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If you’ve been in the classroom for a while, you already know that some of the things we were trained to do early in our careers just don’t serve students the way we hoped. One of the biggest shifts I made—one that completely changed how my students learned—was the way I handle note taking. For years, like so many teachers, I taught while my students took notes. I would pause mid-lesson to say, “Make sure you write this down,” or, “This part is important—don’t miss it.” That was how I had been taught, and it was what I believed teaching was supposed to look like.
But what I eventually learned is that I was unintentionally interrupting both of us—my teaching flow and their ability to truly comprehend what I was saying. Students were so focused on capturing the words correctly that they weren’t always engaging with the meaning behind them.
Over time, that realization shifted my practice, and ultimately it led me to one of my favorite classroom systems: Snip Notes™
Around 2005, I began experimenting with changing the order of how note taking happens. Before I ever developed Snip Notes as a system, I simply stopped asking students to write during direct instruction. I taught first. I let them absorb, question, and listen without the distraction of handwriting or typing. For subjects like accounting or marketing, this made a huge difference. Students weren’t scrambling to keep up with debits and credits or the components of SWOT analysis — they were actually following the thinking process.
Later, I would revisit the information with them, and that was when they took notes. Not only did this preserve comprehension, but it also helped with memory retention because they were meeting the content twice—once in listening, and once in note taking.
By 2010, I formalized this approach into what became the Snip Note™ Note-Taking System. And by the time I launched my TPT store in 2019, I had developed Snip Notes™ for every course I taught: accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, personal finance, business essentials—everything.
Snip Notes™ are intentionally small. One sheet of regular printer paper becomes four separate bite-sized graphic organizers—each roughly the size of your hand. Each Snip Note contains a visually structured way of capturing just the essential information: mind maps, small containers, illustrated frameworks, or simple concept layouts.Visually, they work much like anchor charts—but scaled down into a student’s own portable collection of reference tools.
What I love most about the system is that it gives students:
And because they’re small and creative, students want to keep them. They’re delightful by design.
A few years after introducing Snip Notes™, I began storing them inside what I called “briefcase” or “lapbook” folders—simple non-pocketed folders folded in different ways to hold and display the notes. This gave students a personal vault of essential learning, all in one place.
And yes—they were allowed to use these during assessments.
That might surprise some people, but here’s why I stand firmly behind it: we are preparing students for real life, and in the real world, no one is told, “You may not reference your resources.” Today’s learners have 24/7 access to technology. Knowing how to recall and apply information—not just memorize it—is the real life skill.
One of the biggest compliments I ever received came during the 2020 shutdown. When students couldn’t come back to my classroom, the one thing they kept asking me for was their Snip Notes™. Seniors wanted them returned before laptops were turned in—not because they missed the decorations, but because they recognized the value of what they had built.
That told me everything I needed to know about their impact.
We know students learn through repetition, reflection, and organization. Snip Notes™ naturally support all three:
Benefit | How it shows up |
Improved comprehension | Students can focus on instruction the first time through |
Better retention | Revisiting concepts during note time cements them |
Visual memory support | The graphic organizer format reinforces recall |
Flexible use | Snip Notes™ work as reference tools, study guides, or assessment support |
Creativity + engagement | Students personalize them with color and design |
And because they’re organized in small chunks, they’re ideal for today’s “TikTok generation”—short bursts of meaningful learning rather than long packets of text.
For years, I did Snip Notes™ on Fridays as a “recap and reflect” routine. Later, I switched them to Mondays to give myself a calm, consistent system for easing into the school week. Either rhythm works beautifully—you can tailor it to your class structure and your own teaching style.
As teachers, we don’t always keep the same practices year after year. We shouldn’t. Each group of students is different, and teaching is an evolving craft. For me, Snip Notes™ became the evolution of note taking that made the most sense for how today’s students learn.
If you’d like to hear more about my philosophy behind Snip Notes™, I dive deeper into it in Episode 28 of my podcast The Art of Teaching Business, where I share more classroom strategies, teacher reflections, and business education insights. You can also listen to my podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple and Spotify.
You can also check out my YouTube video on my Accounting Snip Notes™ for a visual walk-through of how they work inside the classroom setup.
If you’re looking for a more student-centered, low-stress, high-retention way to support note taking — my Snip Notes™ graphic organizer note taking system might be the change that transforms your instruction the way they transformed mine.
