A levels notes

For me, i find note-taking useful - when i take them from videos ive watched it's usually just on scrap paper just so i know im actually listening and watching and not getting distracted, because im forcing myself to listen to the important stuff their saying ready to write it down. Note taking from textbooks for me is helpful because sometimes textbooks are worded in a way thats difficult for me to understand and theres loads of information on a page which most of it may not even be important, so by note taking in my own words and picking out the infomation i need into one notebook, it means that when i go to revise or if i need certain notes rather than scanning through a page in a textbook i can just go to my own notes that are in my own way of understanding and find it quicker!

My personal way of note taking is quite time consuming but benefits me personally in the long run - i read the chapter in the textbook i want to study once, then i read one section of it again (so like a paragraph) and then i'll pick out notes from that paragrpah and write them down, then move onto the next paragraph and do the same thing until ive finished the chapter, making sure to re-read it each time. Then once ive got the notes for that topic, ill write them onto a big word document so that it's all in one space. So that when it comes to revision, or if im on the go like doing work in a library rather than at home where all my note books are, i just have to go into my files and open it up and its all there and organised! But also because im then writing them up onto my laptop, im also re-reading it again so hopefully it goes into my brain a bit better. But the only real way for me to remmeber all the notes after i've written them is doing questions on it, wether thats just short questions or wether its exam questions - i dont know about others textbooks but i know that for mine at the end of each topic they'll be a few questions on the last pages, and then some exam questions to test yourself to see how much you remmeber after writing the notes.

Have you looked into doing 'cornell notetaking'? It may be a bit better than regular note taking, as it gets you to think more about what your actually making notes on, by making a summary, picking out key details, cues, key words etc.