It's the night before a test, and you've opened your exercise book at the topic it covers. There are pages of it, neatly copied from the board, and reading them back feels a bit like reading someone else's notes. Nothing tells you which lines mattered, which parts made sense at the time or what you might be asked.
Copying can feel like the safest way to keep up with a fast lesson. A note you can revise from looks a little different. To write one, you usually write less in class and spend a few minutes on it later the same day, so the thinking happens while the lesson is still fresh.
What to include in your notes
You can choose a format that makes sense to you later. You can try the layout below with one lesson rather than changing your whole book. It shows a made-up English explanation written down two ways.
One English lesson, copied and as a note you can revise from
The same explanation of inclusive language from a Year 10 class, written down two ways
Copied from the slide
Inclusive language: the use of first-person plural pronouns such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ to position the audience to feel they are part of a group that shares the writer’s values, which can make readers more likely to accept the contention. E.g. ‘We all want our kids to be safe.’
Turned into a note
- Where it's from
- English, 12 May 2026. Persuasive language, slide 4
- In my own words
- Using ‘we’ and ‘our’ can invite readers into the writer’s group and create shared responsibility.
- Example from class
- ‘We all want our kids to be safe.’
- Question to test myself
- Why would a writer say ‘we’ rather than ‘you’?
- Still unsure
- ? What does ‘position the audience’ mean? Ask next lesson.
Writing less while the teacher is talking
When you're copying everything, you're writing while the teacher explains, and the explanation is often what makes sense of the slide. In class, you can aim to record the main points (PDF) to rebuild the idea later:
- the subject, date and topic, plus the slide or page number, so you can find the original again
- keywords and main points rather than full sentences
- a symbol or quick sketch where it's faster than words, like an arrow for “leads to”
- a worked example the teacher uses to explain a method, including the steps you might not remember later
- a “?” beside anything you didn't follow
Leaving a few lines free under each part gives you room to finish the note later.
Later the same day, put it in your own words
You can try setting aside a few minutes later that day to finish the note while you still remember the explanation. For each part, you can write the main idea in a sentence or two of your own. Restating an idea in your own words without losing its main point is called paraphrasing (PDF), and it's the step copying skips. If you can't write the idea without looking back at the slide, it's easier to find that out now than the night before a test.
Then you can add a question you could be asked about it, like the one in the English example. That leaves you something to answer later instead of something to reread.
Anything with a “?” beside it is worth asking about soon, while it's one small thing: your teacher at the start of the next lesson, or a classmate who followed it. When you find out something in your notes was wrong, you can fix it in the note straight away, so the wrong version isn't the one you revise.
If the same-day step keeps slipping, our weekly study planner can give it a short, regular place in your week around school, sport and work.
When a test is coming up, our guide to study methods covers how to practise with the questions in your notes.
Maths notes: the steps, the reasons and a question to try
In maths, you can keep a worked example: a question solved with every step shown. The steps alone often aren't enough, though, because weeks later the working can look right without you remembering why each line follows from the one before. You can add a short reason beside any step you might find hard to explain later.
Under the example, you can copy a similar question from the textbook or the class exercises and leave the working off. Later, you can cover the example and try that question on its own. You can try this once the example makes sense. AERO recommends gradually removing support as students become more confident.
A maths note for expanding brackets
Worked example from class
- Multiply each term in the first bracket by each in the second
- Add the terms:
Try without looking
Answer, to check after:
When your notes show a topic you don't get yet
Sometimes, your notes reveal a wider gap: you struggle to explain the topic, or a maths example only makes sense with the steps in front of you. Finding that out from your own notes, rather than in a test, gives you the chance to sort it out first.
Your teacher is the first person to ask, and bringing the note with the “?” on it makes the question specific. Your teacher or year level coordinator can tell you whether your school offers homework clubs or study support.
If a topic still doesn't click after that, one-to-one tutoring can give it more time. At TMJ Tutoring, our tutors follow your school program, at home or online, and you can bring your class notes, task sheets and teacher feedback to work through together.
You don't need to change everything at once. One subject, starting from its next lesson, is plenty, and a few weeks later you can have a run of notes that still make sense when you open the book the night before a test.
Other questions about notes
What if I'm comparing two things?
A small table with a column for each, or two overlapping circles for what they share and what they don't, can keep the points beside each other. The WA Department of Education suggests column notes and diagrams like these (PDF) for sorting information.
Should I rewrite all my old notes?
You don't need to copy every page again. When a test is coming, you can go through that topic's pages and write each lesson's main idea and a question on one sheet, which gives the notes you already have the same treatment.
Is it better to type notes or write them by hand?
You can use either if your school allows it. Try the layout with the equipment you already use, and notice whether you can include the examples, diagrams and questions you need.
What if my teacher hands out the slides?
Then you don't need to copy them. You can write on the printed slides or keep a note beside them with what they leave out: the main idea in your own words, your questions and anything the teacher said that isn't on the slide.
How do I take notes from a textbook or a video?
The same way, with one advantage: you can pause. You can read or watch a section through first, then write the keywords and main idea without looking back, adding the page number or the time in the video so you can find it again.
Where this advice comes from
Sources checked on 6 November 2026. These resources are written for teachers; the note layouts and suggested after-class routine are adaptations for you to try, rather than tested comparisons of note-taking methods.
