| By following these twelve tips, you will be | | | | yourself that you are going to geta drink or |
| guaranteed to get straight AAAAA's. Read each | | | | snack or listen to a specific song after you |
| tip carefully. | | | | finishre-copying your notes for science. Make |
| | | | the breaks short, |
| 1. Find a quiet area in your house in which | | | | |
| you arecomfortable and can isolate yourself | | | | 3-6 minutes or so, so you won't get |
| from distractions. Besure that this space | | | | side-tracked or losefocus for the day. |
| includes a chair, table or desk, | | | | |
| andsufficient lighting. Ask others not to | | | | 8. Don't just re-read notes or the text. Ask |
| disturb you while youare in this special | | | | questions. Createflash-cards. Redo |
| location and turn off all phones, | | | | assignments. Create time-lines. Playgames. |
| beepers,televisions, videos, music, or | | | | Re-write your notes. Get someone to quiz you. |
| anything else that your mindwill wander to | | | | |
| instead of focusing on the schoolwork. | | | | Find websites online that review the same |
| | | | material. Makeup questions that you think |
| 2. Find the best time to study. Some students | | | | will be on the test. Create newoutlines of |
| tend to dotheir best work as soon as they get | | | | the material by writing some specific topics |
| home from schoolwhile they are still in the | | | | andfilling in the details from memory. |
| school mode. Others need abreak and don't | | | | Studying should be anactive process, not just |
| settle down to study until after | | | | time spent re-reading something. |
| practice,playtime, a nap, dinner and/or | | | | |
| family time. Just be sure toallow yourself | | | | 9. When you need to remember a group of terms |
| enough time to get everything done and | | | | use the firstletter of each to create a word |
| stillget enough sleep each night. | | | | (acronym) or a sentence |
| | | | |
| 3. Organize your day, week, month, etc. Set | | | | (acrostic). For instance, an easy way to |
| aside a specifictime each day to do your | | | | remember the five |
| homework and study. Decide ona reasonable | | | | |
| minimum amount of time that you will spendin | | | | Great Lakes is the word "HOMES". By just |
| this quiet place each day. For instance, lets | | | | rememberingthe word "homes" you can easily |
| say youdecide on 45 minutes as a reasonable | | | | remember the names ofthe five Great Lakes . H |
| amount of time todedicate to schoolwork each | | | | stands for Huron, O for Ontario , Mfor |
| day. This means that even ifhomework is | | | | Michigan , and so on. You can also create |
| completed in the first 35 minutes that you | | | | sillysentences to help you remember long |
| willstill stay in this area and study or | | | | lists of terms. Forinstance, remembering the |
| review notes for thenext 10 minutes until the | | | | sentence "Martha Visits Every |
| 45 is up. | | | | |
| | | | Monday, Just Stays Until Noon, Period", will |
| 4. Reward yourself for sticking to your | | | | help youremember the planets in the order |
| schedule and beingproductive. Decide on an | | | | they are found. M for |
| activity to do once your studytime is | | | | |
| completed. Plan on watching a television show | | | | Mercury, V for visits, E for Earth, etc. |
| laterin the evening. Tell yourself that you | | | | |
| will play five minutesof a video game for | | | | 10. Become a teacher. Find someone who is |
| every fifteen minutes that you study. | | | | willing to listen toyou -, a classmate (this |
| | | | would be a great review for them), |
| Create goals and their rewards before you | | | | |
| start studyingand work hard to reach them | | | | Mom or Dad, a sibling, the family dog - and |
| each and every day. | | | | explain yournotes to them. Have them (except |
| | | | the dog) ask questionsabout the material that |
| 5. Variety is important. Vary the topics that | | | | they themselves don't understand. |
| you are spendingtime studying. Get the | | | | |
| mandatory homework out of theway first and | | | | It's amazing how much you can retain when you |
| then go back and spend the additional | | | | have toactually teach material to someone. |
| timereviewing material from different courses | | | | |
| each day. If youspent extra time reviewing | | | | 11. Repetition, repetition, repetition. The |
| history yesterday, spend theadditional time | | | | material shouldbecome second nature to you by |
| on science tonight. Some subject areasmay | | | | the time test day arrives. |
| require more time than others. You should get | | | | |
| a feelfor this a month or so into the school | | | | If it is not, then you need to devote more |
| year. | | | | time to preparingfor the test. |
| | | | |
| 6. Study the difficult subjects first and get | | | | 12. Exercise often and before you sit down to |
| them out of theway. You will be able to | | | | study. Researchshows that students retain |
| absorb material quicker and makemore | | | | more after being physicallyactive. Go to |
| connections when you are mentally fresh. | | | | soccer practice, take a jog, rough-housewith |
| | | | your dog, break a sweat first, then settle |
| 7. Take regular study breaks. This can also | | | | down andfocus on your school work. |
| serve as a mini-reward. For instance, tell | | | | |