7 Tips from FLVS Students for Taking Better Notes

It feels like the first day of school was just yesterday, but here we are, starting the second half of the school year! With exams, graduation, and summer break just around the corner, it’s time to study smarter, not harder.

Before winter break, we asked our students on Instagram how they prefer to take notes and 45% of students shared that they prefer taking notes digitally. But no matter what your note-taking style, we have tips to help you succeed this semester.

First Things First, Get Organized

There’s nothing worse than sitting down to prep for a DBA (discussion-based assessment) and not being able to find key information in your notes – or finding out that you lost your notes completely! Make sure your notes are easy to find by organizing each course in separate notebooks or digital folders and titling each page.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FLVS – Florida Virtual School (@floridavirtualschool)

Here are some pro tips from FLVS students:

1. “Label your lessons at the top.”
2. “Make a table of contents page for each module you take notes on. Trust me. It works.”
3. “Print out pictures and diagrams.”

Experiment to Find Your Style

We know every student learns differently – so take time to find your note-taking style. Experiment with bullet points, highlighters, fonts, and formats. But keep in mind that some styles may work better for different courses. A bullet format may work great for social studies but may not make sense for algebra.

Discover what styles work best for you with these tips:

4. “Personalize your notes! It makes them more fun to read.”
5. “Cornell notes help a lot during history class.”
6. “Use colorful pens and highlighters.”

• 

• 

Write in Your Own Voice

Have you noticed that it’s difficult to remember what you read or what your teacher said when you write it down word-for-word? That’s because information sticks better when written in your own voice – so try not to copy directly from your lessons and lectures.

We saved the best for last:

7. Take time to think about what you read, heard, or saw and write it down in your own words to help it stick.

Looking for more tips and tricks for academic success? Check out more online learning tips on the Virtual Voice blog.