By Dylan Huber

Why do you, a student of Granada Hills Charter (GHC), take notes? Is it because you genuinely find it useful to academic success? This is, for many, the reason they decide to, and it is a good and just reason. However, many students take notes because it is compulsory. In many courses, notes are graded and treated as mandated assignments, despite their inherent subjectivity. Indeed, their requirement itself is grounded in no less than complete illogicality.

Note-taking is essentially an activity meant for the student alone, to acquire or memorize information. It is not, in any conceivable or observable way, a method for the teacher to accurately evaluate the student, unlike assignments or assessments. There are so many different methods of note-taking, yet teachers will often require a specific style. Each student has a different way of learning, so it stands to reason that students’ note-taking methods would vary as well. Some students may forgo note-taking altogether. How could taking notes, this inherently student-centric subjective learning skill, be graded on objective quality?

This all leads to an odd academic dilemma. Let us understand a student’s “A” grade as a representation that the student fully understands and does well in a subject. However, to understand and do well in a subject, notes are not an objective, absolute necessity. For instance, one can put high effort into every essay, multiple-choice, or other assignment in English yet never take notes. 

To put it in the form of a simple syllogism:

  1. An A is a representation that a student has proven they understand, do well in, or put effort into a subject, which notes are not necessarily needed to do.
  2. Students are often mandated to take notes to get an A.

Conclusion: Notes are unnecessarily mandated.

As aforementioned, notes are not inherently terrible, but students should be given the freedom to choose whether they want to take notes. If a student does not wish to take notes, or if a student simply does not want to take notes in the teacher’s preferred style, they should not have to. Any requirement to the contrary is incomprehensible.