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Smart Cookie: Studying starts here Part 1
| Posted: 18 Aug 2009, 20:03 | |
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve- Napoleon Hill
DID YOU KNOW?An average student has spent over 22,000 hours studying from the time he or she began school through the twelfth grade. This enormous amount of time can be reduced considerably according to learning specialists through dynamic study skills. But most students are never really taught how to study. It’s a process the schools expect students to learn on their own. And because It is not usually taught, this is the most important guide for you.. This dynamic study process will help you every time you open a textbook from now on. Learn it and use it. Efficient studying does not simply consist of reading, underlining, and re-reading. Your new study process consists of reading, writing, thinking and recalling. It is based on the multi-layered learning process and actually takes less time than your old method of study. It may seem longer at first, but each step takes less time, and because it is so well structured you will have better recall at test time. The following is the explosive, productive, surefire study process you need! 
Study for Straight A’s by P-A-G-E”- 
1.) Prepare , 2) Ask,3) Gather, and 4) Evaluate Time and again students have proved that a multi-layered study process is much more effective than spending all your time reading and highlighting. The only way to learn the material is to become actively involved in absorbing and integrating it. Study reading is an active process, not a passive one. So get out your texts and some notepaper: and you’re ready to learn. 1.)Prepare for reading by browsing through your Texts. 
Survey to get an overview of the book, turning pages quickly so that you spend about two minutes to gather the information that answers the following questions: 1.) What are the main topics 2.) What do I already know about these topics? 3.) What special terminology is used to present the topics? 4.) Who is the author? 5.) How is the book organized? 6.) How difficult is the material and how difficult is the presentation? Begin to structure your notes around the design of the book. Decide how much material you wish to learn. Draw a picture of the organization of it. Put the more important information to the left, details to the right. Leave more room under topics and titles that have more pages involved. Draw these maps and lines before reading to help your mind organize and store the data better. After a chapter or section, go back and add to your notes. Figure 4 provides an illustration of this method. 2) Ask questions in each assigned chapter. 
Move quickly, skimming through the chapter much faster than your usual reading rate. Your purpose here is to find out what is important and how it is presented, not to read it. Check all boldfaced headings turning each into a question that you will answer later. Copy under the chapter titles, each of the subtitles and main ideas. This will take only a few seconds a page, but it will give you important clues to the material and help you to read it faster later on because you will be prepared for new ideas. Look over the visual aids, such as maps, charts, diagrams, illustrations, and pictures. That will help you grasp each point quickly. Then read any summaries or questions included at the end of the chapter. Summaries usually are helpful because this include the points the author felt to be most important. Before proceeding with your study, set two goals. Set a comprehension goal: decide how well you need to know the material. Will you be tested? If so, how thoroughly? Set a time goal for your particular section or chapter based on upon how well you need to know it. In easy or familiar material, your goal may be fifteen pages an hour. But whatever your goal, make sure that is only for one chapter o section-setting lengthy or unrealistic goals only leads to discouragement and failure. By achieving both of these goals, you will speed your study time greatly. At this stage you should have In your notes the chapter titles, subtitles, and all major ideas. You should already know a lot about the material and you haven’t even read it yet! 3) Gather the answers to your questions 
Now is the time to read the chapter as quickly as you can to understand the ideas. After each page or major idea go back to your notes and add the supporting details to them. Don’t precede more tan a page without writing something down. This is an important key to textbook comprehension and retention. Respond to the material by continually summarizing it in your notes, suing your own words. The old way of studying was to read and forget. Get into the habit of reading and responding. You will find even the most boring books become interesting. Reduce the use of underlining seemingly important thoughts. do not use a hi-lighter, magic marker, or felt tip pens, such a study method: • Is premature: you are not in a position to judge what is most important until you’ve read the entire chapter • Postpones learning; you may simply color the material, rather than understand it • Is permanent: have you ever tried to erase it? • Gives all material equal weight • Distracts; have you tried to read a used book marked with hi liter? • Devaluates the book; it ruins the appearance and resale value of the book. • Instead use a pencil to make important ideas. Whenever something looks valuable, put a check mark in the margin, just to the side of the passage. It marks’ what is important, but is not permanent. Later on, during a review, you can re-evaluate your mark and either leave them in place, erase them, or add a second one for emphasis. This system is one o f the most valuable tools you and use. Not only is flexible but it is quite inexpensive. Continue reading each chapter, marking what is important with a check, and adding to your notes until you are finished. 4.) Evaluate your results 
Go back through the chapter and reread it quickly to refresh your memory. Answer the chapter questions, see relationships, and complete your notes. Look at your notes. Do you now have details to support each main idea? Can you study that chapter from your notes? The answer should be yes. Your goal has been to get the material out of the text into your notes, then into your mind. Textbooks written by scientists or professors are often wordy and difficult to understand. Put the ideas in your own words and you will learn the material much faster. The following questions can help you evaluate textbooks and other nonfiction works: 1.) Do you clearly understand the author’s goal? If not, check the preface, forward, and introduction? 2.) Do you understand how the author has presented his material? What do you think is the general method of presentation? What are the main ideas? Minor ones? Check the table of contents for these answers 3.) What are the conclusions drawn by the author? Do you agree with tem? Why did the author come to those conclusions? If you do not agree, in what areas was the author weak? Were his premises weak or only his conclusions? 4.) How would you compare the author with anyone else you may have read? Is the book up to date? What else have you read that either reaffirmed or conflicted with it? In what ways? 5.) Now can you relate the text material to class lecture notes? Spend time to integrate and remember your material because it is as important as reading it. If your notes are unclear, try rewriting them, basing your organization around the main ideas. Think about the concepts presented in the chapter and try to explain them in your words. Practice, recalling information with and without your notes. Try to study as much as possible from your notes. They are bound to more understandable than the next. Do you spend your time reading and rereading your texts? Your exams are a test of your thinking and recalling abilities, not usually you’re reading g skills. So practice thinking and recalling your notes and the text material. The study process you have just learned demands proof of your effectiveness through organization and recall. It is simple, yet effective. Let’s review the four parts Quote: Attack plan for studying
a) Prepare for reading by browsing through your texts • Copy chapter titles • Structure notes b) Ask questions in each assigned chapter. • Add subtitles and main ideas to notes • Set goals c) Gather the answers to your questions. • Use a pencil check system; • Don’t’ underline • Add details to notes for each page. d) Evaluate your results • Fill in gaps in notes where needed • Answer questions • Think and recall The study Process P-A-G-E Use these steps for mastery of your subject area. PREPARE: • Prepare your study environment • Prepare your materials, supplies, and attitude • Browse through the book, covers, and table of contents. • Check out visual aids, vocabulary, and chapter length • Begin to map out your notes with key ideas ASK QUESTIONS • In the assigned section, brows more carefully. • Ask key questions; be curious and critical • Note main ideas, topic sentences, and subtitles • Study visual aids; locate key points • Discover what you already know • Decide what you need to know • Know in what you form you’ll need to know it • Decide on your overall study purpose; set short specific goals GATHER INFORMATION • Read to answer questions, not to memorize • Stay in flow-keep moving • Note key points, answers to questions • Mark with a pencil check in margin. • Stop after each page and add details to your notes to support the main ideas • Save complete note taking for the last step EVALUATE • Add to notes from text. • Complete your understand-fill gaps • Review new vocabulary words • Use mnemonic devices to learn key points • Use the table of contents or index to review • Recreate notes from memory as a review tool • Practicing recalling, not rereading. CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/ ... /index.htm http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/poets/index.html http://www.ljlseminars.com/gather.htm http://www.proveandimprove.org/new/meai ... mation.php Practice and drive are all you need, You will become good, if not great, and then, if you wish to go further, the opportunities will come to you - Rome_Leader BuzzingBee's at it again 
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