Getting Prepared for a Test

Essay questions are based on themes and overall ideas. Teachers like to use essay questions because they give students the opportunity to express everything they’ve learned over the last few weeks. Essay test answers reveal more than the bare facts. When submitting essay answers, students are expected to cover lots of information in an organized manner. 

But what if you prepare for an essay question and the test doesn’t include one? No worries! If you use these tips and understand the themes and ideas of the test then other questions will come easily. 

1. Look for teacher “special” words. If you hear your teacher use “again we see” or “a similar event occurred,” be sure to take note of it. A pattern or chain of events is key. 
2. Every day themes. As you review your class notes after school, make sure to look for themes. Brainstorm your own essay questions based on your themes. 
3. Glance over chapter titles. Textbook chapters often refer to themes. Look at each title and think of ideas, events, and terms that fit within that theme. 
4. Practice the questions. Be sure to use vocabulary words found in your notes and course books. Highlight or underline and go back to review their relevance. 

If you take good notes and think in terms of themes, as you study, you’ll be prepared for every type of test question. You’ll soon find that, in understanding the theme of each lesson or chapter, you’ll begin to think more like your teacher.

Contact us for Academic Coaching and we'll help get you prepared! 

Improving Study Skills

Today's students usually walk out of their classrooms with a backpack full of study guides, notebooks, binders, folders, chapters to read, etc. However, they don’t know how to put that information into a bin or storage system, for a week from now, a month from now, or even three months from now. The assignments students receive are both short-term and long-term. So, how do students know what to focus on and when? How do they store this information until they need it? How should they study? Take a look at the following tips.  

• Have the Student Teach - Students retain far more information when they draw up an assignment or breakdown a problem for others. Part of the reason this works is because the student is reviewing and teaching the parent or their peers at the same time. You can use note cards, but have the student hold them, read the words, and define the solution or answer.

• Push the Learning Button to On - Students believe that if they read a chapter, they’ve studied and they'll be prepared. When in fact, studying should be full, in-depth, and involved. In order to study well, students shouldn't sit on the bench, but become an active participant or an active learner. Students will retain more when they highlight the concepts, ideas, facts,  write down notes in the margins, develop their own study guides, and test themselves. Student need to do more than just reading. 

• Study Comfortably - Find a good place in the home or away from the home. Make sure this place is quiet, away from gaming/app electronics, and anxiety free. Set goals for breaks and use of electronics. For example, "After 30 minutes of studying, I'm allowed to take a 5 minute Facebook break." If studying with a group, utilize a place where distractions will be minimized. If possible, try to leave your cell phones at home, so that progress won't be hindered.    

• Come up with Catchy Acronyms - Using acronyms can be highly beneficial. Here is an example: The 5 current largest cities in New Jersey in terms of population - J E E P' N. The word Jeep is associated with a passenger vehicle. Jeep'n makes it sound like driving around to the 5 current largest cities in NJ: Jersey, Elizabeth, Edison, Paterson, and Newark. This technique is flexible; it can be used with almost any type of memorization. Once students are shown how to use this technique, they will come up with all kinds of catchy acronyms to make retention easier. These also can be fun and entertaining to come up with! 

• Participate in Class - Class participation can help boost study skills. The student is more engaged in class which will transfer to homework and studying. They will know more about the subject and be more familiar with what it encompasses. Asking questions to your teacher and creating classroom discussions can increase focus, interest, and motivation. The desire to get better, increase grades, and perform well takes over. 

• Space Out Studying - This will help reduce anxiety over assignments. Spacing out study time over a few days is far better and less stressful than studying the day or night before. When your child has a quiz or test within the next few weeks, help him or her break the study time into multiple days. Have your child write these tasks in an organizer or on your family's refrigerator calendar. An example, if there’s a math test on Thursday, have your child write down to "review my study guide" on Monday, "memorize formula note cards" on Tuesday, and "do practice problems on page 50" on Wednesday. 

The earlier students learn how to study the better off they will be. As they move up to higher education, secondary and post-secondary, and are assigned more challenging work, these skills will become even more useful and help them to understand the material better. They will be prepared, more comfortable, have less stress, and better grades. 

Let us know how we can help improve your child's study skills!