Students with disabilities want the same thing that all students want,
including the opportunities to succeed in their classes.
Supplemental note taking is something that we offer
to students with disabilities to help them do this.
Our supplemental note taking program offers students the chance to earn service hours
by sharing a copy of their notes with students with disabilities that may be in their class.
Students with disabilities take their own notes in the class to the best of their ability,
but some students find it helpful to look at somebody else’s notes to supplement their own.
You cannot always tell if there is a student with a disability in your classroom.
In fact, the majority of students that the Disability Resource Center serves have
hidden disabilities, like ADHD, or a learning disability, chronic health problem, etc.
My learning disability is dyslexia, and it really affects
my reading comprehension as well as my spelling.
For those of you who don’t have dyslexia, in the classroom
it is really difficult because the teacher might be saying something that is a key thing,
but you’re still trying to comprehend it and write it down as fast as you can
while he’s still continue the lecture, so you might miss some really important things
while you’re trying to jot down those notes.
I am deaf. And in the classroom, I need to understand what is going on in the classroom.
I need to have note takers and sign language interpreters,
to communicate in the classroom environment.
I request a note taker because it really helps me focus on what I am learning in class.
I am really able to really focus on the lecture
and all the key details of what the lesson entails.
When the note taker takes notes, and gives me the notes,
it helps me to study for quizzes, exams, what everyone is saying in the classroom.
And the note taker supplements my learning and what I’m learning in the classroom.
Because I have to look at the interpreter, and I have to remember all of that information.
So the note taker helps me to supplement those information.
I volunteered to be a note taker because I thought it would be something interesting to do
as I was starting college and I thought it was something that would
benefit myself as well as other people.
I volunteered to be a note taker just because I felt like it was a really good thing
to help people, and also you get community service for your hours. So if you need to get
community service for greek life, or for your job, or for anything else it comes really in handy.
Having a note taker in my classroom has been a great benefit for me,
I am able to make friends with them as well as learn a different style of note taking,
and it’s a great way for me to be able to make sure
I catch every bit of information that is said in class.
My favorite thing about being a note taker was probably meeting the students
that I was taking notes for, they were actually really interesting people
and a lot of them I am still friends with to this day.
My favorite part about being a note taker is the feeling that you’re helping someone.
The people that you help are really appreciative for the work that you do,
and the time that you take.
If I didn’t have a note taker I could honestly say I would not do as well in my classes,
as I have been doing. It’s one of the greatest things that the DRC here has to offer,
because you make a friend, you also are able to make sure you know what’s going on in class
if you happen to miss that little detail. But if I didn’t have a note taker I can guarantee
that my notes would be a mess as well as I would not be able to read my own spelling.
If I did not have a note taker, I would be lost. I would not know what is going on
in the classroom. I would not know what to study for the quiz or the exam.
And I feel like I would fail the class, and I would not be able to get a degree.
Being a note taker actually really helped me in the class,
it made me pay much much more attention to the teacher and what he was talking about,
because you don’t want to give someone notes that aren’t complete or random thoughts
or just bad in general. So by helping someone else, by taking notes for them,
my notes were better, which made studying for tests more easy.
The only tips that I have for future note takers is you need to meet with your students
and see how they want their notes, because you might want your notes one way but they
might want it a different way. And try to take notes that will benefit you and them as well.
And also, once you get to know them because you might become friends with them too.
For future note takers I really really recommend that you find the person you are taking notes
with and really reach out, because some people aren’t as comfortable with their disability as I am.
And it really makes that difference having someone you can actually talk to in that class,
in case they are shy, or even having someone to study with.
Take notes in complete sentences- don’t use your random thoughts,
it may be helpful for you to use random thoughts, and words, and pictures,
but it’s probably isn’t going to help the people that you’re taking notes for.
My tip for future note takers would be to come talk to the Note Taker Coordinator
if you have any questions or concerns about being a note taker.
They can help figure out how to solve any problems that you might have
so you can best serve your student.