School is starting! Yikes! I'm not sure about you guys, but I am psyched and nervous at the same time. Why? I am going into Middle school! These study tips work for ALL ages, so don't worry. Here we go! Ready.... Set..... READ!!!
Study Skills
In any activity you spend time doing, you want to gain the most out of it. Everyday you spend roughly 6 and a half hours at school, and may feel that you only gained 30-40 minutes of any actual knowledge. Were they only teaching that much that day? Looking over your notes and studying your subjects will help you stay on top of things.
The best way to go about studying is to study in the manner at which you learn best. First you should decide what kind of learner you are. The two main ways that people learn are by seeing and by hearing. This is called visual and auditory learning. Most everyone is capable of learning both ways, but there are tips to finding out which one you naturally prefer.
Auditory learners ( good listeners ) find that taking notes from lectures and taking in information that people are telling them is the best way for them to learn. Audio learners often find themselves to be the ones in class who ask more questions and analyze information best through the spoken word. If you are an auditory learner, you prefer the teacher to tell you how to do something, rather than reading about how to do it.
Asking questions will always help to clarify information and/or give you more information so that you will be able to find out all sides of the topic. Sometimes you may ask questions you may already know the answer to. Confirming an idea is important. You know the saying that no question is a stupid question? As long as you are sticking to the subject, it's true!
It's important to ask questions if you learn visually as well, since most visual learners are taking in information by themselves, and not through a conversation. Because there really is only so much knowledge you can gain from a book, you'll need to actually talk with others about what you have learned so that you can analyze and form an opinion about the subject.
The other dominant learning pattern you may find yourselves in is the category of visual learners. These students are ones that learn more easily by looking at pictures, at models, by reading; in other words, using their eyes. Some of you visual learners may find that at the end of the school day you have forgotten some of the things you were taught in your lectures, even if notes were taken. Our best advice is to read over what you had written down and look back at the book. Reading the information for a second or third time is important. It will also be helpful to create other things that you can look at, such as timelines, Venn diagrams, flash cards, pictures, or highlighting things in different colors. These tools will help burn the lessons into your memory.
Create flash cards that will help you study with repetition. It is important before you begin studying the cards, to know what order they should be in. History cards are simple, because those will follow in the order from when the events occurred. Most subjects you should order according to when you learned the topics. Math is just the same. This formula figures out this, which can then be used in determining that. Picture how your teacher will structure your test, lesson to lesson, and then order your cards accordingly. Auditory learners will find that word association and rhyming schemes will help to memorize info. Who delivered the Gettysburg address? "I'm thinkin' Lincoln" you may tell yourself. A visual learner may draw a penny on the flashcard of this question to help them remember. Find what way you learn best, study in that fashion, and you will get the most out of your school day.
