I recently got a message asking how to color code notes, and because it was such a hit I decided to expand on the topic!
Color coding your notes is proven to enhance your learning and make you a more efficient thinker. Try using these few tips and see how much your note taking experience improves!
Write your notes using a black pen
Pencils get smudged easily when highlighted, and often fade. Using a fast-drying pen will ensure that the ink does not smudge.
TIP: Write your original notes in pencil, make additions, add diagrams, get all the facts in. Once you get home, rewrite your notes neatly in pen, organizing the topics and making sure you understand the material.
Use highlighters to color code
Choosing to use colored pens is much more time consuming, and can make it hard to find key topics when rereading the notes.
TIP: Although highlighters take up much more space than pens, try to find some travel sized highlighters that save space.
Have a key
Yellow: important points, facts, examples, etc.
Pink: very important factors, key points, definitions, teacher additions, etc.
Blue: undefined words, confusing topics, requires research, etc.
Green: dates, names, places, etc.
Purple: works cited, authors, etc.
Don’t overdo it
Highlighting too many words will in return emphasize nothing. Don’t highlight entire sentences, only key points in the sentences. Try to keep it to a maximum of 4 words highlighted in a row.
Use corresponding sticky notes to elaborate
For example, use a green sticky note on the side of your paper to go into more detail about Abraham Lincoln’s early life.
TIP: As an alternative, use white sticky notes and a pen in that corresponding color.
Keep it short and sweet
Don’t feel like you have to color code your entire paper! Only highlight what is necessary. If you can summarize in a shorter sentence, do so. As long as you understand and can remember the information- that’s what matters.
Hopefully you find these tips to be of some help. Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to suggest a topic for my next post.
and for that i apologise. i never meant to make it tough for you.
you were never fighting against the enemy - you were fighting yourself. i convinced you it was right and that there was something worth fighting for.
i apologise for turning your mind against you. i gave you no hope of survival this year apart from the words that you ink onto paper before locking away.
apart from the escape of being in someone else’s shoes on stage for an hour or two and even then the joy that once came with such activities disappeared.
i’m sorry i let you believe that you weren’t worth that love. you weren’t good enough for that crush you had, you weren’t special enough for familial love and you definitely weren’t normal enough for platonic affection.
most of all you were never worth the love that flows from your heart in a never ending stream waiting for someone to push it back so you feel that heartbreak - letting it creep into every crevice, cementing the fact that you were unlovable.
i was wrong.
i was lost in the darkness that clouded my sight and turned my living days into the same nightmares i saw at night.
that took away the joy and light of dreams and replaced them with a void of empty space as the violent thoughts corrupted my nights as well.
i am sorry.
i say it a lot to others, to the animals and even to the world we live in but i don’t say it to you.
i have hurt you. more that anyone else possibly could have.
i look back upon this year and i wonder when the hope lighting the way disappeared. the once ignited flame was lost in the shadows and there was no room for it in the self-pity i shrouded you with.
dear me,
the new year is almost upon and i want to be better for you,
