SQR3: A Great Reading and Studying Technique

SQR3

SQR3: A Great Reading and Studying Technique

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/26666.html

Improve Your Study Skills

SQR3 stands for:

Survey

Question

Read

Recite

Review

It is a proven technique to sharpen your study skills.

In college, you’ll be required to do lots of reading. You’ll often have to complete reading assignments in several different books for several different courses at the same time.

SQR3 helps make reading and studying purposeful and effective, so that you use your time most efficiently. Here’s how this strategy works.

Survey

Let’s say your assignment is to read one chapter. First, get an idea of what the chapter is about by reviewing the highlights:

        ·       Read the title, headings and subheadings.

        ·       Notice words that are italicized or bold.

        ·       Look at charts, graphs, pictures, maps and other visual material.

        ·       Read captions.

        ·       Read the very beginning and end of the chapter.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

5 Tips for Staying Motivated: Part 1-2

5 Tips for Staying Motivated

Tip 1-2

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/8454.html

To succeed in high school and college, you have to do your best at all times. But sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated, even when you really care about the work you’re doing. Here are five ways to stay on the right track.

1. Focus on High-Impact Activities

The key to success in high school is staying focused on your course work. Make a list to get an overall picture of your workload before you start to tackle any of it. Then, make a plan. Although it’s tempting to do the simplest assignments first, those that take more time and effort to accomplish are probably the ones that you’ll learn the most from.
assignments,

To determine what your priorities are, rank your assignments in the order of their importance. Then rearrange your time and devote more energy toward those that have the greatest impact on your course work and grades. For example, even though all homework assignments are important, studying for a midterm exam takes priority over writing a paragraph for English class. As you complete each task, think of it as another step on your way to college success.

2. Create New Challenges

Changing your approach can help you stay interested in what you’re doing. If you've been given an assignment similar to one you've done in the past, think about it in a different way. If you wrote an essay for a creative writing assignment last year, try a poem this time. For book reports, pick a history book instead of another biography.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

Take Control of Homework, So It Doesn't Conrtol You: Part 2

Take Control of Homework

So It Doesn’t Control You

Part 2

Keep Things in Perspective

Know how much weight each assignment or test carries, and use your time accordingly. Don’t waste time, but be wise and smart. Doing the most important things first is being wise and smart.

Get More Involved

Keep your mind from wandering by taking notes, underlining sections, discussing topics with others or relating your homework to something you’re studying in another class. Learn actively and not passively. Be anxiously engaged in your studies and you will have a great experience. Demonstrate a good attitude toward home assignments, and you will begin to love doing it.

Organize the Information

People process information in different ways. Some people like to draw pictures or charts to digest information, others prefer to read out loud or make detailed outlines. Try to find the methods that work best for you. Ask your teacher for recommendations if you’re having trouble.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

Note-Taking Strategies: Part 1

Note-Taking Strategies

                                                         Part 1

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/955.html

How to Get Your Class Notes into Shape

Getting the most out of high school and college means studying hard and using your time in class wisely. An effective note-taking strategy can help you do both. Here are the basics.

Stay Organized

It may seem obvious, but your class notes can only help you if you can find them. When you’re taking notes be sure to:

        ·       Keep all your notes in one place.

        ·       Date and number; keeping them in order makes it easier to understand them later.

Before Class

Review the material assigned for that class period thoroughly. Bring a list of any questions you may have.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

Balancing High School and Part-Time Work: Part 3

Balancing High School and Part-Time Work

Part 3

Brad MacGowan, of the Career Center at Newton North High School in Massachusetts, thinks that working can be a valuable part of a student’s life, if taken on responsibility. “You can derive a great deal from working, considerably more than just money,” he says. “In most cases, you can acquire a nice dose of discipline and a whole new set of skills and experiences.” In addition, your supervisor may be willing to write a strong college recommendation for you.

School Comes First

Schoolwork, including homework and studying for tests, should always be your top priority. MacGowan cautions students who do decide to work, “If you are rushing through your assignments … or not studying enough for tests because of work, it’s time to cut back or quit and find a less time-consuming job.”

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

Selecting Your Courses: Part 4

Selecting Your Courses

Part 4

Social Studies

You can better understand local and world events that are happening now by studying the culture and history that has shapes them. Here is a suggested course plan:

        ·       U.S. history (two semesters)

        ·       U.S. government (one semester)

        ·       World history or geography ( one semester)

        ·       One additional semester in the above or other areas

Foreign Language

Solid foreign language study shows colleges you’re willing to stretch beyond the basic. Many colleges require at least two years of study in the same foreign language, and some prefer more.

Learning a foreign language can be a challenge but is exciting. Repetition is the key to learning a language, and having conversations with others speaking the same language is the best way to learn this new language. Repetition in a fun way will build your skills thoroughly as you seek to master new languages.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

The Power of Study Groups: Part 1

The Power of Study Groups

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/50432.html

Part 1

Working Together Helps Everyone

You may have noticed that when you’re explaining something you’ve learned to a friend, you begin to understand it better yourself. This happens because, when you explain an idea, you need to think more deeply about it.

The same principle makes study groups useful. Studying with others in a small group is helpful because you:

        ·       Think out loud.

        ·       Share ideas.

        ·       Learn from one another.

     In an effective study group, you and other students hash out lesson materials together – explaining concepts, arguing about them, figuring out why one person’s answer differs from another’s – and in the process, you most likely learn more than you would have studying by yourself.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

How to Take on College Studying: Part 3

How to Take on College Studying

Part 3

Do the Reading

You need to do more than just read the chapters you are assigned – you’re expected to understand them thoroughly. Here are some tips:

        ·       Don’t skim. Read all the material carefully.

        ·       Break up difficult assignments into sections you can digest – chapters, subsections or even paragraphs.

        ·       Look up any words that you don’t understand.

        ·       Pause to think about whether you understand the material; ask questions in class about anything that is unclear.

        ·       Take notes instead of highlighting – this makes you think through and rephrase the key points.

        ·       Create a summary sheet of what you learned from each assignment you read.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

How to Take on College Studying: Part 2

How to Take on College Studying

Part 2

Choose Where to Study

Where you should study depends on two factors: the environment in which you are best able to concentrate and the type of work you are planning to do.

             ·       The best places to study have good light, a comfortable temperature and enough desk space – usually your dorm room, your apartment or the library.

             ·       For completing problem sets or brainstorming possible tests questions, you may want to study with a group or at least in a setting where fellow students are available for discussion.

             ·       When you are reading book chapters or working on a research paper, you are probably better off in a less social environment.

Improve Your Study Habits

Here are simple steps you can take to help you get a handle on studying:

·       Have a routine for where and when you study.

·       Choose reasonable and specific goals that you can accomplish for each study session.

·       Do things that are harder or require more intense thought at your most productive time of the day.

·       Take breaks if you need them so you don’t waste time looking at material but not absorbing it.

·       Get to know students whom you respect and can study with or contact to ask questions.

·       Keep up with the workload and seek help when you need it.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

How to Take on College Studying: Part 1

How to Take on College Studying

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/961.html

Part 1

Develop Good Study Habits

In college, you’ll need to build on the study skills that you learned in high school. The demands of a college class are probably more rigorous than those you are used to.

You can succeed by knowing what to expect and how to handle it. Think of college as a full-time job, in which you spend 40 hours a week on class, labs, study groups and doing homework.

Being organized and using your time well are essential. Learn more about time management, and use the guidelines below to develop your study skills.

Decide When to Study

Work out about how many hours you need to study every day. Then make a schedule.

        ·       Figure out what blocks of time you have available throughout the day, in the evenings and on weekends.

        ·       Consider what time of day you are the most alert – there are morning people and night owls – and try to schedule your studying accordingly.

        ·       Think about whether you do better studying for a few hours at a time or sitting down for marathon sessions.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

Successful Students: 9

Successful Student

9

9. … don’t cram for exams. Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing than study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributes study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You’ll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Friday’s exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not to clever, huh?

When you cram, you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never produce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or project and expecting to make a high score the next day is like planting watermelon seeds and expecting to harvest and eat fresh watermelon the next day. Plus cramming for a test or project doesn't help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

You Can Succeed Every Day: Part 1

You Can Succeed Every Day

Part 1

My overall study method: I break up studying over several days and over the course of the evening and day. Cramming never works for me so I try not to do it. I will have longer sessions on nights before big tests, but I never stay up much later than normal before tests. I know that if I take the test tired the next day I will not do as well as if I was rested.

How I’ve overcome an initial bad grade: I usually look over the test or paper to see what I did that the teacher did not want. Basically, I do not stress out about grades that much because I know that I know the material. However, if I do get a bad grade, or one lower than I expected, I make sure that the next time a test is coming I study even more so that I won’t be surprised by the questions.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!