In maths, notes are worth making only where they record something the textbook does not — a method written as steps, a mistake and why it happened, or a formula sheet the student built themselves. Copying worked examples produces a full notebook that no student ever returns to.
| Never used again | Copied worked examples |
|---|---|
| Used constantly | Method steps, error log, own formula sheet |
| The test | Would this help in February? |
| Class | 9 to 12 |
The three things worth writing
Methods as numbered steps
How to approach an optimisation word problem, how to identify a differential equation type, the order for balancing a redox equation. Procedures the student wrote themselves and can follow later. These are the most reused pages in any maths notebook.
An error log
Every mistake from homework and tests, with one line on what went wrong, sorted by type rather than by chapter. Before an exam it is a personalised list of exactly what this student is likely to do wrong again, and nothing else in the notebook comes close to it in value.
A formula sheet the student built
Written from memory, checked, and rewritten periodically. A printed formula sheet is a reference; one the student assembled is a revision exercise that also happens to produce a reference.
A formula sheet copied from a book teaches nothing. The value is in the assembling — deciding what belongs on it, finding you cannot remember something, and looking it up. Handed a finished sheet, the student has skipped the entire useful part.
What is not worth writing
Worked examples copied from the board or the book. They are already written down somewhere, copying them requires no thought, and no student reopens them. The same hour spent attempting problems and logging the errors produces far more.
Also, rewriting notes neatly. Unless it is done from memory, it is copying with extra steps.
How the error log should look
- The question type, briefly.
- What went wrong, in one line — sign error, wrong method chosen, step skipped.
- The correction.
- Nothing else. Long entries stop being written.
Sorted by error type, the log usually shows three or four faults repeating across everything, which is a far more efficient revision target than another chapter.
The February test
Open the notebook at a chapter from four months ago and ask whether it would help now. For most students the answer is no, and that is a signal about how the hours were spent rather than about the student.
Questions parents ask
My child has very thorough notes and average marks.
Common. Thoroughness is not the useful property — whether making them required thinking is.
Are printed formula sheets useless?
As a reference, no. As a revision activity, they do nothing. The student should build their own as well.
How detailed should an error log be?
One line per error. Longer entries stop getting written, which defeats it.
Should notes be made during class or after?
After, in the student’s own words. During class the attention is better spent following.