Exam Day: Survival Tips

Test-Taking

Part 3

Identify key words

This helps you focus on the main idea of challenging questions.

Rephrase difficult questions

To understand questions better, rewrite them in your own words. Be careful not to change the meaning.

Organize your thoughts before writing.

Take time to organize your response to short answers and essay questions. You'll reduce the time you need to revise.

Write neatly.

Be sure you don’t lose points on answers the teacher can’t read.

Use all the time you are given.

If you finish early don’t leave. Use the extra times to proof read and review your answers.

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Online Learning

Part 2

More Tips

Finally, look beyond the article for more clues.

·       Read the website’s home page and the About Us page. Look for a mission statement to learn more about the site, its purpose and the organization sponsoring it.

·       If there is an author listed, look for a biography that discusses the author’s education, profession and other relevant background. If there is no bio on the site, search for one elsewhere on the Web.

·       Check the date. Facts can change over time, so see if the site shows when it was last updated.

·       Presentation counts; look at everything from design to spelling. A clean, well-organized site shows a certain degree of professionalism.

·       Avoid sites that are pornographic, vulgar, inappropriate, below par, suggestive, and falsifying.

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Reading

5 Tips for Success

Tip 5

Tip 5: Keep a list of Questions

When you feel confused about something you’re reading, write down any questions you have. Sometimes your questions are answered as you read further. If not, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember, teachers create assignments; they’ve read the texts and are familiar with them. When you have specific questions, your teachers can provide answers that will help you better understand the material. Learning is rooted in questions developed and asked by the learner.

Asking questions to yourself, to the teacher, and to others, is a great learning method. When you crease to ask questions, you crease to exist to a great extent. Read actively by silently asking questions as you read. Questioning immerses you into the material you are reading and therefore will expand you mental capacities more than almost anything else.

The philosopher Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.” Improving your reading comprehension is the key to gaining important knowledge and making the most of your education. So pick up a book ... and a pen.

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Reading

5 tips for Success

Tips 3-4

Tip 3: Do Research

Literary critics have written vast numbers of analytical and critical pieces on countless books. If you’ve having trouble understanding a particular text, do some research and see what knowledgeable sources have to say about it. In addition to increasing your comprehension, you’ll also be showing initiative, something teachers always like to see. Always use legitimate and scholarly sources, not condensed study guides. Going the extra mile in your research elevates your achievement 10-fold.

Tip 4: Use a dictionary

Make sure you have access to a dictionary when you’re reading. You can often figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word by using context clues, but sometimes you can’t. Rather than simply skipping over the words you don’t know, take the time to look them up. The results are well worth the effort. Your comprehension will increase greatly, and you’ll build your vocabulary at the same time.

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Reading

5 tips for Success

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/189995.html

Reading and writing go hand in hand. The better you understand a text, the more likely you are to successfully communicate your thoughts about it in writing. So it’s important to develop strong skills in both areas. With that in mind, here’s how to improve your reading comprehension.

Tips 1-2

Tip 1: Annotate

Be an active reader. Instead of passively reading a text, take notes about important stories elements, key factual information and significant ideas in text.

Tip 2: Note the Authors writing style

Every other writes with a purpose, using deliberate methods to successfully relate specific information to the audience. When you’re reading, look for patterns in the author’s writing. For example, you may notes a repetition of key words, phrases or symbols – or the use of a distinct type of sentence structure. Authors employ these writing strategies to help readers comprehend a central argument or theme, be sure to explore how these techniques create meaning.

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5 Tips for Staying Motivated

Tips 3-5

3. Set attainable Goals

If you’re having trouble writing a 25-page paper for class because its seems like such a big job, don’t focus on that final number. Break the paper down and consider each section of your paper individually. You can handle any project in small chunks.

4. Find a Social Support Network

Create a group of people around you who want to help you succeed. Mentors can be teachers or family friends who can give you guidance and help you develop new skills. Counselors can help you with planning your courses and starting to explore colleges. You can also reach out to friends and peers who can motivate you by listening and sharing ideas.

5. Acknowledge Your Accomplishments

Give yourself a quick reward when you complete an assignment or task. Take a walk, send an email get snack. Then move on to the next project.

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5 Tips for Staying Motivated

Tips 1-2

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost0-your-skils/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 school is staying focused on your course work. Make a list to get an overall picture of your work load before you start to tackle any of it. Then, make a plan. Although it’s tempting to do the simplest assignments first, those that make more time and effort to accomplish are probably the ones that you’ll learn the most from.

To determine what your priorities are, rank your assignments in their order of importance. Then rearrange your time and devote more energy toward those that have the greater 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 an 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.   

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Balancing High School and Part-Time Work

Part 5

Additional Tips

Although working and going to school is challenging it can be a rewarding experience if you use some foresight. These tips can help you handle the situation and make the most of your time:

·       Discuss your plans with your family. Balancing the demands of school and work is easier with their support.

·       Start slowly: don’t commit to working a lot of hours immediately.

·       Avoid time conflicts by planning your class and work schedules as far ahead of time as possible.

·       Use your time efficiently. You can use 10 minutes waiting in a line to go over a few pages of assigned reading. If your job has a lot of down time and your boss has no objection, you can use slow periods to do schoolwork.

·       If you commute to your job on public transportation, bring your schoolwork with you so you can work along the way.

·       Be flexible and willing to make sacrifices. You may have to cut down on some other thing you might like to do because of your school and work commitments.

·       If you have too much on your plate, admit it. Then cut back as needed.

·       Schedule relaxation. Everyone needs some down time to stay happy and healthy

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10 Time Management Tips for Students

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/116.html

Tips 1-4

Organizing Your Life

Managing your time well is an important element of success –

Especially if you’re a student, if you set priorities that fit your needs and lifestyle, you’ll have a better chance of achieving your goals.

Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

Tip 1. Make To-Do List Every Day

Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. And don’t forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.

Tip 2. Use Spare Minutes Wisely.

When you you’re commuting on the bus or train, use the time to get some reading done.

Tip 3. It’s oaky to Say No.

If your friend asks you to go to a movie on a Thursday night and you have an exam the next morning, realize that it’s okay to say no. Keep your short- and long- term priorities in mind.

Tip 4. Find the Right Time.

You’ll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For Example, of your brain handles math better in the afternoon, don’t wait to do it until late at night.

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Ten tips for Student Success

St. Johns University

1.   Attend your classes. Remember in the words of woody Allen ‘Seventy percent of success in life is showing up’.

2.   Know your faculty. Make sure you know who your teachers are, when their office hours are and how to contact them.  

3.   Make sure the faculty knows you. Sit in the front of the classroom participate in class discussions. Consult with your teacher during office hours.

4.   Use daily planner. Note of the dates of exams, assignments, term papers, etc.

5.   Be organized. Prioritize your responsibilities. Manage your time. Remember everyone has the same 168 hours a week, only some of us use them better than others.

6.   Know your campus resources. Visit your academics dean office regularly. Become familiar with the service and programs offered by the counseling center, the freshman center, the career center, the campus ministry office and the student life office.

7.   Take care of your health. Get enough sleep. Eat well-balanced meals. Exercise regularly. Make informed and mature decisions about alcohol, sex, and drugs. Visit the health office as needed.

8.   Work only as necessary.  Try not the exceed 20 hours during a school week. If possible, work on campus. Apply for financial aid and loans if you need them. Manage your expenses very carefully.

9.   Get involved in campus activities. It will help you learn valuable skills, expand your social network and enhanced your self-confidence. Seek out opportunities to apply what you learn in the classroom.

10. Keep your eye on the prize. Clarify your goals. Know why you are in college in the first place. Visualize your success on a daily basis.

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Work Together

Part 2

English, math foreign language tips: For math, all I can say is do the problems assigned. It is the only way to practice and that’s really all it is for math. It’s the same for chemistry; if you do the practice problems you will understand the material so much better because those subjects are not just memorization like history, you need to be able to apply what you have learned in practical situations. As for English, I am no longer taking it, but I would say to leave yourself plenty of time to write essays and papers. They take time to get all the information out of your head and onto the page, so don’t leave them until the last second.

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Academic Success

Part 1

My great academic success: In my principles of marketing class, we had to come up with a new product and sell it. My group ended up with a couple supposedly bad students according to our teacher since they were the last ones picked. In the end, they helped out more than needed since I was team leader I assigned them certain pieces of the project that become solely their responsibility. Delegating work always helps since it allows a group member individual work without separating the group.

English, math, foreign language tips: Math basically just takes practice. I always tell students to take a blank piece of paper and write everything you know about what you’ve learned or what you’re studying for in the class. If you don’t remember everything or start drawing blanks, then you need to study more and review your notes. Note cards work really well for foreign language

Here are my final words of wisdom for students who want to get better grades in college: GO to class, make friends with people in class just in case you’re absent, and remember that you should want to learn.

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