May Masterpost Challenge! 14/20
May Masterpost Challenge by @educatier, the goal is to make 20 Masterposts in May!
How to: Study For the First Time
So I was one of those annoying students who didn’t really need to study to pass throughout my 1st-4th years of High School. I could’ve gotten better grades if I’d studied, but I didn’t need to study to pass, so I didn’t. It wasn’t until 5th and 6th year, when I actually needed to study, that I realised I had no idea how to study. So, if you have no idea how to study when you need to, hopefully this will help!
If you’ve never studied before, the thought of studying may feel overwhelming and like it’s going to take up all your time. If you plan carefully, it won’t. Whilst this method means you are spending a fair bit of time each day, week and month studying, it also means that by exam time, you won’t need to spend all your time studying. Meaning you’ll be able to relax, you’ll be less stressed, and you will genuinely know and understand the content rather than trying to memorise everything in the course at the last minute.
Start studying before the school year begins. Schedule some time to just skim-read your textbooks or websites, maybe highlight or note down any recurring themes or key points.
Schedule time to go over the notes you took in class twice each day. Relax for half an hour to an hour when you get home, then rewrite your notes - put them into your own words, make connections and do some extra research on the topic, and include the research in your notes. This should take between ten minutes to half an hour per subject, but can be more or less depending on what you covered in class, if you understand the material, and the amount of time you put into extra research. These notes don’t have to look perfect, but make sure they’re easily legible, and have large headers (maybe organised by key - like Chapter 1, subchapter 1.1 etc.) so you can find them easily.
Later, maybe after dinner or before you go to bed, summarise the notes - don’t rewrite them out entirely, only write the key points and formulas. This should only take about ten minutes per subject.
Spend some time each week to revise everything you covered that week. Make a study sheet for each topic you studies, using the summaries you’ve already made. This shouldn’t take too long - you’re essentially rewriting slightly longer summary sheets that will help you later in the year, and as you’re already very familiar with the content, it should take maybe fifteen minutes to half an hour.
Monthly, go over everything you’ve studied that month. You should now have learned more concepts and information that builds upon what you studied initially, so go back to your summaries and notes and add extra information. There’s a few different ways to do this - you could make mindmaps or flashcards, for example. Take a day at the end of each month to do this - you’re covering the information for the month, so it’ll take a little longer, but it likely won’t take the entire day unless you’ve forgotten a lot of content and need to go back over certain topics in more depth.
In the lead up to exams (like 3-6 months beforehand) start scheduling extra time on weekdays (or weekends!) to study content you covered in the previous months. This is where all your great notes will come in handy - you’ll be able to test yourself to see what you remember, and if there’s content you don’t remember, your more in-depth notes will be invaluable for helping you remember what you need to know, as well as extra information.
At this point, also spend time working on your exam technique - for essay subjects, time yourself writing essays and see if your teacher is willing to look them over for you, for science subjects, use past papers and figure out how to answer each kind of question, and for art subjects, figure out what you need to do in your exam, practice timing yourself based on how long you’ll have, and spend more time practicing drawing/instruments/monologues etc. (This varies depending on subject.)
1-3 months before the exam, schedule time each week to go review each topic again - if you’ve covered 12 topics so far, try to cover 1 topic each week. Also schedule time monthly to cover the topics you’ve reviewed in the past month. This won’t take very long each day, as you’ve already reviewed the content in the previous months.
The month before the exam, continue practicing exam technique and reviewing course content. By this point, you should understand pretty much the full course, due to the frequent reviews. If you’re struggling, go back over content in more depth.
Organisation can also be difficult when you’ve never had to so much as look at your notes again. How you organise your studying varies greatly depending on how you take your notes, so I’m going to give some examples here.
Jotters (exercise books): If you’re using a jotter to take notes, take a new page for a new topic, and make sure you use big headings. Have a key of sorts so you can find certain topics easily - whether by numbers (1, 2, 3 etc. for main topics, 1.1, 1.2 etc for subtopics, 1.1a, 1.1b etc. for points within those subtopics, and so on) or a key you make up yourself. Whatever you use for your key, make sure you list the number, letter etc. clearly - if you note it in the top right corner, you can easily see the topic or subtopic just by flicking through the jotter. You can use different coloured jotters for different subjects, or even decorate your folder. (See @languageoclock‘s post for ideas on decorating jotters!
Folders (ringbinders): If you’re using a folder to take notes, again take a new page for a new topic, and use big headings. You can also use different coloured folders for different subjects, and coloured post-its to identify different topics, key themes etc., or you can separate topics using dividers. You may want to include space at the front of the folder for assignment due dates, test and exam dates, and useful information specific to your subject, such as formulas, key facts, etc.
There are also other methods, but these are the methods I’ve used.
Study schedules: making a study schedule can be helpful. Since using this method, what you study (before exam time) is mostly reliant on what you study in class, you could either put “study x subject”, or just leave a block of time each day, week and month in your schedule for studying, and mark the rest as “free time” or mark it according to your other commitments.
Journals and planners - having a journal or planner can be incredibly helpful, whether digital or on paper. For digital planners, set reminders a couple weeks before assignments are due, and for written journals, make sure you update your journal to include the due date as soon as you get the assignment or exam date. Many planners also have a “important dates” section where you can add this in, or if you’re using a bullet journal, you can add in a page or two for assignment due dates and tests and exams etc. yourself.
Chances are, if you’ve never had to study before, you maybe don’t know how you study best.
You can try these quizzes to find out more about your studying style. I also recommend doing additional research for more ideas on how to study.
Regardless of learning style, I still recommend making notes and summaries as they’re invaluable to refer to if you forget something or need more information, however when you’re reviewing, make sure to review in a way that suits your learning style. It’s simply a quicker and easier way to actually remember information.
If you’re a visual learner, using mind maps, the “cover, write, check” method, and colour coding may be helpful.
If you’re an auditory learner, talking out your notes, explaining the topic to someone else or discussing the topic with someone else, and watching videos on the topic may be beneficial.
If you learn by reading or writing, writing and rewriting your notes in different ways and from different perspectives could help, as could reading more on different perspectives outwith the course.
If you’re a kinesthetic learner, consider real life examples, how the topic affects you and others in daily life, and draw up charts and graphs to help illustrate your notes.
My other (relevant) Masterposts:
How to study with a mental illness
How to motivate yourself to study
How to organise your studying
How to improve your grade (at the last minute)
How to pass with low attendance
I hope this helps! This is mostly based on what I should’ve done in hindsight, along with some things that did actually help me during High School. If you have any other ideas, please let me know!