I star big concepts, then use arrows to connect things. I then make a large concept map. It works for me, but some other people call it “too complex.”
How do you people take notes? I think it’ll be interesting to see the responses.
I actually don’t usually take notes - except for my online physics course.
We have videos we are /supposed/ to watch in math, but I never do and still learn the concepts through bookwork.
In chem, all my teacher does is lecture and give us a huge powerpoint packet that I don’t even look at.
In history, we get follow along notes but I don’t even have to study for that class to keep a high A
Band - lol
English - we don’t take notes. Ever.
Oh, what I like to do is jot down key concepts, underline them, and list any details underneath these headings. I then rewrite the notes in a more organized and detailed manner after school, as this helps me a lot with retaining the information c:
American History/English 9: Nope
Biology- The teacher is sometimes kind enough to prepare real barebones notes, but I generally write ‘probing questions’ then answer them in my own words. This sometimes doubles as study. o<o
Themes in Literature (Feminist Lit): Nope. Sometimes I use stickynotes in our books to keep track of symbolism.
Algebra II: Oohhh yes. These notes are all over the place, but generally follow my Bio notes. If I’m feeling lazy, though, their quality takes a steep dive.
Spanish II: Never
PLTW Intro to Engineering: Sometimes, but never more in-depth than copying the powerpoint or bulleted lists
In my classes we usually have handouts that follow along with what we r supposed to know. I just try to highlight the important stuff and make sure I write down extra stuff I might have to know
The method you use is something I call “web notes”, more known as “mapping notes”. This type of notes might be that well in knowing your stuff and hard to remember them. I use a main method that could help you: Cornell Notes and/or outlining notes.
Cornell Notes: These types of notes are useful in any time you need to take notes. All you need to do is draw a line about 1.5-2.5 inches from the left border, and you write all your notes on the right side (the wider side). When you are finished with one section of notes, either leave one line on your notebook paper blank, or draw a line through it, separating the content. Meanwhile, on the left side of the line, opposite where you wrote your notes, write the main idea of those notes. Optionally, at the end of your notes, you can write a summary, of what you just wrote. Although it is recommended and you can retain the information longer, you don’t need to do it. However, one thing that still is true, whether you write a summary or not, taking these notes will be very organized, and it will help retain information easier than your current method.
Outlining Notes: The most known type of notes, this type of notes is getting bullet points and writing information by the side of the bullet points. The broader the topic (the more important), the further left of the paper it goes. Information that goes into a broader topic goes a bit more to the right of your information (each new bullet point gets a new line on your notebook paper, DO NOT LEAVE ANY BLANK LINES ON YOUR NOTEBOOK PAPER). This is most useful for taking notes in math or science.
For more information on notes: http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/notetakingsystems.html
Hope this helped you! 
I wasn’t looking for help, @Learning4thewin, I was interested in learning how others take notes.
If I’m writing notes in class during a lecture I usually do shorthand, messy outline notes. When I’m taking notes on my own, I still like to use the outline method, but I use a kinda complex color coding system so I’m forced to pay attention to why information is relevant (like if it’s vocab, a definition, an important concept that should be emphasized)
I use colored pens for all my classes. I do a different color for each section, and only use the colored pen for key points(like definitions) and a black pen for surrounding things. For example if one day in Zoology I’m learning bones I’ll use a blue pen for the word I’m defining and write the definition in black and the next day if I’m learning about breeds I’ll use a red pen. This helps me find things easily and I’m also a visual learner so it helps me by relating things to colors.
AP World history: I take outline notes because she makes us, but honestly, i cant even read what I wrote most of the time. We have learning guides (a VERY long list of questions from each chapter), so I study that instead of the notes.
Pre-calc: I just write down important things, like formulas.
Anatomy: we do fill in the blank notes that she prints for us
AP Spanish: lol none
English: she makes us take cornell notes, and I hate them
AP Seminar: lol none here either
Band: self explanitory
lol i don’t.
It’s not necessary if you understand all the material and the material is pretty basic for all my courses
Most of the time I don’t but if it’s a Harkness attention quiz thing then I try and write down a summary of what everyone said in that order. If it’s a university course then I’d just write down equations or things I’d never guess myself. I like to pretend they’re pretty organized but I’d be lying to myself :p. They deem useless later on cuz I usually can’t read them
or I just type them on my phone or computer or whatever device to pass time. 
Definitions, examples, key facts, people and events.