5 Valuable Tips Guaranteed to Help You Have a Successful School Term

Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well now that classes have started. If you tuned in to last Tuesday’s post, we made a list of tips to get yourself set-up for online learning. In today’s post, we give you more tips to help you have a better semester and how to keep on top of your schoolwork!

1. Establishing a note-taking system

We can’t emphasize this enough. Having a well-structured and consistent note-taking system IS the key to success. Once you’ve established a good note-taking system, it’ll make it easier for you to study and retain knowledge.

One note-taking system that we recommend is the Cornell Method. The Cornell method divides one page into 3 different sections. The left side for cues, the right side for notes, and the bottom for summary. So, let’s break this down:

a. Notes

This is where your regular notes go. A few tips on notes: make sure you use concise sentences and use abbreviations to make note-taking more efficient.

b. Cues

This is where your prompts go. You can write down questions and important keywords that can help you remember and review later on.

c. Summary

You can fill up the summary once you’re done filling up the cues and notes sections. Summarize the topic in your own words and make sure you include the most important main ideas.

Why is having a note-taking system so important? Having a kind of system that provides you with prompts and a quick reference will help you retrieve information better. When you go through your notes at a later time, having a good system will not only save you time, but will also help you practice deep learning.

2. Effective studying practices

Having a note-taking system helps you establish effective studying practices. We will talk about 4 concepts on how to establish effective studying practices.

a. Retrieval

This is where your note-taking system comes in. After you’ve written down your notes, it’s time to review them. So, what’s the most effective way to review your notes? If you have time, it’s best to review your notes at the end of the day. This will not only help you organize your notes better, but it will also allow you to review and retrieve the information you’ve learned during the day. The best way to retrieve information is to answer or write down what you remember about the topics without the help of your notes or textbooks. With the Cornell method, you can answer the prompts as best as you can and try not to check the notes you’ve written until you’ve answered the questions. This might sound difficult, but it is actually a very effective way to retain information.

b. Spaced Learning

Have you ever procrastinated and ended up cramming for the next day’s exam and found that none of the information you studied stuck? That’s because your brain hasn’t retained all that information. It takes a while to “marinate” information in your brain. This is where spaced learning comes in. So, what is spaced learning? It’s when you leave some time in between before you revisit that information again. To give you a simple example: If you’ve discussed a topic today that you know will come up on a test in 3 weeks, you can review the topic at the end of the day while you’re doing the retrieval part. You can let that information “marinate” by reviewing that topic again maybe in a week. This will allow information to be deeply embedded in your mind.

c. Interleaving

This concept might seem the most “counter-intuitive” of all four. Interleaving is switching between topics during a single review session. Very counter-intuitive right? You might think, “Why would someone review 5 different topics at once? How in the world am I gonna master one topic, let alone 5!?”. Studies suggest interleaving is actually way more effective than people think. This is because the brain will work more to distinguish similarities and differences between the topics. Studying just one topic in one sitting is actually using your short-term memory, while interleaving activates your long-term memory.

d. Varied practice

The name is pretty much self-explanatory. Ever find yourself bored and tired of just reading your notes over and over again? That’s because your brain isn’t actually working on retrieving and retaining that information. With varied practice, you can cover different concepts and use different approaches to understand and explain the topic. This encourages deeper learning as you’re trying to rack your brain and your brain is activated by a fresh, new activity. You can look up ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES on Google if you need new ideas on how you can mix up your review activities.

3. Keeping organized

This is pretty basic and should always be done! The first step to keep on top of things is to list them down. When you get your course outline, make sure you list down the dates on your calendar. If possible, make a weekly planner. Block out your regular class times and times you need to set aside for study, doing a quiz, or writing a paper. This is very crucial to have a stress-free semester. When you can visually see what you need to be doing on those specific times and dates, you’re sure you won’t get behind.

4. Ask for help

Asking for help is very important especially for new uni students. University can be quite intimidating, and no one has it all figured out. Whether you’re a new student or have been in uni for a couple of years, one thing you should remember is IT’S OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP. This not only applies to your classes ut also in any aspect of your life, you should reach out for help. Most institutions have great student services, so utilize that if you can.

5. Set aside personal time

Personal time is something most students forget. I will admit I do forget to set aside time for myself with the million of things I need to study and work on for my classes. And honestly, it has affected every aspect of my life. School can definitely take up much of your time, but it’s important to sit back, relax, and have time for yourself. It’s important to take care of yourself because once your body is asking for the time off it needs, it’ll affect your whole life. So, make sure you eat healthy, exercise, and take a mental day off. Your body will thank you and it will help you become a more effective learner.

I hope these tips are helpful. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do all these things. We are all a work in progress and we all have something going on in our lives. However, we hope that these are helpful reminders to keep you in track of your schoolwork. And remember, consistency is key. So, if you do these tips, make sure you practice them consistently and work them into your everyday routine.

We wish you a happy school year and good luck!