Selecting your courses

Part 5

The arts

Research indicates that students who participate in the arts often do better in school and on standardized tests. The arts help you recognize patterns discern differences and similarities and exercise your mind in unique ways often outside a traditional classroom setting.

Many colleges require or recommended one or two semesters in the arts. Good choices include studio art, dance, music and drama. Many students have talents and extraordinary abilities in the arts. Students should look within their own repertoire of talents and identify their artistic abilities and take college classes to develop their talents.

Advanced Placement Program (AP)

To be sure you are ready to take on college level work, enroll in the most challenging courses you can in high school such as honors or AP courses. Research consistently shows that students who score a 3.0 or higher on an AP Exam typically experience greater academic success and college graduation rates than students who don’t take AP.

Work hard in your righteous pursuits, and you will reap the benefits of self-fulfillment and job satisfaction. Don’t take short cuts just to “get by” instead, take challenging and difficult roads (coursers) and reach higher mountain peaks of achievement.

Choose the right!!!

dropbox

Selecting your courses

Part 4

Social studies

You can better understand local and world events that are happening now by studying the culture and history that has shaped them. Here is a suggested course plan:

·         U.S history (two semesters)

·         U.S government (one semester)

·         World history or geography (one semester)

·         One additional semester in the above or other areas

Foreign languages

Solid foreign language study shows college you’re willing to stretch beyond the basics. Many colleges require at least two years of study in the same foreign language, and some prefer more.

Learning a foreign language can be a challenge but is exciting. Repetition is the key to learning a language and having conversations with others speaking the same language is the best way to learn this new language. Repetition in a fun way will build your skills thoroughly as you seek to master new languages.

Choose the right!!!

dropbox

The power of study groups

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/50432.html  

Part 1

Working together helps everyone

You may have noticed that when you’re explaining something you’ve learned to a friend, you begin to understand it better yourself. This happens because, when you explain an idea, you need to think more deeply about it. The same principle makes study groups useful. Studying with others in a small group is helpful because you:

·       Think out loud

·       Share ideas

·       Learn from one another

In an effective study group you and other students hash out lesson materials together – explaining concepts arguing about them, figuring out why one person’s answer differs from another’s – and in the process, you most likely learn more than you would have studying by yourself.

Choose the Right!!!

 dropbox

10 Time Management Tips for Students

http://www.collegeboard.com/student /plan/college-success/116.html

Tips 1-4

Organizing your life

Managing your time well is important element of success—especially if you’re a student. If you set priorities that fit your needs and lifestyle, you’ll have a better chance of achieving your goals. Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

Tip 1. Make a To-- Do list every day.

Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. And don’t forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.

Tip 2. Use spare minutes wisely.

When you’re commuting on the bus or train use the time to get some reading done. 

Tip 3. It’s okay to say No.

If your friend asks you to go to the movies on a Thursday night and you have an exam the next morning, realize its ok to say no. keep your short- and- long – term priorities in mind.

Tip 4. Fight the right time.

You’ll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if your brain handles math better in the afternoon, don’t wait and do it until late night.

Choose the Right!!!!

 dropbox

Ten tips for successful students

St. Johns University

1.     Attend your classes. Remember in the words of Woody Allen Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.

2.     Know your faculty. Make sure you know who your teachers are, when their office hours are and how to contact them.

3.     Make sure the faculty knows you. Sit in the front of the classroom. Participate in class discussions. Consult with your teachers during office hours.

4.     Use a daily planner. Note the dates of exams assignments term papers etc.

5.     Be organized. Prioritize your responsibilities. Manage your time. Remember everyone has the same 168 hours a week, only some of us use them better than others.

6.     Know your campus resources. Visit your academic dean office regularly. Become familiar with the services and programs offered by the counseling Center, the freshman center, the campus ministry office and the student life office.

7.     Take care of your health. Get enough sleep. Eat well balanced meals. Exercise regularly. Make inform and mature decisions about alcohol, sex and drugs. Visit the health offices as needed.

8.     Work only as necessary. Try not the exceed 20 hours during a school week. If possible, work on campus. Apply for financial aid and loans if you need them. Manage your expenses very carefully.

9.     Get involved in campus activities. It will help you learn valuable skills, expand your social network and enhance your self-confidence. Seek out opportunities to apply what you learn in the classroom.

10.                        Keep your eyes on the prize. Clarify your goals. Know why you are in high school or college in the first place. Visualize your success on a daily basis.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

dropbox

Profile of a Successful Student

Part 1

http://www.plymouth.edu/office/online-education/online -learning/profile-of-a-successful-student/

a successful student. . .

. . . takes responsibility for his/her own learning                                                                                                            online learning can be powerful, stimulating, engaging experience for the student who can work and think independently, however, since most – if not all- of the learning takes place on your own time, you will not have the kind of direct supervision you would in a classroom. Online learning therefore requires a significant commitment from you. Al education comes down to what you’re willing to invest in the experience- this is particularly true in the online environment. Commitment, self- discipline and self-motivation are all key qualities to ensuring success in an online course!                                                         

                                            . . . is comfortable and confident with written communication                 reading and writing are the basis of most online courses, so it’s critical that you feel comfortable with this form  of communication. While some courses contain modules that include video or other activities, all of the m requires significant amounts of reading. And nearly all of your communication with your classmates and your instructor will be in writing. If these are weak areas for you, you will want to address those issues prior to enrolling or while enrolled in an online course. The PSU WRITING CENTER is available to assist you.

. . . is willing to be a member of an online community

Choose the right!!!

dropbox

Successful students

9

9 . . . . Don’t cram for exams. Successful students know that divided periods of study method are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

          If there is one thing that study skills specialist agree on, it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditched efforts known as cramming. You’ll learn more remember more and earn higher grade by studying in four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever huh?

When you cram you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never produce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or a project and expecting to make it a high score the next day is like planting watermelons seed and expecting to harvest and eat fresh watermelon the next day. Plus cramming for a test and project doesn’t help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

Choose the Right!!!

 dropbox

dropbox
Success students

5-6

5. Don’t sit in the back of the room. Successful student’s minimize classroom distractions that interfere with learning.

            Students want the best seat available for their entertainment dollars, but willingly seek the worst seat for their educational dollars. Students who sit in the back cannot possibly be their professors’ teammates (see no. 4). Why do they expose themselves to the temptations of inactive classroom experiences and distractions of the people between them and their instructor? Of course, we know they chose the back of the classroom because they seek invisibility or anonymity, both of which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If you are trying not to be part of the class, why, then, are you wasting your time? Push your hot buttons, is there something else you should be doing with your time?

6. . . . Take good notes. Successful students take good notes that are understandable and organized, and review them often.

            Why put something into your notes that you do not understand? Ask the questions now that are necessary to make your notes meaningful at some later time. A short review of your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps you to learn more. The more you learn then, the less you’ll have to learn later and the less time it will take because, you won’t have to include some deciphering time, also. The whole purpose of taking notes is to use them and to use them often. The more you use them, the more you improve.

Choose the right!!!

Successful students

1-2

Successful students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes and behaviors as well as intellectual capacity. Successful students . . .

1)    . . . are responsible and active. Successful students get involved in their studies, accept responsibility for their own education, and are active participants in it! Responsibility means control. It’s the difference between leading and being led. Your own efforts control your grade you earn the glory and deserve the blame, you make the choice. Active classrooms participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream, or sleep. Or, you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience. Either option costs one class period. However, the former method will require a larger degree of additional work outside of class to achieve the same degree of learning the latter proves at one sitting. The choice is yours.

2)    . . . have educational goals. Successful students have legitimate goals and are motivated by what they represent in terms of career aspirations and life’s desires.

Ask yourself these questions: What am I doing here? Why have I chosen to be sitting here now? Is there some better place I could be? What does my presence here mean to me? Answer these questions represent your “Hot Buttons” and are, without a doubt the most important factors in your success in college student. If your educational goals are truly yours, not someone else’s, they will motivate a vital and positive academic attitude. If you are familiar what these hot buttons represent and refer to them often, especially when  you tire of being a student, nothing can stop you; you aren’t and don’t, everything can and will!

Choose the right!!!dropbox

Study for Multiple Exams

Part 3

English, math, foreign language tips: Practice- - especially foreign language class if you are just showing and doing the work. But if you are in your room and look at objects and try to say them in the language you are learning it actually helps. Or if you send some simple text to a friend think about it, can you translate that to German or Spanish? These are the little things that will help.

 Here are my final words of wisdom for students who want to get better grades in college: Time management and organization are critical key factors to success in college. And never be afraid to go ask your teacher for help. They have office hours for a reason- use them!

Choose the Right!!!

 dropbox

Study for multiple exams

Part 2

My strategies for written assignments: everyone has their own writing styles. I generally come up with an idea and do massive amounts of research before I ever think about writing. I then organize my research then sometimes prepare an outline before actual writing. I always print out the paper and come back to it the next day and reread it. That is the easiest way for me to catch my own mistakes. I have to give my eyes a break from it, and if I just wrote it I think it looks perfect. But if I look at it a day later I almost always find grammatical errors or phrases and sentences I just want to reword.

How I succeed in my team projects: Never assume someone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. Have regular meetings and have each member show their work, not just give you or the group their word for it.

Choose the Right!!!

dropbox

Study for multiple exams

Part 1

How I study for multiple exams, deal with multiple projects: really it is my time management that I explained above. If I see I have multiple things due or to study for all at the same time I spread out my time beforehand. For example, if I have a test on Monday and 2 tests Tuesday then I will study for my Monday text on Thursday and part of it on Friday. Start studying for my next test on the second half of Friday and part of Saturday, then my second test on Tuesday on Saturday as well as part of Sunday. Then Sunday night I can review for my Monday test because I already studied for it. When that test is over then I can star reviewing for the other tests.

My overall study method: I try to break it up over several days or at least two. I get bogged out if I try to pull an all nighter.

How I’ve overcome an initial bad grade: if I received a low grade I probably knew it was coming because I didn’t prepare properly or I didn’t use the right study habit for that class. I usually try to go over what I did wrong and sometime discuss with the teacher what I can do differently on the next exam or what they suggest I do for studying for the next exam.

Choose The Right!!!

dropbox

Sarah’s Academic success Story

Part 2

My test study method: I have different strategies for different types of tests or subjects. For me, any type of math is exceptionally difficult so I had to spend extra time on that. I would go back through the homework problems focusing on the problems that I had extra difficulty on. Many times I would ask the teacher for any additional study materials they could provide. If it was a class that required memorization or applying concepts I would create a sort of study guide for myself many times focusing on what were key focal points in the class. If I knew there were going to be essays I would try to take terms and apply them to an example or create different questions on the concepts focused on throughout the semester.

My time management secret: I always always always carry a planner with me. I even use different color highlighters to show what each event on my calendar is for. For example, pink is personal, yellow is school, orange is work, blue is for appointments, and green is for my sorority. Although I use white out frequently, I can see in bright yellow that if I have that project for finance due on Tuesday, I need to start working on it the previous Wednesday so I can just get it done. My friends have always been amazed at how early I get things accomplished but that is really all I do.

Choose the Right!!!

drop box

Sarah’s Academic Success Story

Part 1

Time management became a key factor in my study skills for college. In high school, there were many times I was able to study for an hour or two the night before a test and get away with it. This was not the case in college.  I made sure in college I was prepared in each class. Sometimes that meant writing out the terms for the chapter we read (even if when it isn’t required) to better understand them. That way when the midterm or test comes around I was able to understand what I was studying. I started taking excellent notes in class in college. I may have done this in high school, but in college I started typing up the notes after class. This helped me remember what I just went over in class then when I had a test one week later I was more likely to remember then as well.

My overall study method: Structured. One thing I learned was I had to adapt or change my study method according to the class. I couldn’t study for a religion class the same way for a finance class. But making sure I had enough time to study for each class - - even if it meant carrying a planner with me at all times was a big part of my success.

Choose The Right!!!
dropbox

Work Together

Part 3

Here are my final words of wisdom for students who want to get better grades in college: A big thing that not many will say is to ask for help if you need it. It’s not a bad thing to not understand, it’s a bad thing if you font do anything about it. Plan your time out so you are completing anything that needs to get done and leave time to double check. Write things down and have good management skills. Ask for help is probably the biggest thing can say though. If you don’t understand, go to office hours or find a classmate that does understand and is willing to help you. If you try hard, it will come to you. I find myself thinking that I would have to try harder to fail than I try to succeed. If that is not who you are, then hopefully things that I have done can show you that success is something that is amazing to find! Good luck!

Choose The Right!!

dropbox

Work Together

 Part 2

English, math, foreign language tips: For math, all I can say is do the problems assigned. It is the only way to practice and that’s really all it is for math. It’s the same for chemistry; if you do the practice problems you will understand the material so much better because those subjects are not just memorization like history, you need to be able to apply what you have learned in practical situations. As for English I am no longer taking it but I would say to leave yourself plenty of time to write essays and papers. They take time to get all the information out of your head and onto the page so don’t leave them until the last second.

Choose the right

dropbox

dropbox

Work Together

Part 1

I can and will work as part of the team as long as everyone in the team is willing to do his work. I don’t like having to pick up the slack but I will if I know that my grade will be harmed otherwise. My greatest academic success was in my first semester when I had to write a 10-12 page research paper. It was the longest paper I had ever been assigned and I was a little scared. Also, it was the first paper where they were like, here you go just write about something. I had to argue in favor of or against something, but it could be anything from the sky is blue to hypnotism. I wrote mine on hypnotism. I worked on this paper for weeks and weeks. Every night I would be doing research or writing. I put so much effort into this paper. It ended up being just under 12 pages but it was full on information. I turned it in and when I got it back a week later or so, I had received the first A+ of my college career. All my hard work paid off because I got the grade I deserved. I was really happy and proud of myself.

Choose The Right!

You can succeed everyday

Part 2

My strategies for written assignments: I try to outline before I write because otherwise I forget what I am supposed to be writing about. I try not to leave them until the last minute because then I will just goof up the work. A lot of times I just write what I feel. Teachers like your opinion and if you can find something from the reading or research that relates specifically to your life, they like it even more because it allows you to take ownership of your work. I write things that I want others to read; not things that I have to write because the teacher said so.

How I succeed in team projects: Personally, I do not like working on group projects, especially ones that I worked on in high school. However, when it is required to work on a group, usually I try to lead. I like taking the lead because then I know that my grade will be a good one. I do well in school, I always have and I don’t plan on changing that any time soon, so when I need to work with people who maybe don’t care as much as I do, or they have more time to waste on other than the project, I try to be in charge. That way I know that things are going to get done on time and that I am going to get a good grade. If I am working in a group of people who all want to work, then it is a different story.

Choose the Right

dropbox

EFFECTIVE STUDY METHODS

Part 3

How I deal with multiple project/tests: When I have more than one project or tests, I break up my studying. I will study for one test for 30 minutes or so and then switch to the other one. If there is some part of a project that I know will not take me very long, I will do it when I don’t have much time. If I am really in a crunch for time on a specific day, I will study for one test in the morning and the other in the afternoon or at night. By breaking up the studying into different sections, I feel like I get more done. Cram sessions do not work for me. I need to study something for a shorter period of time more often for it to sink in.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

dropbox

    Effective study methods   

Part 2

My time management secret: my secret is to use time wisely. I know that own certain days I do not have time to run errands or hang out with friends even. Each minute of each day is used for something. One thing that works really well for me is to right everything down. I mean everything. I write down if I am going to email people, write letters, or study. It works for me to have a planner that goes by the day and shows me what I am going to be doing every day. Knowing what I have to do every day helps me plan out my weeks and my days. If I know I don’t have time on Tuesday, I will try to get things done more on Monday or Sunday. I plan ahead, especially if I am going to be on the road for volleyball. When I am on the road I bring my books and read on the bus/bus/hotel room. Missing class is killer to make up from but if you are upfront with your professors, they are usually nice about having to turn in things late or not being in classes.

Choose The Right!!!

 dropbox