And So It Begins…
The title of my blog is from some Lord of the Rings character, in one of the three movies, before one of the important battles. If I could figure out how to add a footnote on this blog page, I might be more compelled to communicate with a bit more accuracy and precision, which would no doubt make Paul Richard and Linda Elder (Authors of The Miniature Guide to Critical thinking Concepts and Tools) much happier. Unfortunately, that learning objective will have to be pushed into the upcoming week sometime before my next blog post!
Today, I’m being asked to give a summary of my ability to read, take notes, and write essays.
Here are some of my thoughts:
Reading: B+
While Adler’s and Van Doren’s How to Read a Book provided a few useful tips for better reading in each of the four reading styles, I felt that a good portion of the book was categorizing and naming something that, in general, I was already implementing as a reader. To be honest, it’s difficult for me to envision surviving my Masters-level schooling if I wasn’t employing inspectional, analytical, and syntopical reading. Perhaps most interesting, How to Read a Book helped to re-frame some of my ‘guilt’ that I felt in the past when I skimmed or superficially read a book. This sort of surface reading is not always bad or lazy (although it might be at times), but a strategic way of reading that we should all be implementing at various times.
Note Taking: C-
When I think back to my Graduate research and how I compiled my notes…I shudder.
My notes were grouped together according to which book or article I was reading at the time. As a result, similar ideas were found on an assortment of papers depending on when I read something and wrote the note. Towards the end of my research phase, I had to go through with a rainbow set of highlighters to try and group common ideas together. It was a neon dogs’ breakfast!
Needless to say, I have some room to grow in this area and I do intend to try and implement the general system that Ahrens advocates for in his book, How to take Smart Notes. Whether I do so through an online tool like Obsidian or the old-school format of pen and paper is likely to be worked out over the next month.
While the note-taking system was a good tool to become aware of, the teaching that was most intriguing to me was related to how we think through external note taking. This fascinating truth will impact the way I mark up the books I read in the future–particularly the ones I am reading in analytical and syntopical ways.
Writing Essays: TBD
I have written a lot of sermons over the last 15 years and a grand total of zero essays. Therefore, I feel generally out of practice and recognize the need to sharpen some skills that have been dormant for some time. Perhaps, “Insufficient Data” is the best answer currently.
Hopes For Future Growth
As I continue down this doctoral journey, I hope to increase my efficiency in gathering information, increase my retention through effective note taking, and ‘shake the rust’ from my essay writing so that I can communicate my learning in meaningful ways.
And so it begins…
About the Author
Scott Dickie
9 responses to “And So It Begins…”
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Scott, I too shuddered at my Masters method of note taking. In regards to Ahrens article, I found it sort of refreshing to put some method to my note taking madness. I even took some time to look at an interview he made Interview and Q&A with Sönke Ahrens on How to Take Smart Notes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXnR7qX3BDc One of my take aways from the video was that Ahren’s realizes that we all need to shape our note taking to our individual needs. Luhmann represents a standard of sorts that makes note taking intentional, specific (especially literature notes) and I like the part where he note takes with an eye to connectivity. Shalom….Russ
That’s good Russ…thanks! This would be one of those areas where it is better to take something and tweak it to your unique style/preference/personality than to simply adopt it wholesale. I’ll have to figure out what that looks like for me.
Scott, you are an organized writer with well developed thoughts–something I value because it’s such a struggle for me. So the fact that you haven’t been writing essays for 15 years is refreshing as you may be surprised how much you have to say after compiling all the sermons and speaking forth your thoughts. When you mention the external note taking ideas seeming fascinating to you–are you considering creating an actual slip box? Talk soon, Pam
I’m not sure yet Pam…I can’t really imagine doing it that way, but I’m not sure if online note taking is for me either. Perhaps some kind of tangible folder system? I’ll need to figure this out sooner than later!
Scott, as a fellow ‘preacher not essay writer’ I’m hopeful that learning to take notes better will help us prepare better sermons. Do you have any kind of thoughts yet about how these new ideas and tools might cross-over into our ministry lives?
As of yet….no. I’ve been primarily preoccupied with figuring out the technology and the course schedules the past 10 days! Your question, however, is something I have already thought about (from a broader perspective): How am I going to integrate any of my learning into my professional life (as I barely seem to have time to simply get the assignments done)? I think this is going to be a tricky balancing act for me–at least during the actual semesters. Perhaps over the summer break I can reflect further and implement what I am learning more effectively into my personal and professional life.
A few people have asked about including footnotes in the blog. I just wrote my text in Word, which makes including footnotes very straightforward, then copied and pasted. I don’t know if others used the same approach or something different. Anyone else want to chime in?
Thanks Kim. I also used Word to write my blog, but I didn’t think about doing my footnoting in that application. Truth be told, I am going to have to take a refresher class on how to use Zotero and do footnotes in Word anyways…so it likely wouldn’t have helped me even if I had thought about it!
Scott, If I find an IT person at Fox who can help me with the various technology, would you want to Zoom in?