GUIDES THAT WILL HELP YOU WHEN STUDYING

1: Three Steps to Making Learning Easy

This is your”cheat sheet” for studying! By following the simple guidelines in this booklet, you will be able to study more effectively and easily and improve your marks. But it’s all up to you. You need to:

• want to improve (it’s easy!)

• take responsibility (its up to you!)

• be honest with yourself (only you know what works for you!)

No one can force you to learn something - you have to want to do it. You are the one who controls your attitude towards learning - if you want to do it - you can! Having a good education opens many doors. You are the one who writes the exams and deals with the results - good or bad. No one else can do the work for you - you have to take control of your learning. It’s your responsibility and your future! It’s easy to make excuses and find reasons why you might not succeed at something. The hard thing to do is be honest with yourself about how hard to tried and whether you really did your best and how you can do better in future.

2 :You need to have a good Plan!

There are 3 big areas to focus on in your learning:

1. In Class - Listen effectively and take proper notes

2. After Class - Summarise, homework, revise

3. Group work (at home or in class) - Form a group, pick a topic, teach each other, review

Now we’re going to go into more detail on each of the areas:

3: In Class

At school you spend a lot of time in the classroom. If you use this time to focus on your learning, your marks will improve and you will have more free time. The important things to do in class are:

Listen carefully in class

You learn by listening, just think about how easy it is to remember the words to your favorites song. You can learn a lot just by simply listening. The biggest advantage to listening to the teacher in class is that they know what the important points are and they can point them out. They can also answer any questions you have along the way. Keeping up with the teacher’s explanation in class saves you from struggling to understand later (just before your test!) and makes revision and homework much easier.

Stay focused

Don’t be distracted by the teacher’s looks, clothes or way of speaking. If you find yourself doing this just choose to focus on the lesson. Also don’t be distracted by your friends, what’s going on outside the window, or what’s for lunch. It’s easy to let your mind wander and it will happen sometimes but when it does force yourself to focus.

Ask questions

Asking questions helps you to understand things clearly, and helps you to follow what the teacher is saying. Don’t be scared to ask the teacher a question if you don’t understand something - most likely there are other people in your class who want to know the same thing. However, if you are very nervous, you can note down the question and ask your teacher after class. But whatever you do - ASK THE QUESTION.

Don’t give up!

Often we mistake new or different content for difficult content. Don’t fall into this trap. If something comes up that you think is difficult accept the challenge and try to listen harder and think more - don’t be intimidated! You will probably find it isn’t nearly as difficult as you first thought. Open yourself to new ideas and it will be easier to understand new work in class.

3.1 Take notes

To take notes properly you need to be able to decide what is important to write down. Do this by listening and carefully following the lesson. You also need to be able to write clearly and quickly (write neatly!), so that you can use your notes properly later to help you study.