How to Study: The Top Ten Tips
Sticky Note Test Prep
Knowing how to study is just as important as knowing what to study. The trick is to learn how to study “smarter,” not “harder.” Follow these Top Ten Tips to learn how to improve study skills.
1. Develop a study environment that works for you. Select a quiet area to dedicate to serious study. Learn to associate this place with uninterrupted study and success. Don’t float around from place to place during study time.
2. Avoid distractions in your study environment. Keep your cell phone off and remove anyone or anything that will compete for your concentration. Get help from others to support the sanctity of your study time.
3. Unlearn poor study skills. For example, studying with the television or music as background may be something that you have grown accustomed to; however, sound competes with concentration.
4. Study on an uncluttered desk or table with good lighting and a fixed, ergonomically correct, straight-back chair. The study environment should be business-like, not overly comfortable.
5. Have study materials on or next to your study area so that you don’t have to interrupt study time to locate these items. Keep sharpened pencils, pens, paper, and books convenient to your study area.
6. Develop a study order before you begin a study session. Study your hardest subject first when you are fresh. Concentrate your best time on this subject. Do simple or easy study or work at the end of your study time, when less concentration is needed.
7. Plan when to take study breaks before you begin. Study breaks should be short (5 minutes), regular (every 30 minutes), and away from your study area. Do something different than your study activity. Make sure to stretch during study breaks. Make sure to get up and move around.
8. Establish simple rewards in advance to enjoy during a study break. For example, if a snack is calling your name, delay gratification until a planned study break.
9. Use metacognitive cues as you study. Establish an interactive dialog with your study materials. Ask questions; make comments and predictions of written text. Key into what is important to remember. Be an active, rather than a passive, learner. Use sticky notes to write out these interactive notations on the study materials or text. Stickies work great in textbook margins and tear off without ripping the pages.
10. Use these stickies as part of a Quick Daily Review of what you have learned each day. Review and study each day to avoid excessive cramming the night before a test. Use your sticky notes to help you compose a practice test. Ask your teacher which study categories will be tested. For example, for a history test you might be tested on these categories: people, geography/places, causes and effects, main accomplishments, and famous quotations. Categorize your sticky notes on separate piece of paper. Ask your teacher what kinds of test questions will be asked for each category, for example, multiple-choice, matching, short answer and write out those types of questions for each category. Check out these helpful test preparation tips.
The author’s Essential Study Skills is the study skill curriculum that teaches what students need to know to succeed and thrive in school. Often, the reason why
Essential Study Skills
students fail to achieve their academic potential is not because of laziness or lack of effort, but because they have never learned the basic study skills necessary for success.
The 56 lessons in Essential Study Skills will teach your students to “work smarter, not harder.” Students who master these skills will spend less time, and accomplish more during homework and study time. Their test study will be more productive and they will get better grades. Reading comprehension and vocabulary will improve. Their writing will make more sense and essays will be easier to plan and complete. They will memorize better and forget less. Their schoolwork will seem easier and will be much more enjoyable. Lastly, students will feel better about themselves as learners and will be more motivated to succeed. Essential Study Skills is the ideal curriculum for study skill, life skill, Advocacy/Advisory, Opportunity Program classes. The easy-to-follow lesson format of 1. Personal Assessment 2. Study Skill Tips and 3. Reflection is ideal for self-guided learning and practice. Contact the publisher for affordable site licenses.