Successful Study Tips -Thinking Outside the Box
Do you have any special study tips you like? Did you get completely ready to take your test? Do you do more than read and reread your notes or book? Have you thought outside the box? Here are some easy study tips that you may find helpful!
1. The Whole Enchilada!
Do you look at the big picture first, or do you head straight for the details? Sometimes learning something is easier if you get the big picture first and then go back to fill in the details. This is especially effective for a history class or a class that has a “story-like” aspect to the information.
2. One Month at a Time!
Develop a calendar for the entire month of the days when you plan to study and the due dates of tests and assignments. Stick to the schedule! It is only necessary to tell yourself you will set aside 2 hours on that day to review your subject. You don’t have to identify the exact 2 hours! That will allow you to be flexible.
3. Color Your World!
Use color coding (or other visual techniques) to separate out the material you need to learn. This might be as simple and using yellow note paper for Chapter 3 and blue paper for Chapter 4, or simply marking various sections of the text in blue or yellow highlighter. Using a variety of colors can help separate information in your long term memory.
4. Watergate Revisited!
Use your tape recorder to verbalize some of the information you need to learn. For example, say a vocabulary word, let the tape run blank for 15 or 20 seconds, and then record the answer. When you play it back, you can try and beat the machine to the punch! (If you don’t understand the Watergate reference, look it up!)
5. Check Please!
Create a check list of terms, but don’t include the answers. As you study, see which terms you can identify aloud and which words you do not know. This will help you determine what you still need to learn.
6. All Hands on Deck!
Always read with a pen or pencil in your hand and a notebook nearby. Making notes in a notebook or in your textbook as you go along gives you an instant study guide.
7. You’ve Got 5 Minutes!
Take 5 minutes before class to review the day’s approaching lesson. Take 5 minutes after class to review the day’s notes. You can gain more from these few minutes than any other time!
8. Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk!
Get a white board (or chalk board) for your room and hang it on the wall. Become your own teacher and stand at the board. Talk yourself through the material but do the work aloud! Studying silently doesn’t prove that you know your stuff!
9. Beware of the Door People!
These are the people hanging around outside the classroom who have taken this subject before. They will tell you that this is an impossible test to pass. A door person can undermine all your efforts in a few short minutes. You are ready. Don’t listen to the door people!
10. What Mistakes?
Analyze your errors. Did you not understand the concepts or did you study the wrong information? You cannot fix a problem unless you know what went wrong. History does not need to repeat itself!!
Find the techniques that work best for you, and you will be a successful student with passing test scores!!
