Making Study Time Successful
It’s that time of year – time to settle into a solid routine of learning and studying to ensure your success at the end of the year. It is what you do every day that counts. Having worked with students worldwide, I see far more similarities between successful students than I see differences. Students tend to fall into four categories:
• Avoidance: You know you are in this category when you get lost in the world of YouTube or Tik Tok when you know you have work to do. Maybe you find yourself cooking, cleaning, tidying your room and going for a run rather than study.
• Anxious: This is when your tummy feels sick each time you think about study or exams. You are worried about failing, concerned about not meeting expectations and get defensive when others try to help or support your learning.
• Aware But Don’t Care: Here is when you know what you have to achieve and put your study off until tomorrow. Maybe you have enough credits or will not get credits for an assignment, so you think, why bother?
• Achiever: If you are in this category, you balance life and study and have a goal and a plan to achieve success. You feel like you are learning, growing and improving each week. You are happy, have energy and are getting the grades you desire. Most importantly, you know which behaviours are assisting you to be successful and repeat these steps repeatedly. Can you pinpoint which category you spend much of your time? Is there a gap between where you are and where you would like to be? I call this the learning gap. It is likely that no-one has taught you how to actually study. Studying is different from doing homework. Homework is completing the assignments teachers have set, following their guidelines and handing it in for marking and feedback. Studying is learning the information you DON’T know to pass a test or exam.
These are very different processes. Passing an exam has very little to do with intelligence and is more about strategy and technique.
In celebration of our 50th issue of the Teachers Matter Magazine, here are 50 Study Smart Tips:
Memory & Recall
1. Study for 20 minutes and then take a five minute break.
2. During a short study break, always leave your study room.
3. Go over your most important information first.
4. Revise your key information at the end of a study cycle.
5. Summarise your notes from class each day and read the following day.
6. Review your notes one day after learning them, then one week, one month and again, every six months.
7. Break your content into small, manageable chunks.
8. Learn only three or four pieces of information at a time.
9. Make important information stand out.
10. Make up mnemonics to remember, e.g., ROY G BIV (the order of the rainbow colours).
11. Create real-life examples.
12. Link what you are learning to the information you already know.
Engage Your Learning Senses
13. Talk about what you are learning to others.
14. Teach your information to others.
15. Move around while learning.
16. Listen to audio recordings when walking or running.
17. Watch videos of other teachers teaching the same information.
18. Use aromatherapy oils to stimulate memory, calmness and alertness.
19. Place essential information above eye level.
20. Make up raps, rhymes or funny stories about what you want to recall.
21. Make flashcards of key information.
Study Environment
22. Have everything you need within reach before you start to study.
23. Study at your best thinking time: morning, afternoon or evening.
24. Avoid studying the hour directly after school.
25. Natural or low lighting is best for learning.
26. Study to music without words.
27. Learning with Baroque music has been shown to enhance memory.
28. Plain popcorn is a great study snack food.
Note-Taking
29. Use colour to make your notes look interesting and more exciting to read.
30. Avoid copying directly from the book, screen or teachers’ words.
31. Write notes in your own words.
32. Summarise the information with keywords and diagrams.
33. Highlight important information. (Not every single word is “important!”)
34. Frame key ideas and concepts.
35. Draw pictures to help you recall the information. (Your brain remembers images before words.)
36. Learn how to create mind maps.
37. Write important information in red. (Red is the first colour your brain sees.)
Time Management
38. Learn the information you DON’T know. Avoid wasting time on going over what you already know.
39. Create a weekly & monthly study plan.
40. Plan what you want to learn each session.
41. Avoid multitasking as your brain can only focus on one task at a time.
Wellbeing
42. Keep yourself hydrated with clean, pure water.
43. Eat breakfast to give your brain learning fuel.
44. Eat brain foods daily. These include nuts, broccoli, banana, blueberries, tomatoes & wholegrain bread.
45. Daily exercise helps improve blood flow, which helps with thinking.
46. Give yourself positive encouragement.
47. Sleep 8-10 hours a night for maximum energy & alertness.
Success Strategies
48. Set goals and achieve them step by step.
49. Visualise your success daily.
50. Remain positive and focus on a successful outcome.
Download Karen’s FREE Study Smart Printable Poster
here: www.tinyurl.com/studysmartposter