If you’re scrolling through tumblr trying to distract yourself from something you don’t want to think about or you’re looking for a sign that everything will be okay, this is it. So, breathe. Relax into this moment. You’re alive & that’s all that matters.
1. study for yourself, not others. don’t study because you like to say that you spent hours studying (or don’t not study just because you want to seem naturally smart)! do what you YOU have to do and not what others expect you to do.
2. understand, don’t memorize. especially if you’re in college!! 99% of the time the professor would rather you understand why something is rather than just what it is.
3. read the textbook. even if your professor goes over the chapter in class, a lot of times they’ll slip in questions on the exam that they didn’t go over in class but were in the reading. (sneaky!!)
4. don’t wait until the end of the semester to ask for extra credit. you are 20x more likely to get it if you ask in the middle.
5. eat in class if you have to! not sure if this qualifies as a study tip but i’m including it anyway. if you’re starving there is no way you’ll be able to pay attention in class! keep some snacks in your backpack to eat during class to keep you energized and focused! the professor most likely will not mind, but if they did, it would probably say so in the syllabus.
6. make study groups! i know a lot of people find them distracting, but maybe try to meet with a study group for every class at least one or two times a semester just to make sure you didn’t miss anything in the notes. and who knows, your group might be able to explain tricky concepts to you better than your professor can!
7. take advantage of little pockets of time. do you have 30 minutes between classes? read over your notes! waiting in line for chipotle? pull out a quizlet!! college can get BUSY and overwhelming and you may have trouble finding a large chunk of time to study, so spend the down time you do have wisely!
8. ^ that being said, take breaks! if you just walked out of an exam and you’re feeling pretty brain dead, don’t pull out your notes and study! let yourself have some time to relax before you get back into your rhythm. you don’t want to burn yourself out!
9. don’t forget that you have a final exam! after you finish a chapter exam or quiz, don’t let yourself forget all of that information, it’ll make finals 10x harder! if you have extra study time every once in a while go over some of your old notes to refresh your memory.
10. go to office hours. that’s it. that’s the tip.
11. be flexible with your study time! don’t go to the library thinking “i have to stay here and study for 8 hours for my exam tomorrow or i am a bad student” because a. that is not realistic b. you might not actually need that much time. maybe you only need 3 hours to feel prepared! maybe you are planning on 2 but you really need 4! just be flexible!
12. have a clean & clear work space. we love our decorations and 20 mason jars full of pens on our desks, but at the end of the day, if your desk isn’t functional, change it. it is much easier to focus and get stuff done when you have adequate space to do so.
13. explain concepts out loud to yourself. you may sound crazy, but this works! this helps you work out the best way to explain things for the exam (especially if the exam is in essay format), and you can easily find out how much you actually understand by doing this! just go through your notes and explain all the major concepts. i always pretend i’m a professor teaching it to students (i know it sounds crazy but it really does work).
14. make sure to bring a water bottle to your study sessions. don’t be like me and only drink coffee!! coffee is great and all but doesn’t do much for your energy if you’re dehydrated and you are more likely to crash. water is really important and will keep you energized for a longer period of time!
15. switch between classes you are studying for every hour or so. your brain cannot focus on the same thing for very long, so switching between different subjects will help stimulate it so you can study longer!
16. NEVER write an essay the day before it’s due! i guarantee it will not be your best work, even if you believe you work better under pressure. your thoughts and ideas need time to develop, and they won’t fully develop if you do it all in one night.
17. if you hit a point in your studying where you can’t focus or learn anymore, go to bed. the information will process in your brain overnight and you will wake up the next day with all the information fresh in your brain, and you’ll feel much more awake and focused on studying.
18. mind map!! mind mapping will help you connect all the concepts together to better understand how it should all flow.
19. don’t wait to do tasks that will only take 5 minutes. get all of these quick tasks out of the way before you get on netflix (or studyblr tbh). this will help clear up your to-do list and get you into the groove of studying without doing anything too strenuous!
20. don’t take yourself too seriously. still work hard, but remember that you are young. one bad grade on a test is not going to ruin your entire life. have fun in college and don’t stress yourself out over grades or your future too much.
I'll let you in on a secret. I have a doctorate in education, but the field’s basically just a 100 years old. We don’t really know what we’re doing. Our scholarly understanding of how learning happens is like astronomy 2000 years ago.
Most classroom practice is astrology.
Before the late 19th century, no human society had ever attempted to formally educate the entire populace. It was either aristocracy, meritocracy, or a blend. And always male.
We’re still smack-dab in the middle of the largest experiment on children ever done.
Most teachers perpetuate the “banking” model (Freire) used on them by their teachers, who likewise inherited it from theirs, etc.
Thus the elite “Lyceum” style of instruction continues even though it’s ineffectual with most kids.
What’s worse, the key strategies we’ve discovered, driven by cognitive science & child psychology, are quite regularly dismissed by pencil-pushing, test-driven administrators. Much like Trump ignores science, the majority of principals & superintendents I’ve known flout research.
Some definitions:
Banking model --> kids are like piggy banks: empty till you fill them with knowledge that you're the expert in.
Lyceum --> originally Aristotle's school, where the sons of land-owning citizens learned through lectures and research.
Things we (scholars) DO know:
-Homework doesn't really help, especially younger kids.
-Students don't learn a thing from testing. Most teachers don't either (it's supposed to help them tweak instruction, but that rarely happens).
-Spending too much time on weak subjects HURTS.
Do you want kids to learn? Here's something we've discovered: kids learn things that matter to them, either because the knowledge and skills are "cool," or because .... they give the kids tools to liberate themselves and their communities.
Maintaining the status quo? Nope.
Kids are acutely aware of injustice and by nature rebellious against the systems of authority that keep autonomy away from them.
If you're perpetuating those systems, teachers, you've already freaking lost.
They won't be learning much from you. Except what not to become. Sure, you can wear them down. That's what happened to most of you, isn't it? You saw the hideous flaw in the world and wanted to heal it. But year after numbing year, they made you learn their dogma by rote.
And now many of you are breaking the souls of children, too.
For what?
It's all smoke and mirrors. All the carefully crafted objectives, units and exams.
WE. DON'T. KNOW. HOW. PEOPLE. LEARN.
We barely understand the physical mechanisms behind MEMORY. But we DO know kids aren't empty piggy banks. They are BRIMMING with thought.
The last and most disgusting reality? The thing I hear in classroom after freaking classroom?
Education is all about capitalism.
"You need to learn these skills to get a good job." To be a good laborer. To help the wealthy generate more wealth, while you get scraps.
THAT is why modern education is a failure.
Its basic premise is monstrous.
"Why should I learn to read, Dr. Bowles?"
Because reading is magical. It makes life worth living. And being able to read, you can decode the strategies of your oppressors & stop them w/ their own words.
…..not even six hours later i got an offer of a well paying full time long-term job with free room and board in queens in nyc, allowing me independence and a way to escape an abusive situation and an unhealthy environment
likes charge reblogs cast, folks, this is the good luck post
the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like.
Please give me the luck so my school can FINALLY give me my Highschool Record and Principal’s Recommendation Form that bitch I’ve been looking for since Sept 9–
- huge cryptid vibes, probably looks for bigfoot on the weekends or has asked baba yaga on a date
- wakes up as late as possible and often has insomnia for one reason or another
- the friend with the WEIRDEST dreams, not daydreams, just normal dreams, probably very similar in style to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
- if you insult their fandoms (even by critiquing them constructively), you insult their honor and they will break down
- cries a LOT but only a few people know exactly how much, usually just their s/o, one friend, and the people they live with
- they have friends but for some reason they forget that they have them pretty often
- realllllllly bad at making the first move, probably needs BARE MINIMUM 4 months to make any kind of interpersonal decision
- also generally indecisive, always the friend who takes a while to order their food
- usually a bad driver and kind of proud of it, I have known some who flaunt that they watch anime while driving (conversely, doesn’t know they’re a bad driver and insists that they’re fine even though they’re 15 miles above the speed limit)
- has the most beautiful poet brain, probably writes you love letters and stories, definitely expects them in return regardless of what kind of relationship you have
- has an emotional style of texting, uses a lot of emojis or emoticons, keysmashes, and the amount they text you per text is super dependent on how much they know you exist and/or like you
- ghosts people without realizing it because they’re deathly afraid of confrontation
- really, their greatest fears are (in no particular order) 1) do other people think I’m not smart? 2) will I hurt someone’s feelings? 3) is someone hurting my feelings? 4) will I be able to live adventurously without money?
- LOVES LANGUAGES, they want to travel abroad more than anything sometimes, foreign countries are their escapism
- 99% chance that they have tried to learn French at some point in their life, the other 1% is reserved for other romance languages taking priority
- afraid that they may have commitment issues
- can feel really distant sometimes because they’re always internalizing their feelings
- very prone to being high/drunk, often can easily become addicted if it becomes their chosen emotional escapism
- caught between living a cottagecore life in the forest and living in a city full of culture
- tries not to lie and wants to be authentic but often does accidentally because they’re insecure about how people see them
- wants to be with someone who takes care of them because they often are not great at it
- will go with you on any adventure so long as you take care of the planning
- when you fight with them it will really fuck you up for the rest of your life and they will feel that way for a long time too
- they are magpies and want little gifts that reminded you of them, often just a little flower will do, maybe a poem, or a painting
- ART MUSEUM DATES will make them loose their shit they love them so much and want to kiss you in front of all the paintings and make the remark that you two are the best masterpiece there
- gushy soft squishy babies, you will call them many things and all of the things will be something exactly like that (if you can be around an INFP without calling them baby respectfully then I don’t know who you are)
- lovecore. that’s really it. they’re in love with love and love doesn’t always love them back.
cute date idea: we go to a locally owned bookstore and cafe to buy greek history books and shakespeare. seeing your brown eyes in the sun makes me believe in miracles and hearing your voice recite soliloquies makes me believe in aphrodite
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