One day I was asking my students a question while they were taking notes, I kept asking the question over and over because no one was responding which was unusual for a pretty talkative class. Finally after they all stopped writing I noticed that they would then be able to answer my questions. I cut to the chase that day and asked every class how many of them could listen and take notes at the same time. Most of them said they couldn’t. I was in disbelief. I thought that I had done them a favor by giving them just fill in the blank notes but apparently they still were not absorbing what I was saying beyond the notes. We all learn better through story associations. This means that if we hear a story or example it helps us remember a concept or term. They were totally missing out on all my explanations, examples, and stories because they could not take notes and listen at the same time.