High School Study Tips: Three Steps to Better Grades!

Posted in High Schools, Tips on March 26, 2010

Whether you’ve chosen to attend a traditional high school, plan to enroll in a high school diploma program or decide to be homeschooled, your primary goal is to learn. If you find yourself struggling, it’s best to turn things around ASAP to avoid falling too far behind in your studies. Want to know how to do it? It’s simple: get organized, set goals, and put school first.

Step 1: Get Organized!

Your textbook does you no good if you don’t know where it is, and you can’t expect to ace a test you forgot to study for. Keep your things in order and manage your time. Consider keeping a personal organizer to track major assignments and exams, and create a dedicated study area in your home. You’d be amazed what a difference these techniques make.

Step 2: Set Realistic Goals and Stick With Them!

If you expect yourself to ace every class, you’re probably expecting too much of yourself. Chances are you’ll be discouraged when you can’t achieve the unrealistic goals you’ve set for yourself, and become tempted to simply throw in the towel. On the same note, don’t settle for merely passing your classes when you know you can do more. Take some time to consider your potential and create a plan you can stick with. Set goals, both big and small. Whether it’s to finish your reading assignments before each class session or to keep your grade point average above a 3.0, write everything down and review your list often.

Step 3: Keep Your Priorities Straight!

School is about more than your classes. You have extracurricular activities, friends, family and a job on the side. Maybe you’re an older student with a full-time position and a family of your own. Either way, it’s important to find a balance, and school should be near the top. With a quality education, you can get a better job, support your family better or go on to college. It isn’t realistic to always put school above everything, and it’s crucial to take a bit of ‘me’ time now and again, but know when it’s time to hit the books and respect it.

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Effective Study Habits

Posted in Effective Study Habits on March 13, 2010

Effective study habits are essential for achieving and maintaining a high GPA. More importantly, effective study habits help you to store information in long-term memory, allowing you to use the learned information in a novel setting. Applying the following rules for studying will aid you in earning excellent marks in school.

Do: 1. Keep the area around your desk neat and tidy. If possible, the area should also be quiet. If you are having trouble finding a quiet place to study, try the local library or park. The library is a perfect place to have peace and quiet. The park may not be as quiet, but the fresh air can make studying less nerve-racking. If these options are unavailable, then try listening to some music while studying.

2. Have a scheduled study time for each school day. Remember that one classroom hour should be reinforced by two hours of studying at home.

3. Sit down for 45 minute intervals, followed by 15 minute breaks. Having an easily attainable goal, like sitting for set duration of time, is effective for increasing motivation.

4. Reward yourself if and only if you have met your goal for that study session. For example, if you plan to study one chapter and succeed, then you may reward yourself by doing something pleasurable. Examples of positive reinforcement are: food, exercise, videogames, etc.

5. Make correspondences between your class notes and your textbook. This will help you to fill in any background information not covered in class.

6. Prepare questions about the chapter that will be discussed in the following class. This will help you identify areas that you don’t understand.

7. Put any new words or concepts to use. The more you use the learned information, the more likely you will be to remember it. This is especially true for language classes.

8. Finally, review what you have studied just before you go to bed. You will find that you will remember the words very strongly the next morning.

Don’t: 1. Procrastinate. Cramming is not beneficial for producing long term memory.

2. Highlight. Highlighting is a form of procrastination, because you are saving note taking for later. This means you must use the book twice instead of once. Instead, make careful notes to compliment your classroom notes, along with page numbers so that you can refer back to the book if necessary.

3. Study on the computer. You are bound to be tempted to check your email or surf the net.

4. Leave your cell phone on during study time. No matter who is calling or texting you, usually it can wait 45 minutes. Having your cell phone on during study time can be a major distraction and is not conducive to learning.

5. Study just after you have eaten. Studies have shown that thinking is slower after having a meal.

6. Space out. When you feel your mind begin to wander, remind yourself to concentrate. If you are reading, using your finger is a good way to keep your mind on track. The movement of your finger on the page forces you to pay attention to what you are doing.

by Gene Grzywacz

About the Author

Gene Grzywacz is author of the Brute Force Study Guide. The website bruteforcestudyguide.com offers study skills and college tips.

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Managing Your Study Time

Posted in Managing Your Study Time, Tips on February 27, 2010

There are only so many hours in a day, a week, and a term. You cannot change the number of hours, but you can decide how to best use them. To be successful in school, you must carefully manage your study time. Here is a strategy for doing this.

Prepare a Term Calendar

At the beginning of a term, prepare a Term Calendar. Update it as the term goes on. Here is what to do to prepare a Term Calendar.

  • Record your school assignments with their due dates and your scheduled tests.
  • Record your planned school activities.
  • Record your known out-of-school activities.Prepare a Weekly ScheduleEach Sunday before a school week, prepare a Weekly Schedule. Update it as the week goes on. Here is what to do to prepare a Weekly Schedule.
  • Record your daily classes.
  • Enter things to be done for the coming week from your Term Calendar.
  • Review your class notes from the previous week to see if you need to add any school activities.
  • Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be involved during the week.
  • Be sure to include times for completing assignments, working on projects, and studying for tests. These times may be during the school day, right after school, evenings, and weekends.Prepare a Daily Organizer Each evening before a school day, prepare a Daily Organizer for the next day. Place a ? next to each thing to do as you accomplish it. Here is what to do to prepare a Daily Organizer.
  • Enter the things to do for the coming day from your Weekly Schedule.
  • Enter the things that still need to be accomplished from your Daily Organizer from the previous day.
  • Review your class notes for the day just completed to see if you need to add any school activities.
  • Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be involved the next day.

Your Weekly Schedule should have more detail than your Term Calendar. Your Daily Organizer should have more detail than your Weekly Schedule. Using a Term Calendar, a Weekly Schedule, and a Daily Organizer will help you make the best use of your time.

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College Study Tips

Posted in College Study, College Tips on January 12, 2010

Studying for a university exam can prove to be challenging with campus activities often serving as a potential distraction. Getting the most from your test preparation requires choosing the right study environment, as well as utilizing effective study methods. This guide will outline some proven best practices that research has shown will help you concentrate on your class material, and put you in the proper mindset to ace your next college test.

In order to maximize your study time, start by choosing an environment with few potential distractions where you can focus for long periods of time. Ideal quiet study locations include your campus library, local coffee shops and computer labs. The goal of finding an effective study place is to find a study pattern that becomes familiar and helps you reinforce the concepts you learn in the lecture hall.

Research has shown that repetition is a key element of learning, and regular study times will help you to reinforce materials learned in class. Try to select times that you devote to exam preparation, and treat this time as scheduled for that purpose. Plan to spend two hours studying for every hour in the classroom. A good plan is to spend the first 15 minutes of your study time covering previous material, as well as the last 15 minutes covering upcoming concepts so you can build on what you know to master that patterns that will ensure your academic success.

Finding a proper balance between your college courses is also a key element of a proper study method. When beginning a course, find out as much information as you can from fellow students about the time needed to learn the material, and give yourself enough time to ensure each of your courses gets the necessary attention. Try to select courses that interest you, and set goals at the beginning of the semester that will keep you motivated from the beginning of the semester all the way until finals week. Expect to spend the most time on course for your major, so make sure to carefully pick an academic focus that you are genuinely interested in. Since academic skills build cumulatively, do the necessary research to ensure you have taken the necessary prerequisites for higher-level courses, and review those concepts before the beginning of the semester.

Finally, take time to reward yourself for hard work by celebrating good test scores by giving yourself a day off of studies to refresh your mind. By following these college exam tips, you will be well prepared for your next test and beyond.

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