Best way to keep notes?

[Vaike]

Hey guys and girls.

Just had a quick question for you experienced VCE students. I am going into Year 10 next year and will be taking Units 1 and 2 of Biology, and I'm wondering what you've found the most effective way of keeping notes and handouts together is. What kind of workbooks (exercise books, spiral spine, lose leaf in folder) would you suggest? Also, is it neccessary to purchase more than 1 textbook for 1 and 2? My school requires Nelson Bio 1&2, but I have also heard good things about the Jacaranda versions. Just a little overwhelmed with the workload ahead and want to make sure I am organised and build good note taking habits for VCE.

Cheers,
Vaike

[Sunshine98]

Hey guys and girls.

Just had a quick question for you experienced VCE students. I am going into Year 10 next year and will be taking Units 1 and 2 of Biology, and I'm wondering what you've found the most effective way of keeping notes and handouts together is. What kind of workbooks (exercise books, spiral spine, lose leaf in folder) would you suggest? Also, is it neccessary to purchase more than 1 textbook for 1 and 2? My school requires Nelson Bio 1&2, but I have also heard good things about the Jacaranda versions. Just a little overwhelmed with the workload ahead and want to make sure I am organised and build good note taking habits for VCE.

Cheers,
Vaike

Don't stress for unit 1 and 2 , take it easy . Ofcourse that does not mean fail or anything , it just means don't input a lot of mental and physical strength ( trust me , you need that reserve for unit 3 and 4)
For your text book question, one textbook shall suffice. But you may consider two textbooks for unit 3 and 4 , I'm doing unit 3 and 4 bio next year and am still considering  two textbook , but my teacher gives us a lot of resources , so most likely I will not .
Regarding your question about what note books , folders etc ; your only going to year 10 so this is your chance to experiment on what works best.
Although I'm going to year 12 next year  I'm  still not really sure about what works best for me , but I think I preferred the way I organised my stuff this year.  And if your curious on how I organised my stuff  this year : I stopped using exercise books and instead used loose leaf for all subjects and then placed it into a display folder( I think it worked for me because I'm a visual learner - something else you will learn in the journey of VCE)
Hope this helps 
I'm sorry if this is the usual 'your only in year 10' rant

[McFleurry]

Hey Valka,

Don't stress too much atm.
To be honest, everyone ends up figuring out their own way of taking notes. And I'm sure you'll do the same.

Personally, I'm a fan of writing notes in class on loose leaf, and then at the end of each topic (or better, at the end of each week), typing everything up and then going back to the textbook/notes from teachers to see what I've missed.

All the best mate

[katiesaliba]

Hey guys and girls.

Just had a quick question for you experienced VCE students. I am going into Year 10 next year and will be taking Units 1 and 2 of Biology, and I'm wondering what you've found the most effective way of keeping notes and handouts together is. What kind of workbooks (exercise books, spiral spine, lose leaf in folder) would you suggest? Also, is it neccessary to purchase more than 1 textbook for 1 and 2? My school requires Nelson Bio 1&2, but I have also heard good things about the Jacaranda versions. Just a little overwhelmed with the workload ahead and want to make sure I am organised and build good note taking habits for VCE.

Cheers,
Vaike

Hi Vaike,

Firstly, save your stress for 3+4 bio  There is very little correlation between 1+2 and 3+4 bio after all. Of course, still try, but stress less! (I despised 1+2 bio but 3+4 bio was easily my favourite subject).

Personally, I don't believe that owning more than 1 textbook for 1+2 bio is necessary because, as aforementioned, you won't really need much prior knowledge for 3+4 bio. However, if you feel that you'll need an additional textbook then by all means buy one. Investing in a Biozone book might be helpful too, especially for consolidating knowledge (again though, this would be more helpful for 3+4 bio). Both NOB and Nelson are good textbooks -I used 3+4 versions of both these textbooks for bio- and cover the content well, so don't worry about whether one is 'perceived' as more superior or something.

As for notes, I barely made any  For unit 3, I wrote brief summaries and made flashcards (V. HELPFUL IMO), but I mostly watched an unquantifiable amount of youtube videos on the topics covered in class to consolidate my knowledge! I cannot recommend youtube enough for bio. I changed it up during unit 4, instead making electronic notes and summaries based off of the dot-points on the study design. I liked this method of note taking as it was more environmentally friendly haha (you'll notice that biology, somewhat ironically, seems to use up an immeasurable amount of paper)

Don't be too overwhelmed and remember to enjoy yourself before you start taking SACs that'll count towards your ATAR (ah, the perils of year 12 lol).

Good luck