Insider’s Guide to Studying Tip 5: Study Buddy!

Mar 10, 2010

Students of all ages can hone their study skills with these tips that teachers wished they knew when they were students.

Tip 5: Study Buddy!

Want a quick tip to cut the amount that you have to study in half? Partner up! Study buddies are a great way to divide study material, save time, and gain new perspectives.

Here’s how it works:

1. Select a Study Buddy. The best study buddy is someone who you will be able to work well with. It’s nice to partner up with your friends, but if you’re going to spend your time gossiping or discussing video game high scores, then it won’t be time well spent.
2. Set a Schedule. Select a time and place to meet up to study.
3. Divvy up the Workload. If there are two chapters to study, each student is responsible for one chapter.
4. Talk it Out. A study buddy isn’t about sitting down together and quietly reading side by side. A study buddy helps you learn, helps you discover areas that you need to focus on, and helps you cut down on the amount of studying you have to do on your own.
5. Prepare. Before you meet for the first time, do your review.
   • Make study notes: write down titles, headings, and keywords, and make a copy for your partner
   • Create your own mnemonic devices
   • Create a fake test for your study partner
6. Teach it. Take turns teaching a unit or section to one another. Review the material, but don’t read word for word from the text or class notes—boring! Don’t know where to start? Even if it seems awkward, just start at the beginning: “Chapter 5 is about atoms. Atoms are broken down into three basic elements…” Your study buddy can help you fill in gaps as well as point out important areas that you might have overlooked.
7. Paraphrase. This is just a fancy word for putting it your own words. If you’re reciting word for word from a textbook you’re just memorizing. If you can explain it in your own words, then you’re on your way to real understanding.
8. Pay Attention to Class Examples. Sometimes teachers give examples in class that are not in the textbook. Teachers sometimes include these on a test to see if you were paying attention in class. Remember that films, pictures, and handouts can turn up on tests, so don’t overlook these examples—even if they seem silly.
9. Share. Your impressions and opinions about the material might offer a new perspective on a subject. A different viewpoint can give you insights and ideas that you hadn’t considered.
10. End with a test. Pass each other the fake tests that you’ve created and quiz one another. Correct each other’s test and see how you did.

Sometimes teachers assign study groups, usually with 3-5 (or more) students per group. While a larger group might decrease the amount of material that you have to review on your own, it can also be a recipe for disaster. A too-large group can too easily lead to socialization and procrastination, so it’s important to follow the above tips and stay organized.

Print off this post.
Download the complete Insider’s Guide To Studying (PDF).

Related:
Tip 4: Putting it your own words.
Tip 3: The Fake Test
Tip 2: Mnemonic devices
Tip 1: Review with a Pen and Paper

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Insider’s Guide to Studying Tip 4: Paraphrasing

Mar 2, 2010

Students of all ages can hone their study skills with these tips that teachers wished they knew when they were students.

Tip 4: Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing. It means: summarize, re-word, interpret, translate, and/or restate. It’s a key study skill.

When it comes to studying, paraphrasing is the opposite of memorizing. That’s because it helps students make sense of the material. It helps students to understand, which, when it comes to learning and studying is crucial!

Scenario: it’s study time. The books are cracked open, and you’ve got a pen and paper ready to go. You’re in the process of making study notes. You’ve created some mnemonic devices to remember lists and you’re in the process of creating a Fake Test.

But how do you turn the act of making study notes into actual studying? That’s where paraphrasing comes in.

It’s a simple five-step process:

1. Grab your textbook or notebook and Read a passage.
2. Cover the passage with a book or a piece of paper.
3. Recite what you’ve just read using your own words (paraphrase)—don’t look! No cheating!
4. Check. Re-read and check that what you’re reciting is accurate.
5. Repeat. Keep reading, reciting, and checking until you’ve got it 100% right.

Bonus Tip:

If you’re having trouble putting it in your own words, imagine that somebody is asking you this question “what does that mean?” Try to answer that question in your own words. You can also try using, “in other words” before you paraphrase.

Related:
Tip 3: The Fake Test
Tip 2: Mnemonic devices
Tip 1: Review with a Pen and Paper

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Insider’s Guide to Studying Tip 3: The Fake Test

Feb 26, 2010

Students of all ages can hone their study skills with these tips that teachers wished they knew when they were students.

The Fake Test

There’s a test coming up. How will you do?

One way to find out is by taking the wait-and-see approach. The other is to practice taking the test until you’ve got it perfect! This is a take-charge approach to studying that helps students anticipate test questions and discover how well they’ll perform on the actual test.

Here’s how it works:

1. As you read over your notes, use a separate sheet of paper to write down questions about what you are reading. (This uses the pencil-to-paper style of ACTIVE studying that keeps students engaged during the study process. See Tip 1)

Bonus tip: keep track of where to find the answers to your fake-test questions.
For instance: Q: When did Christopher Columbus sail for the New World and what were the names of his three ships? (page 37, first paragraph)

2. As you read, pay special attention to the challenging concepts. Create more questions for these concepts. Really test yourself. After all, that’s what a test is designed to do—assess how well you understand something. So dig in and ask the tough questions. Go for those bonus marks!

3. Now that you have read over all of the study material, and have a sheet filled with questions—what’s next? Put the fake test aside and wait a day or two. Then, when you sit down to study next, begin with your fake test. Did you pass or fail? How many questions did you answer correctly? How many were you unable to answer?

4. Go back and study some more, and focus on the questions that you answered wrong or that you were unable to answer.

5. Start early! Building a fake test that really challenges your topic knowledge takes time. You won’t be able to properly test yourself if you left studying to the last minute. The extra time required to get organized and create a fake test pays off. As the saying goes: practice makes perfect.

Related:
Tip 2: Mnemonic devices
Tip 1: Review with a Pen and Paper

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Secret Agent Josephine Debut

Feb 23, 2010

Oxford Learning is very pleased to welcome Brenda from Secret Agent Josephine to our blog as our first-ever guest mommy-blogger!

Busy mom Brenda will be sharing fun, cheerfully-illustrated tales about the highs and lows of being a busy mom with a pre-school aged daughter, as well as the every day learning experiences that she and her active four-year old share.

We hope that you enjoy Brenda’s posts and visit her on her blog Secret Agent Josephine!

Picking Lemons at Grandma’s

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New Classroom Technology Sounds like a Great Idea

Feb 10, 2010

In previous posts we’ve looked at how technology might not be in students’ best interests.

But a London Free Press article shows one way that technology is helping students have a better classroom experience by installing a surround sound system to help amplify the teacher’s voice.

"It makes such a difference when everyone can hear what you are doing. The kids tune in a whole lot better. They maintain their attention much longer," said Clifford, who's been teaching for 20 years.

"And as a teacher, your tone does not have to change, you don't have to shout or raise your voice and you know there is nowhere in the room that has more advantage than anywhere else."

She had been raising her voice to be heard for more than a decade when a child with special needs came into her class equipped with a sound system.

London Free Press

Surround sound to help students be more attentive in the classroom? Sounds like a great idea!

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