Why and How to Take Notes During Tutoring Sessions

By Victoria Robertson on June 25, 2017

When working with a tutor, it’s important to ensure you are taking full advantage of the opportunity, as the ultimate goal is to help make you successful in your coursework. So, just like you would in class, you should be taking notes during tutoring sessions.

Of course, this begs the question: how? Do you just write down everything your tutor says? Do you type it out? Should you only be taking notes on certain items? Wouldn’t it be better to just really focus and absorb information as it’s given to you?

All valid questions, but what it comes down to is this: your tutor knows what they’re talking about and memory fades. The more information you walk away from the session with, the more likely you are to be successful in your coursework.

Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash

So, let’s first address the “why” of the note taking process. Why take notes at all?

Well, the answer is a bit more complex than that.

To put it very simply, taking notes is going to provide you with more information that you can utilize once you leave the tutoring session.

To take this a little more in depth, think of a scenario in which you’ve gone to an English tutor for help on an essay draft. You need advice on structuring, grammar, and content. In other words, your essay is kind of a mess.

Your tutor reads through the essay and provides their feedback to you verbally (with some in-text corrections for your reference). You listen intently, take a look at the notes on the page and go back home to correct your errors. But while you’re correcting your essay, you realize there are no comments on the introduction, but that the entire paragraph is circled. You can’t remember what your tutor said about it. Does that mean the introduction is good as is? Probably not. The more likely issue here is that you don’t remember what was said regarding the introduction. The entire paragraph could need to be reworked, hence the lack of comments. Or maybe they really liked it? There’s no way to know because you didn’t take any notes during the session.

While the above scenario seems unlikely, it’s not. In fact, it’s very common when considering the amount of information you’re meant to absorb in a single tutoring session.

Especially in instances in which a lot of ground needs to be covered, you’re going to be given more information than you can realistically absorb in your hour timeslot (or whatever your session length may be).

So that’s why you should always take notes that you can refer back to later, as you’ll undoubtedly need them.

And that brings us to the “how” of the issue. What’s the most effective way to take notes during a tutoring session? Is it distracting/annoying to the tutor? Is it rude? What exactly should I be taking notes on?

Again, all valid questions.

Unfortunately, there’s not one, good answer for you. Instead, there’s a very generic answer: there is no “right” way of taking notes. The method you utilize depends entirely on you.

I do, however, have suggestions. For one, I wouldn’t use a laptop. You shouldn’t be getting so much information that you can’t write it all down. Also, this can be seen as rude by your tutor, especially if you’re easily distracted by email pop-ups, etc.

However, sometimes you and your tutor will be working on documents that need the computer, in which case typing your notes is absolutely fine. So gauge the situation, and, when in doubt, ask your tutor which method they think is best.

As far as whether or not taking notes is “rude,” the answer is very simple: No. Your tutor should always be fine with you taking notes during your sessions. The reason is this: they are there for you. Your tutor’s ultimate goal is to help you. By taking notes, you’re not only showing your willingness and dedication to learning the subject, but also your aptitude for success. This demonstrates your seriousness and will always be welcome by tutors.

You’ll find that many tutors tell you at the beginning of your session that “they’re here for you,” and they mean it. The tutoring sessions are what you make them, so definitely take full advantage of that fact and take notes during them.

What it comes down to in a tutoring session is you — you are the most important element in these sessions, and your goal should be to take as much information as possible from it. In order to successfully do so, you will need to take notes.

So consider the subject you’re being tutored on, your tutor’s teaching style and your own aptitude and determine which method of note taking will be best for you. Once you do that, you’ll be just fine!

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