CCNA Notetaking - What's your style?

binaryhat

For those who have passed (and failed) CCNA, how did you take notes? What facts did you jot down? A particular method? Style?

Everyone is different I get that. Just interesting to know what worked for everyone...

AvidNetworker

honestly I never really took notes. I probably lost some time by doing that, but really, I just learned everything by reading and going hands on. The repetition of labs and such, and then using something like boson exam simulator just kinda beats it into your brain after a while. I passed first try. I also did all CCNA subnetting problems in my head, so YMMV. I am not trying to brag by saying that, just saying that I have a very visual learning style, so it all depends on what kind of learner your are, and how your brain functions. Some people do best by taking lots of notes to help with memory.

tomaifauchai

It depend what is your method of learning the CCNA actually.
If you read books by yourself, watching videos i guess it's better for you to open Word and everytime you learn something, a new command, you write it down and you practice what you learnt in packet tracer, gns3 or real equipment.

AvidNetworker said it, practicing is the key!

If you're enrolled in Cisco Academy at college, you'll be able to do about 130 packet tracer labs included in the curricullum with the help of a teacher and your mates. ( 1/4 of them )

So it really depends, i don't think i would have done the CCNA on my own without any knowledge about networking. Why i am pushing that far today, is because i enrolled myself at college and it gave me solid bases and a huge boost.

Everyone who does/did their CCNA legally with basic computers knowledge and self-studying at home have all my respect!

MosGuy

I haven't yet scheduled my exam, but getting close. Initially when going through Jeremy's CBT videos. I jotted down commands to recall when labbing. Occasionally I'll go back through the study guides and scan over the term tables etc. As AvidNetworker mentioned, the key is lots of labs, practice repetition especially with subnetting. These days I simply keep doing hands on practice. I don't feel the need for notes, apart from a subnet chart for quick reference.

I would say take as many notes as you need in whatever style works best for you to remember things. Everyone learns differently so there's no right/wrong format. Figure out your method & stick with it

QHalo

I would watch the videos and first all the way through and then again taking notes from the slides. Then I'd lab along with the videos and then create my own labs. Take test, pass, rinse repeat.

CodeBlox

I don't really note take. Some times it helps to jot notes however, even if you never read them. For me, I find that reading and then practicing on hardware or in a simulation forces me to remember. Often times, I find that taking notes just waste my time when it comes to this kind of thing. Hands on is better.