Some General Good Study Habits

Good Habits for Studying

Introduction

Your parents, teachers, and society really do care about you, and what happens to you in life. You have been placed in a learning environment because there is a great deal you (and everybody) need to learn in order to be a successful and a high quality person. Each item presented to you is likely to be important to you later.

If you are serious about learning, this paper can help you! Print it out, and read it over a few times. Start applying what it suggests. Take it out every once in a while and read it again.

This paper was written for Computer Literacy class. Most of it still applies to other classes.

Studying is NOT the same as doing Homework assignments!
Studying is learning the material for Life!
Doing Homework is practicing what you have learned.

Knowing how to study will help you in Jr. high, high school, college, graduate school, and on-the-job. The older you get, the more important it becomes.

Take the Long View

A good grade should NOT be your GOAL. That is so important I repeat it:

A good grade should NOT be your GOAL.

The truly serious student does not "study for a grade." His GOAL is to learn the information for use throughout life. Grades are simply a measure of how well he has learned. Good grades come to you as a byproduct of the true goal of learning the material.

Your mind tries to do what you ask it to do. It will try to reach whatever goal you set for it. If you have the "Mind Set" to just get past the next assignment or through the next test, that is a short-term goal. Your mind has not been asked to "learn for life," and will likely very quickly forget what you learned. "I got you through the assignment or test, didn't I?"

Do not have the habit of learning "just to get by" the next class assignment or the next test. Make up your mind to study to learn everything for use over all of your life! This sets a goal for your mind. It will do its best to reach that goal!

As you go through school and life, you will have to repeatedly use what you have been taught. If you now work "just to get by" instead of learning it for life, then you will have to learn it over again. That is a big waste of your time, and you will likely fall behind because of the extra effort to learn what you should already know!

Yes, you will forget some of what you have learned. We all do. But the more of it you have "locked into" your head, the better off you will be. Also, it will be a lot easier for you to relearn what you may have forgotten, when that becomes necessary.

Reviewing Handouts or Textbook

1.

Ask a friend, parent, or other family member to help you study. Have them pretend to be the teacher, and using the study material, to ask you questions that the teacher might ask. I have been told by computer class students that they did this and that it helped.

2.

For computer class, during self-study time, practice in your mind by visualizing yourself doing the things presented in the study material. “See” yourself doing the task, such as constraining a rectangle to be a perfect square. “Talk” yourself through the process. If you have a computer at home, practice doing them until they are automatic - that is, you don’t have to figure it out as you are doing it. It should just flow out of you without effort! If you do not have a computer at home, practice in the computer room for a few minutes at lunch or after school, or during a study hall.

3.

Check off the things that you feel you have fully mastered.

4.

If you are having trouble or are confused, ask someone knowledgeable, or ask the teacher for help. Any good teacher will be delighted to help!

Make Better Use of Class Time

I am very much aware of how some students could benefit by using computer class time better.

1.

Leave your social life outside the classroom. (Failing to do this is a big Killer!)

2.

Keep practicing even after you have finished the assigned work. Computer use needs to become automatic to you, where you don't have to figure things out each time you need to do them.

3.

Really listen to and watch the demonstrations. If you don't, you are likely to get hung up trying to do the work.

Go Over Returned Papers

Always ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS go over papers handed back to you! This applies to both assignments and tests. A good teacher will try to write a short note telling you what you did wrong or how to do it correctly. Learn how to do it right NEXT TIME. Remember that there will likely be a lot of Next Times! If you are not clear on how to do it correctly, ask the teacher. Remember, your GOAL should be to Learn For Life!

If you had mistakes, study that material some more. When done, you should be able to take that test or do that paper again, and get 100%

WARNING! You may have to do the same task again on a future test!

The Relation Between Study, Homework, Tests, and Learning for Life.

Typically this is good advice:

It is good to study before doing your homework. This could be reviewing the textbook section dealing with the homework, any notes you took in class, or any notes taken from the book or handouts.
Do the homework. Be alert for any difficulty you might experience. If so, go back and review again, focusing on where you are having trouble. Add to your notes anything that will be helpful if your confusion or difficulty should return after a period of time.
After you have finished your homework, review the material again, rereading the textbook or handout and your notes. As you do that, try to see how everything in your assignment relates to the study material. When you do this the study materials should now be much clearer, because you have just applied it to do your homework. Rereading it again leads to a better understanding of what the writer of teaching material actually had in mind. The material will now be better learned, and stay with you longer.
Think about how you might have to use this material in your future. "What is this stuff good for?"
Don't leave all of your studying until just before a test. Something might come up that interferes with study! Do the bulk of your study well in advance. Then just before the test, do a thorough and quick review of your material and notes. Reread and completely understand the book or handout, your notes, and your homework.

Mr. Andrews

Computer Literacy Teacher

Page TOP - - - Super Student Contents, "Habits"
Unschool Super Student Contents, "Habits" - - - Master Contents

1.	Ask a friend, parent, or other family member to help you study. Have them pretend to be the teacher, and using the study material, to ask you questions that the teacher might ask. I have been told by computer class students that they did this and that it helped.
2.	For computer class, during self-study time, practice in your mind by visualizing yourself doing the things presented in the study material. “See” yourself doing the task, such as constraining a rectangle to be a perfect square. “Talk” yourself through the process. If you have a computer at home, practice doing them until they are automatic - that is, you don’t have to figure it out as you are doing it. It should just flow out of you without effort! If you do not have a computer at home, practice in the computer room for a few minutes at lunch or after school, or during a study hall.
3.	Check off the things that you feel you have fully mastered.
4.	If you are having trouble or are confused, ask someone knowledgeable, or ask the teacher for help. Any good teacher will be delighted to help!

1.	Leave your social life outside the classroom. (Failing to do this is a big Killer!)
2.	Keep practicing even after you have finished the assigned work. Computer use needs to become automatic to you, where you don't have to figure things out each time you need to do them.
3.	Really listen to and watch the demonstrations. If you don't, you are likely to get hung up trying to do the work.