Study Skills
Study skills are hard to come by. Those who were trained early have a good foundation of the skills necessary to study effectively. Here are some guidelines (not rules) to follow to help develop good study skills.
Note-Taking
Let's be honest, taking notes is somewhat like an art! Students marvel at the student who is able to take good notes they receive from lecture. However, most of us are stuck scribbling everything down the teacher has written on the board, and we swear that the teacher is moving too fast! Here are a few guidelines to give your students to take great notes in class:
- Write Neatly. (You want to be able to read your notes later on).
- Develop a format to write your notes. (Notes usually contain: definitions, theorems, examples, and formulas).
- If you are a visual learner, develop a color scheme for your notes. (i.e. red = definitions).
- Write notes with the intention of comprehending the material. (Everything the teacher writes down must be assumed to be important).
- Ask questions while taking notes.
- Make side notes. (Maybe you want to ask a question later on about a particular topic in the notes, or write the answer to a question you just
asked the instructor).
- Listen to the point the teacher is trying to make before you copy the notes from the board. (You'll be able to ask better questions if you listen).
- Rewrite notes later to help reinforce instructors lecture topic and ideas.
Tricks to Good note Taking
To slow down the instructor, ask them to:
- Repeat what they just said.
- Give you an example problem.
- Tell the instructor you don't understand.
- Apologize for not understanding so quickly, and ask them to repeat what they said differently.
Slowing down the instructor will give you the time that you need to write neatly, and process some additional information.
Important details about Note Taking
Taking good notes demands:
- Neatness. So much information is captured if you take neat notes. Messy notes convey confusion.
- Detailed editing, where you go through and make comments about the things you understand and don't understand. These are the questions we
ask the instructor in class, or a tutor.
Use Notes
Notes should be reviewed regularly to preserve concepts just learned. In addition, the notes the tutees have taken should be used to aid the student in following the instructors way of thinking, and solving problems. Introducing new methods and concepts will eventually confuse the student. Therefore, as a tutor, it is wise to use their notes so that you are helping the tutee as supposed to hindering them.
Listening Skills
"We are given two ears and one mouth, because God knew that it was going to be twice as hard to listen as it would be to speak"
During your tutoring sessions, make sure that your tutee is practicing active listening skills. Actively listening takes time to learn and it does take practice. Make sure the student practices active listening skill during your session. You are able to check if your tutee has understood anything by frequently asking challenging questions.
Time Management
It is a fact that most of us suffer from some degree of procrastination. However, as most successful people will tell you, there is a nice formula to their procrastination. If there is work to be done with a deadline attached to it, then it is wise to (1) make a list of things that need to be done by the end of the day, and stick to it. Even if it takes you all day, the rule of successful procrastination is: don't procrastinate if you don't know how. (2) Do the most difficult stuff first. Once the hard stuff is done first, then you free up the amount of energy you will apply to finish up your project/homework. (3) Have fun! Obviously if you are procrastinating it's because you have something better to do (keyword is 'think'). Every time getting your work done crosses your mind, you have to be honest with yourself, and put some effort in to getting your work done, but if the hard stuff is already done, then you shouldn't have any problem. (4) Make sure you stick to your list. If you have to, you must be able to pull an all-nighter. If this is hard for you to do, don't procrastinate! Successful procrastinators (yes they do exist), in the end are able to say that they finished all their work.
Let's make it clear, by no means is it a good idea to remain a procrastinator, because procrastinators are just getting by. You want to do better than, 'just getting by'. If you have a plan then that is always better than procrastination. Planning involves, setting goals for yourself, and constructing a timeline anticipating when these goals are to be accomplished. Setting up times to study and completing your work ahead of time is essential to maximum learning and reduced stress. Planning is the way to go.
To assist the student with Time Management, and utilizing their time wisely, use the Mot Mot Sheets contained in their folder. This sheet is a list of things the students should be doing on a daily basis, must-do basis, and/or weekly basis. To use this sheet, just assign some of the items on the list for your tutee to do to aid them in utilizing their time wisely. Go over with them WHY you chose these items, and HOW you believe they will benefit from it.
Remember, the key to time management is understanding, Time is Money.
Textbook Marking
"I don't want to mark in my new text, I want to sell it afterwards!"
Well I think I can speak for all students, when I say that NO ONE wants to pay HIGH PRICES for textbooks! However, this valuable resource is expensive for a reason. Use your textbooks wisely to make reading a textbook easy. Every book contains important information thus it is called "your TEXT book". This is like buying a gun for a war, and not wanting to shoot with it?! Let's look at some guidelines that we can use to utilize our textbook, (because if we are not to get any money back for our book, at least we know why. Who knows, we may get lucky and they take the book back too...):
DO:
- Highlight to ONLY locate important information.
- Underline main points to easily recognize.
- How many subheadings does the section you are reading have?
- How many vocabulary words from the section are there for you to remember?
- Paraphrase in the margins to organized condense information.
- However, if you still don't feel comfortable marking in your texts, use colorful sticky pads ;-).
DO NOT:
- Don't Highlight Everything.
- Don't Overdo Paraphrasing.
Study Environment
Do you have a great study environment? Meaning, studying in front of the TV is ok, only if you can get some work done. There's nothing wrong studying in your car, at a restaurant, on vacation, in the laundry room, or on the train just as long as you get some work done. It is just a well known fact that if you study in remote places like the library, a desk in your room, or even with light classical music you seem to perform better while getting your work done.
Let's face it, even when we get older we won't be able to find our way to the library all the time whenever we need to study for something because our lives get busier. However, if we just perfect the bare essential of 'studying' then we can ultimately study anywhere, creating a study environment anywhere we go:
1- Make sure you bring all necessary material for at least one (1) of your subjects (i.e. math textbook, notebook, calculator, sharpener, pencils,
and solution manuals) whenever you got to your activity/event.
2- Wherever you go, place your bag in a location so that no one can steal it from you. (If you can't find a remote location to place your
backpack, at the bare minimum, your back pack should remain on your back. For best results, one should have an open mind about this.
For creative people this won't be a problem.).
3- While participating in your activity/event put out those guilty urges to do your homework by going to that remote location where your
backpack is at, and do a little bit of homework. (Obviously it's better if the backpack is not on your back, right? So hopefully, we have used
our creativity and ran into some luck in the step).
4- Get back to your activity/event that you were apart of and repeat steps 2-4 whenever those urges to study occur again.
...ok, this sounds kind of drawn out, but one could speculate it to work, assuming step-1 happens ;-).
Test-Taking
No one enjoys taking a test. The word 'test' itself has become a word to set 'fear' in the hearts in a lot of us. However, this anxiety that we feel should be combated by prevention rather than compliance.
- Cramming is not good. Study for your test in advance.
- Ask questions about the test (i.e. multiple choice written response, true false, etc).
- Review by taking practice tests (i.e. made up tests, old tests, etc.).
- Practice reading direction to make sure you know what questions will be asked of you.
- Out of all the type of questions you may asked, make a list, and practice answering specific type of questions. (i.e. definition questions,
simplification questions, following-example questions, logarithmic questions, etc.).
- Arrive to test early.
- Come Prepared.
- Stay relaxed. "If you know you know it before the test, you can then beat test-anxiety."
Memory and Concentration
If studying a subject like mathematics, you want to refrain from memorizing too much anyways; it's just not that kind of subject where if you were to memorize everything, you might as well just admit that you know it all because it's so much information. Moreover, the method that you would undergo to memorize anything mathematical involves a lot of practice.
The Reason
Memorizing a formula means nothing if you don't know how to use it. When you take your test, they don't ask you to regurgitate formulas or definitions. The exams you will be taking more or less, test your comprehension and your ability to use the formulas when necessary. So just to keep it simple, don't get in a habit of, (or think you can get away with), just memorizing formulas. You have to practice utilizing them, that you may remember when it's appropriate to use them (this is what you truly memorize). Thus doing your homework is a method you could you use to memorize formulas and steps to solve problems, and is the recommended method.
Mnemonics
Moreover, memorizing key formulas, definitions, or steps is important in mathematics. A very common method of memorizing is to create a mnemonic. A mnemonic is a phrase that is invented (usually from the first letters of the steps) just to assist in memorizing something important. For example, P.E.M.D.A.S. which stands for Parenthesis, Exponents,Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. Or a more catchy phrase, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. Whatever the phrase my be, we are able to remember all the steps of the Order of Operations without struggling because the first letters of each word in the phrase gives us a hint as to which operation to perform first.
There other methods people chose to help them memorize key concepts or definitions. Some people make up songs. Can you think of other ways creative ways to help you memorize concepts?
Back - Next: Group Tutoring
Note-Taking
Let's be honest, taking notes is somewhat like an art! Students marvel at the student who is able to take good notes they receive from lecture. However, most of us are stuck scribbling everything down the teacher has written on the board, and we swear that the teacher is moving too fast! Here are a few guidelines to give your students to take great notes in class:
- Write Neatly. (You want to be able to read your notes later on).
- Develop a format to write your notes. (Notes usually contain: definitions, theorems, examples, and formulas).
- If you are a visual learner, develop a color scheme for your notes. (i.e. red = definitions).
- Write notes with the intention of comprehending the material. (Everything the teacher writes down must be assumed to be important).
- Ask questions while taking notes.
- Make side notes. (Maybe you want to ask a question later on about a particular topic in the notes, or write the answer to a question you just
asked the instructor).
- Listen to the point the teacher is trying to make before you copy the notes from the board. (You'll be able to ask better questions if you listen).
- Rewrite notes later to help reinforce instructors lecture topic and ideas.
Tricks to Good note Taking
To slow down the instructor, ask them to:
- Repeat what they just said.
- Give you an example problem.
- Tell the instructor you don't understand.
- Apologize for not understanding so quickly, and ask them to repeat what they said differently.
Slowing down the instructor will give you the time that you need to write neatly, and process some additional information.
Important details about Note Taking
Taking good notes demands:
- Neatness. So much information is captured if you take neat notes. Messy notes convey confusion.
- Detailed editing, where you go through and make comments about the things you understand and don't understand. These are the questions we
ask the instructor in class, or a tutor.
Use Notes
Notes should be reviewed regularly to preserve concepts just learned. In addition, the notes the tutees have taken should be used to aid the student in following the instructors way of thinking, and solving problems. Introducing new methods and concepts will eventually confuse the student. Therefore, as a tutor, it is wise to use their notes so that you are helping the tutee as supposed to hindering them.
Listening Skills
"We are given two ears and one mouth, because God knew that it was going to be twice as hard to listen as it would be to speak"
During your tutoring sessions, make sure that your tutee is practicing active listening skills. Actively listening takes time to learn and it does take practice. Make sure the student practices active listening skill during your session. You are able to check if your tutee has understood anything by frequently asking challenging questions.
Time Management
It is a fact that most of us suffer from some degree of procrastination. However, as most successful people will tell you, there is a nice formula to their procrastination. If there is work to be done with a deadline attached to it, then it is wise to (1) make a list of things that need to be done by the end of the day, and stick to it. Even if it takes you all day, the rule of successful procrastination is: don't procrastinate if you don't know how. (2) Do the most difficult stuff first. Once the hard stuff is done first, then you free up the amount of energy you will apply to finish up your project/homework. (3) Have fun! Obviously if you are procrastinating it's because you have something better to do (keyword is 'think'). Every time getting your work done crosses your mind, you have to be honest with yourself, and put some effort in to getting your work done, but if the hard stuff is already done, then you shouldn't have any problem. (4) Make sure you stick to your list. If you have to, you must be able to pull an all-nighter. If this is hard for you to do, don't procrastinate! Successful procrastinators (yes they do exist), in the end are able to say that they finished all their work.
Let's make it clear, by no means is it a good idea to remain a procrastinator, because procrastinators are just getting by. You want to do better than, 'just getting by'. If you have a plan then that is always better than procrastination. Planning involves, setting goals for yourself, and constructing a timeline anticipating when these goals are to be accomplished. Setting up times to study and completing your work ahead of time is essential to maximum learning and reduced stress. Planning is the way to go.
To assist the student with Time Management, and utilizing their time wisely, use the Mot Mot Sheets contained in their folder. This sheet is a list of things the students should be doing on a daily basis, must-do basis, and/or weekly basis. To use this sheet, just assign some of the items on the list for your tutee to do to aid them in utilizing their time wisely. Go over with them WHY you chose these items, and HOW you believe they will benefit from it.
Remember, the key to time management is understanding, Time is Money.
Textbook Marking
"I don't want to mark in my new text, I want to sell it afterwards!"
Well I think I can speak for all students, when I say that NO ONE wants to pay HIGH PRICES for textbooks! However, this valuable resource is expensive for a reason. Use your textbooks wisely to make reading a textbook easy. Every book contains important information thus it is called "your TEXT book". This is like buying a gun for a war, and not wanting to shoot with it?! Let's look at some guidelines that we can use to utilize our textbook, (because if we are not to get any money back for our book, at least we know why. Who knows, we may get lucky and they take the book back too...):
DO:
- Highlight to ONLY locate important information.
- Underline main points to easily recognize.
- How many subheadings does the section you are reading have?
- How many vocabulary words from the section are there for you to remember?
- Paraphrase in the margins to organized condense information.
- However, if you still don't feel comfortable marking in your texts, use colorful sticky pads ;-).
DO NOT:
- Don't Highlight Everything.
- Don't Overdo Paraphrasing.
Study Environment
Do you have a great study environment? Meaning, studying in front of the TV is ok, only if you can get some work done. There's nothing wrong studying in your car, at a restaurant, on vacation, in the laundry room, or on the train just as long as you get some work done. It is just a well known fact that if you study in remote places like the library, a desk in your room, or even with light classical music you seem to perform better while getting your work done.
Let's face it, even when we get older we won't be able to find our way to the library all the time whenever we need to study for something because our lives get busier. However, if we just perfect the bare essential of 'studying' then we can ultimately study anywhere, creating a study environment anywhere we go:
1- Make sure you bring all necessary material for at least one (1) of your subjects (i.e. math textbook, notebook, calculator, sharpener, pencils,
and solution manuals) whenever you got to your activity/event.
2- Wherever you go, place your bag in a location so that no one can steal it from you. (If you can't find a remote location to place your
backpack, at the bare minimum, your back pack should remain on your back. For best results, one should have an open mind about this.
For creative people this won't be a problem.).
3- While participating in your activity/event put out those guilty urges to do your homework by going to that remote location where your
backpack is at, and do a little bit of homework. (Obviously it's better if the backpack is not on your back, right? So hopefully, we have used
our creativity and ran into some luck in the step).
4- Get back to your activity/event that you were apart of and repeat steps 2-4 whenever those urges to study occur again.
...ok, this sounds kind of drawn out, but one could speculate it to work, assuming step-1 happens ;-).
Test-Taking
No one enjoys taking a test. The word 'test' itself has become a word to set 'fear' in the hearts in a lot of us. However, this anxiety that we feel should be combated by prevention rather than compliance.
- Cramming is not good. Study for your test in advance.
- Ask questions about the test (i.e. multiple choice written response, true false, etc).
- Review by taking practice tests (i.e. made up tests, old tests, etc.).
- Practice reading direction to make sure you know what questions will be asked of you.
- Out of all the type of questions you may asked, make a list, and practice answering specific type of questions. (i.e. definition questions,
simplification questions, following-example questions, logarithmic questions, etc.).
- Arrive to test early.
- Come Prepared.
- Stay relaxed. "If you know you know it before the test, you can then beat test-anxiety."
Memory and Concentration
If studying a subject like mathematics, you want to refrain from memorizing too much anyways; it's just not that kind of subject where if you were to memorize everything, you might as well just admit that you know it all because it's so much information. Moreover, the method that you would undergo to memorize anything mathematical involves a lot of practice.
The Reason
Memorizing a formula means nothing if you don't know how to use it. When you take your test, they don't ask you to regurgitate formulas or definitions. The exams you will be taking more or less, test your comprehension and your ability to use the formulas when necessary. So just to keep it simple, don't get in a habit of, (or think you can get away with), just memorizing formulas. You have to practice utilizing them, that you may remember when it's appropriate to use them (this is what you truly memorize). Thus doing your homework is a method you could you use to memorize formulas and steps to solve problems, and is the recommended method.
Mnemonics
Moreover, memorizing key formulas, definitions, or steps is important in mathematics. A very common method of memorizing is to create a mnemonic. A mnemonic is a phrase that is invented (usually from the first letters of the steps) just to assist in memorizing something important. For example, P.E.M.D.A.S. which stands for Parenthesis, Exponents,Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. Or a more catchy phrase, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. Whatever the phrase my be, we are able to remember all the steps of the Order of Operations without struggling because the first letters of each word in the phrase gives us a hint as to which operation to perform first.
There other methods people chose to help them memorize key concepts or definitions. Some people make up songs. Can you think of other ways creative ways to help you memorize concepts?
Back - Next: Group Tutoring