Creative Note-Taking

By: Carolina P.

October 19, 2016


When I am studying for a test, I want to look for my notes and immediately find what I am looking for.  I think this is something that many students want, so that’s why I am sharing my way to take fun, colorful, neat, and organized notes.

For me, the traditional way of taking notes which has columns and letters isn’t that effective. Unless my teacher requires us to take notes like that, I won’t. If you look at my notes and some of my friend’s notes, then you may at first see them and think, “Oh my, that’s a lot of information and it is so scattered!” However, if you just follow the arrows, everything unfolds. These notes seem hard to do, but with these tips, your notes will become a work of art.

The first thing you should do is get different color pens. Even if you don’t take this type of notes, I think different color pens are very important because you are able to see things easily and you actually remember things more! Sometimes I will only use two colors but sometimes I  use five colors, so it’s up to you. The next thing that is very important in these notes are arrows. My notes are full of them, they lead you to information and can connect many things.

I like using arrows more than bullet points under something for two reasons. The first reason is because with bullet points, you never know when you will need something under one. For example, if you are reading a book and you bullet the characters in your notes, you have no room to describe the characters. With arrows, you can name the characters, draw arrows and describe them. Also you can draw arrows to similarities and to something earlier in your notes. Even though arrows are awesome, they are not as good for math notes.

For math notes I recommend using frames. Just write information in rectangles and squares and then draw a cool frame around the information. The last thing you need to remember is that each page of notes is going to be different. None of them are going to be perfect, so don’t get upset if you mess up. I think taking notes this way takes a lot of practice because you need to learn how to take notes creatively while the teacher is talking. You can’t think about the color scheme to much, just take the notes and by the end I’m sure your notes will look wonderful.

I really hope these tips help you note taking skills. Taking notes is a fun way to use the gift of the creativity and knowledge that God gave you Ever since I started taking notes this way, my studying has been faster and I am remembering the notes more. Happy note taking!

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