I would give the reading out several days before the seminar and then perhaps teach on another section of the text while they prepare.  With a flipped classroom you could get them to do the mark up over several classes.

REGARDING MARKING:

The amount of marking is far less than a short essay, for instance.  However, I find that the students learn more from this experience than writing a short reflective paper on the same material.

It's a win win situation as I enjoy the marking more and the students learn several skills at once: close reading, Interpretive commentary, textual analysis, and more.   Students must articulate their findings and provide evidence to support their ideas.

Last semester I taught two sections of my class The Aesthetics of Storytelling and two sections of The Human Condition: Revenge and Retribution/Justice and Law.

STUDENT FEEDBACK:

Here are some comments from students after the Socratic Seminar:

Thanks for visiting!!

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