From the first second of your first class of the high school semester, your work load starts to build up. It builds up quickly, exponentially if you are mathematically inclined, quicker than flies around sh.. on a hot summer day if you are not. Take control early, maybe from the second second. I liked writing that 'cause it sounded neat. At the end of the first day, take a look at what has happened in all your subjects. Did you get a guide to assessment in anything? Did you get outlines of courses? Were there any events mentioned that would mean missing classes? Keep track. You need to know everything that is going to affect your learning. Don't think you will always be able to fix things up as they come along. Not so. At least, not always. The further through high school you get, the more risky it is to leave things go.
Again, keep track. Get a small, cheap but durable notebook for this. The importance of noting down has been emphasised before. This book can be strong enough to last for a couple of years or for the whole of high school. Get one. Its content will be a recipe of what to do, when to do it. It will be the best planning tool. Write 'to do' lists, comments by teachers that relate to assessment and content, important ideas, thoughts about how you are going. Do not confuse it with a diary.
A 'to do' list is a seriously strong ally in keeping the growing mountain of requests and requirements down to a volume you can keep a clear picture of in your head. If the pile grows too big, your head will start to spin with the workload. This creates some serious blocks to clear thought and creates doubts about your ability and stamina to finish off a workload, growing virus-like in your head and in your school room. Your back starts to bend and groan under the load. Don't let it get this far. Remember you are starting to keep the load down from the second second :) Still like that eh?
So, the 'to do' list. Keep it really simple. A priority column and a description of the job to do. That's it. For priority, I use I, II, III, IIII and so on so that as one job is done, I can update priorities easily. You'll invent your own as you go. If you get to the end of a page, take all unfinished jobs off that page and put them onto next page, with priority. If there are several large jobs to do, get some sort of order to them, broken down into do-able bits if necessary, and write them as first to do and absolute must do on your page. It is better if you can clear at least one large job from your list each day, especially if you have several queued up. Feel good when you do because you know some of your buddies and some of your competitors will be looking at that same task, waiting for divine inspiration to get going. Smallish, do-able chunks is what you want. Stay on top of the pile to keep it from growing beyond the possible as deadlines become exhausting, brain fuzzes over and will fades.
How does this help relax for exams? Well, because you are less stressed the whole semester as you stay well in control, your brain will be less tired, your thoughts clearer and your ability to do well under stress will be stronger. It is the stress and strain of trying to overcome the multi-task mountains that leave us tired and frustrated. If we stay on top of things with a few simple strategies, we remain more relaxed. This comes from knowing everything is under control and by being able to take a break during the semester; playing sport, going to the beach or just chilling with friends. It all improves our health in both body and mind.
Take charge in the second second. Stay on top of the load. Have more fun in doing so. Watch others struggle and stress. Help them out if you can.
Best of luck with your studies. Have fun.
Showing posts with label free time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free time. Show all posts
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Don't let a question stop Success at School
Here's the scene. Your teacher is going over new work or may be reviewing past lessons, when you come across a point you do not understand. 'Understand' means you could explain it to a friend clearly enough that they could understand it too. What do you do? Put up your hand to indicate you need a better or fuller explanation? Not a cool thing to do? I wonder if that bit of information is the difference between getting a higher grade and staying where you are; worse still, going down. Do you find that you often have time left in exams; time where you could add a few valuable lines to your paper? Was that the piece of information you could have asked about?
Sometimes it takes courage to put up your hand in a class of students who are too cool to put up their hand. Academic courage is not trained or taught. School systems push us in one end and out the other, over a decade later. Do we learn enough on the way? Some care, others do not. Take heart, you are not alone. There are other ways around this problem.
Be a leader. Someone has to take control. Try to talk to some friends who may be willing, on a signal, to put up their hands, giving strength to others to do the same. Even approach the teacher to see if they will join in your scheme. Most teachers would love to have more students asking questions. Two things happen. Firstly, it makes them feel good and secondly, it's always good to have an ally in the staffroom. That can be useful to you. This 'ally' will feel more inclined to spend a bit of time extra with you to help out.
Take careful notes and hope that between you and your friends you can eventually sort it out. Maybe someone has an older brother or sister who is good at the subject. You can see plan two has a few time constraints that will eat into the time you have slotted into your schedule as 'spare', 'play', 'shopping' and so on.
Even more risky is you could just wait and hope that before next week's test the teacher revisits the topic and you actually understand it. Youtube, Google, Answers and other online sources are other time consuming ways that may give you the answer. The library? Where's that? How about you make an appointment with the teacher to meet with them for help during a break? Lots of ways to get sorted that do not take up too much valuable time.
Read Sun Tzu's Art of War. It's full of strategy that all manner of professions take from the battlefield for which it was written to their own interactions with associates and competition. That may help.
Mostly, get the itch fixed. A small point can make all the difference. At this point, not learning, not finding out is not an option. No one's worry but yours. Get stuck in and do something. Email me if it's a real emergency but do something. Your Success at School is the most important thing to get out of school, right alongside some wonderful lifelong friends.
Get that point clarified as early as you can. These small points are the ones that form really effective stops to further learning in a topic even though, in themselves, they may only need a minor explanation. They create roadblocks to assimilating new knowledge and confuse thought patterns as your brain tries to work its way around what it sees as corrupt information.
Make a plan and carry it through. Tomorrow you'll feel good about it.
Get the most from school. Have a great day.
Sometimes it takes courage to put up your hand in a class of students who are too cool to put up their hand. Academic courage is not trained or taught. School systems push us in one end and out the other, over a decade later. Do we learn enough on the way? Some care, others do not. Take heart, you are not alone. There are other ways around this problem.
Be a leader. Someone has to take control. Try to talk to some friends who may be willing, on a signal, to put up their hands, giving strength to others to do the same. Even approach the teacher to see if they will join in your scheme. Most teachers would love to have more students asking questions. Two things happen. Firstly, it makes them feel good and secondly, it's always good to have an ally in the staffroom. That can be useful to you. This 'ally' will feel more inclined to spend a bit of time extra with you to help out.
Take careful notes and hope that between you and your friends you can eventually sort it out. Maybe someone has an older brother or sister who is good at the subject. You can see plan two has a few time constraints that will eat into the time you have slotted into your schedule as 'spare', 'play', 'shopping' and so on.
Even more risky is you could just wait and hope that before next week's test the teacher revisits the topic and you actually understand it. Youtube, Google, Answers and other online sources are other time consuming ways that may give you the answer. The library? Where's that? How about you make an appointment with the teacher to meet with them for help during a break? Lots of ways to get sorted that do not take up too much valuable time.
Read Sun Tzu's Art of War. It's full of strategy that all manner of professions take from the battlefield for which it was written to their own interactions with associates and competition. That may help.
Mostly, get the itch fixed. A small point can make all the difference. At this point, not learning, not finding out is not an option. No one's worry but yours. Get stuck in and do something. Email me if it's a real emergency but do something. Your Success at School is the most important thing to get out of school, right alongside some wonderful lifelong friends.
Get that point clarified as early as you can. These small points are the ones that form really effective stops to further learning in a topic even though, in themselves, they may only need a minor explanation. They create roadblocks to assimilating new knowledge and confuse thought patterns as your brain tries to work its way around what it sees as corrupt information.
Make a plan and carry it through. Tomorrow you'll feel good about it.
Get the most from school. Have a great day.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Develop a system for taking notes and reviewing II
Let's suppose you read 'Develop a system for taking notes and reviewing I' and now have a notebook for each subject. You have numbered the pages; each day you put a day, date and topic; at the back you have started to diarise important information such as topics covered, location of reference material, clues the teacher may give you as to what is required for exams or assigned tasks; lists of homework due dates; and any other important key bits of information.
What else? You want this book to help you. Why else would you go out and get it? Don't let it get all scruffy, ripped, disorganised. That's how study from it will turn out. Horrible, hard, indigestible. Write the main body of text in blue or black for ease of reading and underline or highlight in another dark color such as dark orange, purple. Don't fill your book with all colors. Again that just sends confusing signals when it comes time to study or review. Make it easier for your brain to follow what was done and find the bits it is not sure of quickly. Once found and highlighted, these fewer topics can become the center of your focus as you begin the exam process. You can easily judge where to spend more time.
If you must doodle on your page, set aside an area at the bottom or side of the page for doing this. Don't let it get all over your work. It may look creative and fun. It has no place in among serious notes. It will interrupt your thoughts as your mind drifts away to interpreting the artwork, rather that the more serious business of the notes on your page.
To let revision of your work flow smoothly put a very brief phrase or two on the top of each page, telling you what is on that page. You may forget in a couple of months' time what you have covered and this can serve as quick triggers to target the revision and study process and make it more efficient. Making better use of your time is one of the most important goals in your ambition for Success at School.
If you remember some time ago I said that we do not want to fill every waking moment with study, study, study. Yukk! If your time is used well, then you will find that you have time for breaks. Those breaks will be enjoyed more because in the back of your mind is not the worry of unfinished, even unknown tasks; you have it all under control. Proper use of time when you are young will transfer to adulthood so you will still have fun knowing that all you need to do is under control. Worry free play. Yeah to that!
Good luck with your studies
Have a great day
What else? You want this book to help you. Why else would you go out and get it? Don't let it get all scruffy, ripped, disorganised. That's how study from it will turn out. Horrible, hard, indigestible. Write the main body of text in blue or black for ease of reading and underline or highlight in another dark color such as dark orange, purple. Don't fill your book with all colors. Again that just sends confusing signals when it comes time to study or review. Make it easier for your brain to follow what was done and find the bits it is not sure of quickly. Once found and highlighted, these fewer topics can become the center of your focus as you begin the exam process. You can easily judge where to spend more time.
If you must doodle on your page, set aside an area at the bottom or side of the page for doing this. Don't let it get all over your work. It may look creative and fun. It has no place in among serious notes. It will interrupt your thoughts as your mind drifts away to interpreting the artwork, rather that the more serious business of the notes on your page.
To let revision of your work flow smoothly put a very brief phrase or two on the top of each page, telling you what is on that page. You may forget in a couple of months' time what you have covered and this can serve as quick triggers to target the revision and study process and make it more efficient. Making better use of your time is one of the most important goals in your ambition for Success at School.
If you remember some time ago I said that we do not want to fill every waking moment with study, study, study. Yukk! If your time is used well, then you will find that you have time for breaks. Those breaks will be enjoyed more because in the back of your mind is not the worry of unfinished, even unknown tasks; you have it all under control. Proper use of time when you are young will transfer to adulthood so you will still have fun knowing that all you need to do is under control. Worry free play. Yeah to that!
Good luck with your studies
Have a great day
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Time management II
After completing the preparation phase, move on to make use of the time and strength of purpose that follows serious preparation. Do not be happy with the first model. Experiment. Take notes of what works and what seems a bit klutzy. The favours will all lie with you. You will find time you didn't think you had, the ability to relax at times you would normally stress, and be able to produce work of higher quality and, consequently be awarded better grades. The aim is not trying to fill your time with even more jobs to do. The effort here is part of the plan to use time more efficiently and so at exam time or when large reports are due, you watch all your friends stress around you, their workload out of control, while you know you have everything ticked off ready to go. While others stress, you are thinking of the final touches to a job well done and thinking you may go to the movies as a reward. That should be encouraging for you to persist. Maybe you might just go to the beach, or have a few hours in the snow. Who knows!
So you have been recording the information you need to set aside times for. Activities such as sleep, part time work, sport, monthly meetings, weekly meetings, religious events, entertainment and party (caution here), going to library, in class time, lunch and other meals. You can be as detailed as you want. Have you got an approximate time attached to each activity? This does sound like a big job hey? Take my word, it does get easier. Once you have completed a first run through, then the future additions are just built on top, the time it takes is much reduced (is that a far off cheer I hear?).
Now comes a slightly tricky bit. Prioritise your list into four groups. (1) What must absolutely happen? (2) What is very important and should happen? (3) What do I do that is fairly flexible and not necessary to have if I need a bit extra time allocated to something else? (4) What do I do that could be totally changed or dropped easily to find time? Even if it can be repaid later. Try not to fill 100% of your time. Some time slots should be left blank for free use or for an emergency. You know what schools are like. "Do this by Thursday" sort of request, when you already have a full week.
I think now your list should be put into a computer for ease of manipulation. So you can easily re-order different activities. If you go with a computer list, make the four priorities four different colors so you can easily recognise those activities absolutely locked in and those that are a bit more flexible. You must have sleep, so put that in even in the peak exam period. You must have a break too. Allow for large and small. Use colored pencils or highlighters if you are not putting information into a computer. Make up a table to show a whole term or semester. You will be able to detail the close times while the end of semester is a bit fuzzy.
As you feel you can, begin to place the time zones into days, regular (e.g. every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m.) or into monthly times where you may need three or four hours set aside once a month. Start with your school timetable as the skeleton for this project as it is the area we want to make more successful. Don't forget to take your time to do the detail at first. Make sure it makes sense. Next time you will already have a structure which you can easily change, delete bits from or add stuff to. Are your days and what you do with them starting to take shape? Did you realise any really easy activities that could be modified to help you achieve Success At School.
Do not get disgruntled. Stay fresh as you focus on the future. You want better grades. You want to set yourself up so you are more likely to have a secure future and good career prospects. You want to choose your path through life.
So you have been recording the information you need to set aside times for. Activities such as sleep, part time work, sport, monthly meetings, weekly meetings, religious events, entertainment and party (caution here), going to library, in class time, lunch and other meals. You can be as detailed as you want. Have you got an approximate time attached to each activity? This does sound like a big job hey? Take my word, it does get easier. Once you have completed a first run through, then the future additions are just built on top, the time it takes is much reduced (is that a far off cheer I hear?).
Now comes a slightly tricky bit. Prioritise your list into four groups. (1) What must absolutely happen? (2) What is very important and should happen? (3) What do I do that is fairly flexible and not necessary to have if I need a bit extra time allocated to something else? (4) What do I do that could be totally changed or dropped easily to find time? Even if it can be repaid later. Try not to fill 100% of your time. Some time slots should be left blank for free use or for an emergency. You know what schools are like. "Do this by Thursday" sort of request, when you already have a full week.
I think now your list should be put into a computer for ease of manipulation. So you can easily re-order different activities. If you go with a computer list, make the four priorities four different colors so you can easily recognise those activities absolutely locked in and those that are a bit more flexible. You must have sleep, so put that in even in the peak exam period. You must have a break too. Allow for large and small. Use colored pencils or highlighters if you are not putting information into a computer. Make up a table to show a whole term or semester. You will be able to detail the close times while the end of semester is a bit fuzzy.
As you feel you can, begin to place the time zones into days, regular (e.g. every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m.) or into monthly times where you may need three or four hours set aside once a month. Start with your school timetable as the skeleton for this project as it is the area we want to make more successful. Don't forget to take your time to do the detail at first. Make sure it makes sense. Next time you will already have a structure which you can easily change, delete bits from or add stuff to. Are your days and what you do with them starting to take shape? Did you realise any really easy activities that could be modified to help you achieve Success At School.
Do not get disgruntled. Stay fresh as you focus on the future. You want better grades. You want to set yourself up so you are more likely to have a secure future and good career prospects. You want to choose your path through life.
Next we will look at setting up your program.
Good luck with this exercise. Have a great day.
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