ldc presentation: taking great notes & building great outlines by patson w. arinaitwe
TRANSCRIPT
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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TAKING GREAT NOTES&
BUILDING GREAT
OUTLINES
UCU-LDC Preparation Workshop 6 th August
2011 in Nkoyoyo Hall- Uganda Christian University.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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My Outline
� Taking Great Notes
When do we take notes.
Importance of preparing NotesPreparing to take Notes
Building Notes.
What to do after the taking of notes.
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My outline Cont·d
�Building a great Outline
What is an outline (Generally)Importance of outlining.
Building an outline
Checklist for the outline
Taking the exam.
� Conclusion
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When Do we take Notes
Law School Lectures
Listening to public speakers etc
When reading literature, text books, cases,
etc
During firm Meetings
During guest speakers at LDC
Interviewing a client, witness etc
Taking evidence in Court
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Importance Cont·d
Notes are needed for record/ futurereference; during exams,
Refreshing your memory etc.
If something is sparked in your brain to say
"PAY ATTENTION!" you should be writing it
down now and finding its true purpose later.
Firm Associates tend to give hints duringsession.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Importance of taking down notes
Some people have trouble taking effectivenotes b¶se they¶re not sure what notes arefor.
Students attempt to capture a completerecord of a lecture, book or meeting in their notes- this is a recipe for failure
Inspiration can strike anywhere and you
need to be prepared! LDC is action packed. You need future
reference.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Preparing to take Great Notes
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Before the lecture/ session
� Prepare for the lecture.
Check course outline; key ideas
Read the assigned materials, cases, statutes. Review the assignments-previous work.
skim through hand outs given-quickly-highlight
the topic.
Before class, Did you eat breakfast
or lunch?
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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P reparing Cont·d.
� Go to class - this sounds obvious.
� Sit as near to front as possible to eliminate
distractions.
� Listen well for emphasis points
� Have a proper attitude
Listening well is a matter of paying
attention
Be open minded- even if you may
disagree.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Building Notes- From Literature
Know exactly what information you¶ve tof ind
Mark the passages containing useful
information.
Remember : Highlighting is not note-taking!
Use your own words
Keep facts to the minimum
Notes should not be narrative
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Cont·d: Building notes from
lectureIt is important to build your Notes in
Themes, topics, sub topics etc
Great notes will be necessary in preparing
for your examination, whether oral or
written, preparing for Submissions in
Moots and later in Court.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Now that you¶ve built
Great Notes
Are you ready for the
Bar exams?
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Building Great outlines
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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What·s an outline?
� A general plan of the material that is to be presented in aspeech or a paper.
� Shows the order of the various topics, the relativeimportance of each, and the relationship between thevarious parts.
� Formal system used to think about and organize your paper . Eg
you can use it to see whether your ideas connect to each
other, what order of ideas works best, or
whether you have sufficient evidence to support each of your points. Outlines can be useful for any paper to helpyou see the overall picture.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Outline Generally
An outline will not help you on a bar course exam. A good outline will, but itmust be your own work.
A decent outline made on your own isbetter than a perfect outline done bysomeone else
You are the best interpreter of your notes. Use your notes to make your outline
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Building an Outline
� Work on your outline throughout thesemester/term
� Use the great notes built to develop anoutline or
�
After you gather all your final materials,make a detailed and or ganized outlineof your class.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Building Cont·d
Use topics, sub topics to develop an outline EgRevision-the-Law-General-principles- proceduralelement- documents involved.
DO NOT try to memorize EVERYTHING that is inyour detailed outline. You will go crazy.
Understandy All your notes i.e. substantive law, and
procedural elements
y Cases law-facts, holding, reasoning.
y Forum; Jurisdiction, procedure and documentsinvolved
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Building an Outline Cont·d
One must deduce what law is applicable. Substantive,
pr incipal (Acts of Parliament applicable) and procedural
(Civil or criminal procedures) laws.
B
oil down the law that¶s in your outline to somethingmanageable
understand the big picture of your course to effectively use
all the material in your outline
Make an issue checklist to study from. Looking at the issueson your checklist should trigger your memory about that
issue
Outline will help you discuss and analyze on the exam
rather than regurgitate memorized materials.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Make your checklist
Go through your course outline or weeks workand look at the topics.
Go through your outline highlight what you thinkare the big issues.
Make a one-page checklist of the big issues.
As you study the checklist, fill in the details thatare important under each big issue, but don¶t
make another detailed outline.
Your final checklist together with the outline will bethe study tool that takes you into the exam.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Taking the Exam that appeals
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION.
First, Look over the entire exam. See what it's allabout. length, type of questions, number of questions. suggested time
Figure out how much time you're going to spend oneach portion of the exam
Devote some few minutes for reading/outlining andthe rest for writing your answer.
Read the call of the question First
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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T aking Exam Cont·d
READ THE FACTS. Put your pen down and
read the fact pattern . Read it fast the first time.
Don't pick up your pen. read the facts AGAIN, but a little slower. Now, pick up your
highlighter or pen and flag possible issues.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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T aking Exam s Contd.
OUTLINE, OUTLINE,OUTLINE. You MUST
outline your answer/Thoughts briefly.
A Well thought answer is much better than
a hurried answer
Time Management is key.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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T aking Exam cont·d
� Legible handwriting is key.
� Maintain precision and coherence.
� Highlight (or use a different color pen)
sections & authorities quoted.
� Endeavour to draw the necessary
documents needed.
8/6/2019 LDC Presentation: Taking Great Notes & Building Great Outlines by Patson W. Arinaitwe
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Conclusion
The above are simple but crucial for your
life at bar course as well as a litigation
advocate in Uganda.
They can be summed up into:
Prepare, prepare, prepare at all times.
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Cont·d conclusion
³The fear of failure
is fatal
to success´