Semester Stimulus

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Now make a list – how many pages do you need to read, how many quizzes and when are they given, workbook problems, papers, mid-term exams, final exams. You need to know each and every thing that you have to do from the beginning of each class until the end to get good grades. What is required to get to Grade A?

How long will this take

Look at that textbooks, find out exactly the number of textbook pages you are going to be reading this semester in each class.

If there are workbooks or math problems or whatever, ask how much time a student would be expected to spend each week doing these additional assignments.

You need to find out. Go see the Professor. Ask about everything. What do you have to do, how much is there, when is it due, and how long will it take?

Again, you just need to think about what you have to get done each day. Then we’ll make a plan to get it done.

Let’s say classes start August 23. Finals end December 17. There are 116 days between now and the final

What is the average number of pages per day that you need to read? How many before each class? How many each week? Know those numbers

What is the average number of pages per day that you need to read? How many before each class? How many each week? Know those numbers

Time yourself. Don’t rush it. College isn’t about speed reading, it’s about learning. It’s going to take time to do it right. You need to know how long it takes you to read and fully understand each and every page.

Do it for each class. The pace in Physics may be very different from the pace in English. How long to do the math problems in your workbook? How many hours to pull your paper together?

Now do the same for the other material you have to do. How long will the paper take? What about the workbook or other problems? Do a rough calculation of the amount of time you think it is going to take to cover all of the material.

KNOW the daily workload for each and every class, every semester. You’ll discover it’s very manageable. You’ll lower your stress.

Planning your daily schedule just became a whole lot clearer, but the Devil is in the details. We’ll cover that soon enough.

Formulate the questions as you think they would most logically appear on the exam.

For example….

Define the meaning of…..

What are the three things that…..

Explain the concept of…

What are the 5 components of…..

Which is most important? Why?

I can’t begin to cover every possible form of test question. Professors often give concepts and then give questions designed to come at the topic from a different direction. Look at the content and think about the ways it could be tested on. You may need to write a question in more than one way.

Ask the Professor – ‘what is the format of the test?’ He’ll let you know. For now, just write. We’ll talk about how to review later.

DON’T WAIT TO DO THIS. Write your test questions as soon as possible after the class is over. Don’t wait until you are starting to prepare for the exam. Do this as soon as possible after the class is over. That is when things are fresh. Review your notes. Clean them up, complete them and clarify them, then form the test questions.

If you took notes with the computer, you can print out the pages and write test questions on the left side. OK, I guess you can just set two columns and type the test questions too if you want.

The key is to make sure that you write a test question for every single concept in your notes.

Let’s review:

Nothing speeds preparation for exams better than writing the test questions.

The key is to make sure that you write a test question for every single concept in your notes.

Let’s review:

DON’T WAIT TO DO THIS. Write your test questions as soon as possible after the class is over. Don’t wait until you are starting to prepare for the exam. Do this as soon as possible after the class is over. That is when things are fresh. Review your notes. Clean them up, complete them and clarify them, then form the test questions.

Again: every class – list all of the materials you need to cover. How many pages? How many problems? How many papers? How much time? How many days to cover it? How much on average each day to get it done?

You need to write down EVERYTHING. Fast and furious. Don’t try to figure out if it’s important or not. Yeah, I know, you saw it in the textbook so there is no need to take notes. Wrong answer. Keep writing. Try to capture every word of every lecture. The professor is saying it, so it must be important and you can bet it is going to be on the exam. Capture it all. Drill it in. You’ll need it all. (More later

Things will be moving so fast you actually may not be able to keep up typing. You’ll need to use your own form of shorthand and abbreviate when you get behind. You can come back and fill it in later.

More importantly, there is something about writing that just helps you remember it better. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s focused. That’s why it is my preference over a computer. My advice is get a notebook, draw that line down the page 1/3 of the way over and just grab a pen. You’ll be glad you took notes by hand

Make Sure You Understand Everything I know this sounds like an odd one, but it is amazing how many people say ‘well, I kind of get it, or, I’ll figure it out, or, it’s in the book’ or some form of ‘I’ll worry about it later’.

STOP. If you don’t understand something, you need to raise your hand right now and get it clarified. If it isn’t the right time to break a chain of thought, make a note in the margin and wait until after class. Then….

Ask The Professor You should not leave that class until you understand the concept completely. Kids often think if you just keep going things will become clear. Sometimes it works. Usually it doesn’t. The confusion just grows. Get it clarified immediately. If you have to leave, you need to get to the Professor’s office as soon as possible. Don’t wait until the next class. You need to know it NOW. Have a sense of urgency. Do it in person, not by email.

You aren’t going to do that. Really. We’ll cover this more in detail, but no, not you. You are going to get a couple of things done right away while that last class is still fresh in your mind.

Review Notes Immediately The time to review notes is immediately after they are taken. You were frantically writing. Lots of new concepts. Lots of abbreviations and shorthand. While they are still fresh in your mind, take a scan through the notes. I’m talking 10 minutes here – max. You’ll remember what you got and what you missed. Stop and fill in those areas. Do you need to see the Prof? The longer the time between class and clarification, the less you’ll remember. Wrap up each set of class notes before moving on to the next one.

Do Your Next Assignment – Immediately When you left class, you probably got your next assignment. Now is the time to get on it. This is where time gaps come into play. Use the hour before the next class to get started on the next assignment. Every new assignment logically follows what you just did in class so the sooner you read it the clearer it will be.

Every minute matters. They add up to hours by the end of the day.

The Best Way To Prepare For Exams – Write The Test Questions

Wouldn’t it be great if you knew all of the test questions in advance of the exams? Kind of like breaking into the Professor’s office or hacking his computer to get your hands on those test questions?

Too much trouble. Just write them yourself. You’ve taken a lot of great notes. You know that stuff is going to be turned into test questions, so write the questions yourself.

That is what the left side of that notebook is for.

You are going to look at the notes on the right side and you are going to write a test question to the left. Yes, yet another review of those wonderful notes. See, you are studying already!