Most notes taken in class are not for learning. They are for presence — evidence that you were there, paying attention, copying things down. Notes that are actually useful for learning look different: they capture the key ideas in your own words, they show connections between concepts, they include your own questions about things you did not fully understand, and they are organised in a way that makes reviewing them a retrieval exercise rather than a reading exercise. The Cornell note-taking method splits a page into three sections: a main area for notes during class, a narrow left column for key terms and questions added after class, and a summary at the bottom written in your own words. The summary alone — written without looking at the notes — is one of the most effective post-class learning activities you can do in 5 minutes.