History Hacks
Do you teach social studies or history? Neurodivergent children and teens need teachers to be super clear about what’s important. They need to know why the content being taught is relevant. They need to know where to direct their efforts when studying so they don’t waste time and energy reviewing all content with equal intensity. So, why not let them know? Teaching notetaking - and the metacognitive skills that go with it - is essential!
All students benefit immensely when we draw their attention to:
Aidan’s notes
-What’s most important to know
-Why it’s important to us
-Cause and effect
-Emotions
-Main Ideas
How many times in teaching do students copy the board, word for word, without much thought about the process of notetaking? We should teach the process we want students to use (and know how to use). After some thinking about my own metacognition, I realized I have been using visual shortcuts and codes for YEARS in my own studies. So, I created my notetaking system after thinking about ways to more effectively build executive function skills in the classroom. Teach students how to pinpoint what’s important by teaching them to identify important events, concepts, relationships, and the zeitgeist of the times in the margins.
Read how this system helped a neurodivergent adult in my blog post, Coding What Matters in the Margins, here.
Introducing the System to Students
Level 1. Teacher Notes, coded as a class.
Level 1: You may wish to provide a worksheet with notes and the blank margin (without any coding). Project a copy on the board. Draw students’ attentions to the legend before beginning. Explain to them that effective notetaking is also a process of decision-making. As they learn information, they don’t need to write everything down. Instead, they should try to write down what’s most important. They can use shortcuts, like the arrow to show causal relationships or emojis to show the emotional impact of a historical event. Go through the sample notes with the class and apply the code together, projecting the process on the board and speaking out loud as you or students make decisions about what and how to code. (Please note: I don’t currently teach history so made some quick notes from a single source as a note-taking example only. This isn’t good research or pedagogy, naturally! So, please use the blank template, but create more thoughtful content!)
Level 2. Fill-in-the-blank notes for students to complete and code.
Level 2: As a next step, some students may benefit from fill-in-the-blank notes, which they must complete during the lesson and code later (or as they go). As you teach, you can call out, “This is an important place!” or “Remember this person!” to help cue them to the salient details. (This is a great habit to get into!)
Level 3: Once students understand the system, they can use the system themselves with a blank organizer (template below!) or by using any sheet of paper, recording in the margin the same way!
In the final box, you can write questions for students to consider, or you can teach students to review notes and then identify what questions they still have and/or the most important points from content.
When it comes time to study, they can fill out the History Study Guide (template below!) to sort events, people, and other relevant pieces of information from all of their notes into easy-to-study chunks of information. They can also input the information into an app like Quizlet to create games and flash cards!
History Organizers
(from The Autism Lens, 2020)
Level 3. Blank notetaking template.
Bonus: Study Guide.