Study Tips

For some of you, it's finals week either this week or next week. For us high school kids we still have about a month before most of us even think about studying. But, that's not what we should be doing! It really helps to get ahead and start studying. I'm now starting to think about studying because I'm in extreme danger of failing my math class (!!! This has never happened before!) I'm going to give you some of my tips that work for me, and may or may not for you.

Flash cards// USE FLASHCARDS USE FLASHCARDS USE FLASHCARDS. Whether it's actual paper flashcards or Quizlet. They are SO SO helpful in learning small amounts of information or definitions.

Study Guides// If you teacher provides a study guide, DO IT. They know what's on the test. They know what you need to do! Do IT!!! Even if your teacher doesn't provide one, you can even make your own. You can take a few things from your notes, keynotes, projects, essays and things like that to create a study guide.

Practice// ESPECIALLY for math. Do the practice problems, do the reviews, check MyMathLab for help, redo old homework problems especially the ones you've missed. Practice your old worksheets and questions because if it's a teacher made test, it's most likely going to come from something earlier in the semester.

Music// I'm the type of person that can't study or do homework without music. But music with words is very distracting for me. So, I typically listen to the Soothing & Relaxation station on Pandora. It truly is very soothing and relaxing. There's enough music to have on and be able to listen to but also it's not distracting.

Snacks// When studying it's good to have little snacks to keep you going. Maybe it's gummy bears, almonds, crackers, m&ms.... Reward yourself after you get ____ far you get ____ many bears.

Water// ALWAYS keep water with you when you're studying. It's good to be able to reach for a bottle of water when you're feeling a little sluggish.

Highlighters// I swear by high lighters. Print out all of your notes from your class (this wastes a lot of paper but, hey. A good grade is worth it right. And you can always recycle after the exam). Next highlight what you think is important. Use a different highlighter for each subject so you don't get confused. Often what I do after that is create flashcards or a study guide from the highlighted sentences. You can either do fill in the blanks or reword the sentence into the question.

EOC/State exams// It's really really hard to study for state exams. Trust me, I've been doing them for like 12 years now. But it is definitely possible. Most teachers provide a practice test. DO IT. Seriously do it. There's absolutely no way to recreate the questions the way they do it on the state exams. If your teachers do not provide one there is ALWAYS a past one on google. For example: Last semester I took Honors Civics and Economics and I live in NC. I googled "Civics and Economics EOC practice NC" it might take some searching but they will most likely be close to the top and in PDF form.

Start Early// This is something I struggle with as well. But it's always better to start early than a week or couple of days before. It will always help. Trust me.

I hope these work for you. Most of them are pretty general. Once I get into college I'm sure I'll come up with more. Is there any you like?

X.O.X.O
Preppy Little Lesbian
Ally