Scary time of the year!

Ironic that life gets scary right around Halloween<3 the masks come out and so it seems the work piles up and it just seems as though there is not enough time in my day or even week to do it all! It also seems as though during this time of year priorities start to change a little, work becomes a hassle to do... Studying, Papers, and homework, when do I have time to do it all!?!? but then I look back to my wonderful fritter finder and decided it was time to reevaluate and make a new fritter finder! (just because I love them so much)

My last fritter finder helped tremendously, but my schedule has changed a little since I last made my original fritter finder. After making my new fritter finder for all of my classes my stress level definitely went down a boat load! Although my second fritter finder was pretty close to my original one, it did help me to reevaluate to see when I could do

my work instead of saving it for after practice at ten o'clock at night! I was reminded that I could get all my work done before practice and get to bed at a decent hour!!

By making a new fritter finder I was able to make changes in my schedule. For example some of my practice times changed and I no longer work on tuesday nights there for I now have a little more free time. This new fritter finder definitely helped me become more efficient with my time.

The key to my success with my fritter finder is the colors! By signifying each class with a different color it makes in so clear when I plan to do what work. The colors just click in my head! Plus the neon colors are just so pretty! ;)

My advice to everyone who is feeling that they really have no time in a day to complete work is to first take a deep breath, it will be okay, and to make a new fritter finder and use the colors to help everything stand out! Your time management problems will be solved and your life will feel so less stressful!

Sick Sunday Continued..

I dropped my notebook on the keyboard and somehow my blog was published before I was able to finish, whoops! So, now we were getting to the 20 Minute Test Prep combined with Jeopardy Notes as a way to study and basically just know all of the numerous definitions I should know! To be honest, I just kept writing main points that I know that I should know. Including definitions, ways to remember important things, diagrams. This personally helps me just look at what I need to know and help me prepare in a more organized fashion.

Now, I have an outline of important information that I should know definitely, then I have my Target Planner to show me what exactly I need to complete by what date which is perfect for me! So hopefully when this test sneaks up on me I will be ready to take it and get an A!

Sick Sunday

Laying in bed, hacking up a lung, wishing I had my mom's homemade chicken noodle soup to cure my icky feeling that keeps overwhelming me. Halloween weekend, always gets you sick, I still don't understand why my favorite holiday, Halloween, can't be in August instead of freezing October. Tonight I plan on going to bed unrealistically early, in hopes that it will help heal how disgustingly sick I feel. Usually I make these blogs super pretty too, but for some reason it doesn't seem as appealing this particular Sunday as it usually does. But I'll try my best. Also, all of my never ending hours spent living in Bird these past two weeks has payed off, because I don't have a ridiculous amount of work to do tonight besides start to finish up my Exam Experiment! So, for this weeks blog, we can write about whatever we want to, which is great. For me, I decided to pick the Target Planner of course, as well as 20 Minute Test Prep!

For Target Planner I decided to use it for my exam in Astronomy coming up, which I am also doing the Exam Experiment for! Astronomy for some reason just doesn't like me, I continuously struggle with it. Last semester, so second semester of freshman year, I took Astronomy 104 thinking I would be looking at constellations. Oh boy was i wrong! You do physics, and math, and everything confusing for a person who doesn't understand math or science. So, being my stupid self sometimes I decided it would be a fantastic idea to take Astronomy 101 this semester thinking I would be prepared and k

now what to expect. Worst idea ever. So now I am stuck taking this horrible class, which is why I chose to use it for the Exam Experiment! Even though I have already begun to study for the upcoming exam by simply doing my experiment project, I wanted to make a target planner for my study schedule because seeing it layed out really helps me to prepare. So now I have a organized way to know what my study schedule should be in order to succeed on my test. This strategy for me really helps me evaluate not only what I should be doing, but it helps me learn what to do in order to fufill the expectation of the professor.

Then there is the 20 Minute Test Prep and for this I did something similar to Joy. There are a lot of definitions to know so I mixed the 20 Minute Test Prep and Jeopardy Notes! They are kind of similar and I like both of them a lot so I combined them and made up my own way that better helps me which is also a very simple strategy.

Time Flies..its already Halloween

Back in August, my Health and Wellness teacher passed out a project that was to be completed by November 4^th. Still in summer mode, I put the assignment in a folder, and figured I would look at it when it got a little closer to the due date.

Last week I was on the phone with my Dad, when he reminded me to get my passport renewed, as it had to be done by the first week of November. I said, “Dad…I have time…” to which he responded, “November is next week.” I can honestly say that I freaked out once I heard this. Not only did I realize that I had yet to start my 150 point Risk Assessment Project for HTW303, but how old I am getting as time keeps going by so quickly.

I was mad at myself, and very disappointed. This week was the ZBT Halloween philanthropy event, and I couldn’t participate in any of the events or attend them because of this project on top of other work I had to do. I even freaked out at a few of my friends because I was so stressed (Sorry Perry..lol), which is the worst feeling ever when you start to realize its your own fault for being stressed.

Not only do I have my HTW303 Risk Assessment Project due November 4^th, but our second exam in on the 7^th and it covers a lot of information. As I used my fritter finder to find time to work on my project, I used the Charlie Reads Smart strategy to help me study for my exam. I went through the hundreds of powerpoint slides (no exaggeration….) and put together my own study guide. This is helpful for me as I am able to put the notes in my own words and it helps me memorize the information when I re-write it.

From this I derived flashcards as this will help me review the information. Then, I after fully memorizing the information, I made a blank study guide to fill to test myself on how well I know the information and what I need to work on.

I learned from all of this to plan in advance, and to at least leave myself reminders in my planner so I remember when to start upcoming projects and when to study for tests. Time is scarce for all of us, and I would rather plan it out so that I don’t miss out on anything. After all, we only get to be in college once, and it only lasts so long.

Let Freedom Ring!

Last week after my IC meeting with Janine, we made a pact that every week after one of our classes we are going to do a 20 Minute Test Prep. This idea was derived out of frustration and anger; in my Introduction to Nutrition class (NSD225) we’ve had two tests thus far, both of which I haven’t done great on despite hours ofstudying. After thinking about what I was doing wrong and what I could do to succeed, I realized that instead of trying to learn all of the information a few days before the exam, it will be more beneficial and productive to do a 20 Minute Test Prep and learn a little bit after each lecture.

Tuesday was the first day of enforcing my new studying habits. I just had my NSD225 class where I printed out the notes the professor put online, and then wrote any extra notes onto the sheets during lecture. After class I came back to my room and went over the notes. I decided to rewrite the notes into my notebook because it would make them neater and I find that I learn better when I write the information out by hand.

In class the professor usually tells the class 3-4 questions that will be on the next exam. Since this is very nice and helpful, I decided during my 20 Minute Test Prep that I would make a “Question Bank” and write on the same sheet of paper every time we are given a question. This way I have all the questions in one spot as opposed to having to search through all my notes. Since I hadn’t done this with the past two tests I think it will make studying a lot easier for the upcoming test because I will have created myself a mock exam with the list of test questions. I was able to adapt the 20-Minute Test Prep by adding an additional component that would help me with my studying and better suit my needs.

The second strategy I tried in my Nutrition class was Link, a memorizing technique that I had never used before. I chose three terms from my lecture and then thought of ways to remember their meanings, whether it was by associating it with a certain image or another word it sounded like. By doing this I was able to apply the "7 Ways to Remember What you Need to Learn," that include "select it, write it, recite it, relate it, imagine it, practice it, and anticipate it". I found this strategy really helpful since I am a visual and kinesthetic learner, so being able to draw out the words was a good idea. This will definitely make memorizing a lot easier (and fun) in the future!

Feels Good To be Lazy

Usually I am the type of person that has to get my work done the second it is assigned because otherwise I will be thinking about doing it all week and wont be able to enjoy myself. However, after the extremely busy and stressful week I just had, I decided to give myself a "Take the Weekend Off" ticket and do anything and everything I wanted to do, except school work. I went out Thursday night, spent the day Friday in bed until 3:00pm and then went to my friend's dorm room and spent the rest of the day in her bed until we went out to celebrate her birthday, and then I watched all of the TV shows I missed during the week on Saturday. Some might say it was a waste of a weekend since I didn't do anything productive, but sometimes you just need a weekend to recoup and do nothing.

Unfortunately, it is now Sunday and it is time to get down to business. The first reading strategy I tried out this week was TART, and I applied it to my NSD225- Introduction to Nutrition course. I have to admit that I have never once read this textbook. Although this may seem really bad, the exams in this course are based primarily off of the lecture and notes provided online, so there isn't that strong of a need to read the textbook. However, in order to complete TART I went ahead and unwrapped the plastic covered textbook for the first time.

I have to say that I found TART really helpful. By skimming the textbook readings before lecture I was able to write down key terms that would most likely be discussed during class, therefore eliminating any time I would have had to spend rushing to scribble down notes displayed on the overhead. As well, since I pre-read the chapter I went into lecture having background knowledge on that day's topic, rather than going into class completely clueless.

The other reading strategy I tried this week was Charlie Read SmarT in my HTW318- Dynamics of Addiction class. Unlike TART, I didn't have as positive of a reaction to this

strategy, but at least I tried it! I divided the reading up into CHUNKS, READ them, and then SUMMARIZED and TESTED myself on the reading by creating notecards. I chose to create notecards because that is the studying method I use to prepare myself for tests since I visual and kinesthetic learner, so I figured I might as well create a few flashcards now to help me with studying later on! While TART was very easy and quick to use, I found Charlie Read SmarT to be a little more time consuming. I think I will use TART on a more day-to-day basis, and Charlie Read SmarT will be helpful when it comes to test preparation.

Look At Me Go!

Look at me go! It is Saturday night and I am doing my blog! Usually I am the last one to do my blog on Sunday afternoon, but this time I'm not! Probably because I went home for the weekend to get my car fixed so I'm not out tonight, but also because I don't want to be the last one to post anymore. So, I am turning over a new leaf and I will be doing my blog earlier from now on. This past weekend has been ah-mazing! Actually though, it was time to take a trip home. I left Thursday night after my last class and drove 4 hours to Connecticut. A feeling of excitement came over me when I pulled into my driveway, I had actually forgotten how great it was to go home sometimes! Not only was my house spotless, but we had actual FRESH food, and clean floors. For me, this was like a dream come true, since I live purely off of Lean Cuisine's, grilled cheese, and our floors are so dirty I have to wear shoes in the kitchen! My mom washed my clothing for me, and actually bleached my whites, which were previously yellow (Thanks Syracuse laundry services.) Not only did I get real food and clean clothing, but I also got to sleep in, with no interruptions of hearing people walking in and out, or talking too loudly, I actually slept until 2 in the afternoon easily. It turned me into a new person, I was no longer grumpy, the wonder's of what going home can do!

So, I am being as lazy as I can possibly be, and trying pretty hard not to move from the couch, but it hit me, I have a test this Wednesday, as well as my Astronomy test at the end of the week so I have to start my Exam Experiment! So, I decided to try out T.A.R.T. which stands for

Terms Read the terms and definitions in bold print in a chapter or glossary in the beginn

ing and end of the chapter. Create abbreviations for only important terms.

Attend Attend lecture, reread your lectures notes prior to reading the textbook.

Read Read the chapter for clarification of the information covered in lecture.

Test Create test questions you think your professor will ask, then answer them.

Here are the notecards which I made for step one of TART.

Then of course I attended the lectures, read the chapters to

make sure that all of my notes covered what my professor

taught to us in class. However I still have two more classes

before our test so I haven't created the Test part until the next

class to make sure I get in all the notes!

The next test strategy I tried out was Charlie Reads Smart

approach. For this one, similar to TART is done like this:

Chunk - Chunk the assignment according to your attention span and schedule realistically.

Read - Keep in mind the professors reading purpose.

Summarize - Create a graphic organizer,outline, index cards, taping, or summary.

Test - Create test questions and answers reading strategy.

Here is my Charlie Reads Smart strategy played out!

Charlie Reads Smart didn't really work for me. I didn't like the

chunking the part or the creating the

questions part either, it isn't my

preferred style to learn. For me, usually

these strategies show me how to apply

LAME however with this particular

strategy I didn't see how to apply LAME to Charlie Reads Smart. For me,

TART worked really well for me in understanding how to apply LAME

especially the evaluation part of how the teacher is going to evaluate me and

what I have learned. To me, TART made that more clear which for me,

is what I need when it comes to LAME because I struggle for some reason

trying to understand it and put it to good use!

I have started to like to end all of my blogs with Dr. Blumin's favorite

saying, which has slowly become mine as well.

"If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to get what you have always gotten."

And for once I can say that I am changing my ways and it is a great feeling to want to change what you have always done to do better! Look at me go!

A Game to Remember

Last night I sat in section A of the Carrier Dome, just rows behind the 50-yard line for the WVU vs. Syracuse football game. My friend’s mom was able to get us the tickets for free. I am not a big football fan, but for the most part I understand the sport, and every time I see it, I get an adrenaline rush when we actually play well and the game is close.

As we were sitting there munching on our nachos, the ball was passed to Nick Provo who ran 84 yards with a WVU player just behind him, and made a touchdown. It’s moments like these that seem almost magical, and it might sound lame but as every SU fan in the Dome got up to cheer, I wondered how Provo must've been feeling at that moment. I wondered when my chance would come to feel an overpowering sensation of success, and disbelief in an accomplishment that others would also appreciate.

I haven’t yet had my moment. Although I studied extremely hard for my Economics midterm, I don’t think I aced it like I was hoping to. Of course, there were two graphs that I had difficulty with. A strategy I used to prepare for my exam in addition to my exam experiment was Charlie Reads Smart.

First I read each section, and continued to complete all of the objectives in the back of the book. This helped me to better understand the material, because I was reading for the answers to questions that were listed in the book. I then derived flashcards from my notes. By making these I was able to memorize the information, which was easier after completing the objectives because I understood all of the information. (Of course these are just a few out of an entire pile I made.)

Lastly, I created questions based on my flashcards, and continued to answer them as if I was taking a real test.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, my teacher posted that there would be NO SI meetings on Thursday, they would instead be on that same day (Wednesday). Because I had my shift at the gym on Wednesday night during the meeting, I wasn’t able to go the meeting like I always do, and therefore couldn’t ask my questions regarding the two graphs that were on the test. Next time, I need to find ways to strategize when something like this occurs. Because Thursday was also busy for me, I didn’t have enough time to ask my teacher my questions, and it wasn’t something I could ask over an email. However, I did the best I could and whether it be me, Nick Provo, or any other football player or person, that’s all we can ever do- and sometimes we just get very lucky.

wait you mean my textbook can actually be useful?!

Up until well.. now.. my textbooks have always just sat in the corner of my room waiting to be returned at the end of the semester... But this weeks tech assignment forced me to make use of them! Who knew that they could be so useful!

This week I used the TART strategy to help me with reading from the textbooks. I first thought to myself "okay what is one class that I have a textbook that I need to read" (because almost all my classes don't require a textbook) So then it hit me! EAR 105. Perfect, because the first step in TART is the first T or Terms. There were multiple terms that I pulled

out from the chapter glossary. I created abbreviations for some of the terms which I actually found to be very useful when I was taking notes the next day in lecture (A-- Attend lecture). I am literally the slowest writer in the world... and having those abbreviations for the long terms helped me keep right up with the professor instead of me falling behind and having to copy my neighbors notes like I normally have to. That night I went home and Read (the R in TART) the chapter and ever

ything became much more clear to me... imagine that! After doing the reading the last T in Tart came easy. I was able to create seven different test questions without any problem at all, it was all clear to me what information will be on my up coming test!!

All week long i've been thinking about this blog and how I was going to use TART in another class because like I said most of my classes don't require a textbook. In fact I think I must have asked Perry at least twice a day "How am I going to apply TART in another class?! I don't have any other textbooks" But then I thought okay maybe I can modify TART and change it to FART (haha) and apply it to my Business Calc class. I looked in my book and pulled out the key Formulas aka where the F in FART came from. and go figure the next day in lecture those same formulas that I pulled out of my book appeared in my lecture notes! After reading the chapter the test questions were easy to make up. Although I will admit I did kind of cheat at this part because I pulled some of the questions out from the book (but only because it is hard to make up math derivative problems!!)

Over all I found this strategy extremely useful! Even in a math class with some moderations.. who would have thought!

My Missing Documentation That Didn't Post

Not sure why it didn't post within my blog because it was in there before I clicked 'Publish Post.' Sorry!

Bird Library is Officially My New Home

Another Sunday is here, and once again I am stressed with loads of work hanging out in Bird Library until morning. I even brought a toothbrush with me because I know I will be here until morning. Lucky me again. I had thought that the work load wasn't fading out, but I have never been so wrong. My work load is miserable, I don't even like think about what I have to do because it is so overwhelming I can't even decided where to start. Another week where professor's decide to pile everything they can up and have it due on the same exact day just to laugh at all of their student's freaking out! At this moment I am attempting to juggle studying for my AST101 midterm coming up, my essay for PHI197 which is my midterm, and my SOC essay midterm as well.

Of course I have been preparing and doing my Fritter Finder and even the Target Planner but sadly, like Joy, the majority of my classes are essay based. Actually all of them are essay based with no tests. For me, this is great because I don't do well with tests, essay's are easier for me because do better in an English course and Reading/Writing, not Math and

Science. So for this week's strategies it makes it tough, but I did my Plug -In Notes similar to Joy and used them to help me plan out my essay's. My first essay due is my Sociology ess

ay, so I applied the Plug-In Notes for that class because I figured it will help me to get started since I am having a major essay block.

Plug-In Notes was actua

lly somewhat challenging for me because I had to think of questions that would help me to write my essay, it was almost like an outlin

e for me. However I feel as if it would be easier to do with an actual test, so when I have a test in one of my classes which probably won't be for a while since I usually have essay's due instead, I will apply this strategy to it. Now when I write my essay I will have somewhat of an idea of how to begin because I created questions which make an outline for me to follow and start off with.

So next I tried 1 Plus 3 Notes which I used for my Astronomy class since I struggle with this class in specific. This strategy helped me mo

re than I originally thought it would. I created the chart and it helped me take specific topics which I didn't necessarily understand completely and break them down so I could more easily understand them. This strategy helped me use L.A.M.E to it's full advantage! Usually I don't understand how it effects me, but this time it broke it down so I could realize exactly what I had to learn, what plan of action I was going to take to learn all of this material. Which 1 Plus 3 Notes helped me to accomplish, and then how the teacher is going to evaluate me after! For once I actually understood the f

ull meaning for L.A.M.E! As my blog comes to an end, I remember Dr. Blumin's word's which I think of more frequently than I suspected I would.

"If you continue to do what you've always done, you will continue to get what you have always gotten."

So, don't continue to do what you have always don

e, change it while you can, which is what

I am trying to do!

I'll Take 3 Advil Please

It's that time of the semester when everything just seems to hit you at once; You know it's coming, yet you still feel like you just got run over by an 18-wheeler and there's no time for recovery. I'm currently balancing studying for my HTW318 Midterm, writing my WGS101 paper, thinking aboutstarting to study for my NSD225 test but haven't actually done so yet, finishing my Exam Experiment, joining a new club, and running for a position on the Executive Board of my sorority. I hope you feel my pain. While I've been using D's Do's and Due's to manage my time and tasks, and a Target Planner to give myself deadlines, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day to get everything done. Despite my heaping workload, I managed to squeeze in some time to try out a few new note taking strategies.

The first strategy I tried was the "Plug In Notes", where I left space in my notes to create visual aids and test questions. I applied this method to my Women and Gender Studies class, and unfortunately that wasn't the best decision. Since we are evaluated through papers in this course, creating test questions was a little bit difficult. However, I created a few questions that would force me to think in ways that would be helpful for writing my next paper. For example, one question I asked myself was, "Does advertising make you feel like you are sexualized or seen as just an object?"

As for the positives of this strategy, by creating a graphic organizer for each major subject of notes I was able to visually see the connections between the main points. Since I am a visual learner this helped me immensely and opened my eyes to a new way of taking notes.

The other note taking strategy I tested out this week was "1 Plus 3" in my Dynamics of Addiction class (the same course I am doing my Exam Experiment in). I have to say I really enjoyed this method and found it the most helpful and easy to use. The best part of it in my opinion was that everything you needed was in one place; your notes, key terms, graphic organizer, and test questions are all laid out among two pages in your notebook. In order to use this method I had to re-read my notes from class which forced me to review the material and identify which information I thought to be most important. Then, I was able to restructure the material into a format that was more compatible with my learning style, which is visually. By creating test questions I am once again reviewing the material, quizzing myself, and creating a study guide for my future test all at the same time.

Also, I found this strategy extremely helpful because by taking notes this way I was also simultaneously working on my Exam Experiment (the graphic organizers and test questions I created with "1 Plus 3" can also be used for my Study Sheets and Test Questions in the Exam Experiment) ! Now THAT, makes me happy.

Chicken scratch turned into a study guide!

When it comes to note taking… well lets just say that I am no expert! My notes normally consist of a mixture of scribbling down what my professor says and the bullets on the power point slides that are shown. But this week I took a different approach to my note taking skills.

For my earth sciences class I tried two different styles of note taking. The first one being the plug in. For this strategy I decided again skipping a few lines in between the main points because I noticed that my notes normally never go margin to margin therefore I was able to plug graphic organizers and draw pictures to help me understand the information when I went back to review it! I highlighted my plug ins to make them stand out (and because I love the bright colors!) I left the last couple of lines on each page of my notes free. This way I was able to go back and make up questions that may be on my next exam. After creating the questions I went back and answered them the next day! Ido think that this technique was useful, but I’m not sure I was really all that fond of it…

This leads me to the next strategy I tried the next day I had earth sciences, the one plus three note taking method! For this strategy I took notes on only the

left side of my notebook leaving the right side blank. After class I divided up the right side into three different sections. One being key terms that appeared in my notes, the second being a space to make a graphic organizer, and the third being test questions that I think may possibly appear on my next exam. I really liked this strategy because now when I go back to study for the exam the key terms will stand right out for me making the studying process that much easier (this is the part that really sold me on this strategy)! Also the graphic organizer provides another study tool for me. As well as having more test questions that my possibly appear!!

I definitely plan on continuing to use this strategy in my earth science class. At the end of this unit when I go to make a study guide I will be able to go through and pull out all the key terms without having to search for them as well as answer the questions I created! This will be a good way to evaluate that I understand what I am studying and it will be a major definite time saver!

A Head Start

This is by far my most stressful week. Yesterday, I went to the gym for the first time in a while...(I am actually embarrassed to say when the last time I went was). After a call from my Dad last night, I told him about how I couldn't get out of my melancholy mood..(of course without the private details) and I was given this overall advice: "Here is what you need to do. Pick your head up, stop moping, and start having some attitude, and walk with swag." I am not kidding, none of that was exaggerated or made up...my Dad literally said that word for word verbatim... but even though this seems kinda weird especially coming from my Dad, he is right. I even went online to pick out a new pair of running shoes, that have "swag." (Black and purple NIKE ID's that are custom made and won't come for a month so don't copy). But still knowing this, I feel the need to keep this blog very dark today. The gym did relieve some of my stress last night, it made me feel stronger, and got my heart beating for reasons other than extreme anxiety. But I still have so much to do this week.

Not only do I have my ECN203 Midterm on Monday, but also a math test Monday night, and an essay due next Thursday. Typically I start my WGS101 essays a week before they are due, and this week I simply don't have enough energy or time. I am posting this blog now, as I am using the strategies for this week to study for my extremely intimidating ECN 203 Midterm on Monday. One strategy I just finished using is called Plug In Notes. Coming directly from class, I just sat down in the library and went through my notes from todays class. First I sat down and derived a list of questions from my notes, labeling the top, "Plug In Notes, Chapters 9-10"

I found this to be extremely helpful. It was as if I was making myself my own test, as I am sure these are some of the questions that will appear, and if not, they are still terms that I will need to apply to different questions asked. I then began to answer the questions, and labeled the ones that I wasn't sure of in red. This way, later today as I derive flashcards from these questions and my topic outline, I will be able to put to the side which flashcards I need to review more.

The next strategy I used, was 1 plus 3 notes. I did not find this technique to be AS helpful. I felt that it made the page seem a lot smaller, and for some reason the layout was frustrating to me as when I drew it out, not all the information would fit in my boxes. (This probably has to do with my mood right now) but still, I prefer writing out questions, printing them out, and answering them to trick myself into thinking I am taking a real test.

This week is gonna be rough...I have completed my blog but I still have a LOT more to do. But hey, at least "I got my swag on?" Or am trying at least.

Is it Sunday Already?

So, bad luck all the way right now. Started my post an hour and a half ago, and it had potential to be a pretty kick ass blog post. Oh wait, then the bad luck kicks in. As I try to upload my first picture of my Topic Outline, my computer freezes and shuts down. Lucky me right? So here I am starting all over again. Let's hope it is as good the second time.

Alright well, it is Sunday already. Sunday sneaks up on me every week, and every week I wake up and think to myself, "Oh crap, it's Sunday already, I need to be at Bird right now." I have been here, Bird, since about ten this morning, I look like a mess, literally like I rolled out of bed and came here. But hey, I have work to do! Yet I probably should have started earlier, but of course I didn't, and now I am re doing my blog and it is already 4 pm and it is due at 5 pm. Awesome. For some reason, even though I'll admit I am getting better at doing my work in advance, thank you CLS! Still I leave it until kind of last minute. This weekend I was tempted to go home, since most students did actually go home this weekend for Jewish holidays mostly. Yet I knew that if I headed home I would do absolutely nothing over the weekend, so I stayed, and managed to do absolutely nothing at school instead! Silly me.

So to move this blog along, I tried out the Topic Outline for my Astronomy class since we have a test coming up in about two weeks. Dr. Blumin showed us step by step how to do it in class last week because most of the students in class did it wrong, including me. Take two of Topic Outline was a success this time. Second time is the charm perhaps? Anyways, after doing it I realized that not only does it help

me visualize and see each topic I should pay attention to, but exactly where/how I can study each topic, which for me is helpful. Now, I have every important topic lined out along with where

it is in the textbook as well as where it is in my notes.

This strategy, once it was done correctly, was a smart way to organize how I should go about studying, when I start to. I also tried the Topic Outline for my Philosophy class and it didn't work as well because Philosophy is not as fact based as Astronomy. It is based of off understanding more so than Astronomy so it was more difficult to create a Topic Outline because the topics were wishy-washy. I still managed to create one, but it didn't help me as much as it did for my Astronomy class.

Next I tried out Anticipating Test Questions. For me I thought going into it that I wouldn't be able to anticipate test questions, I never know how professors come up with test questions. But I gave it a try because it doesn't hurt and it could benefit me in the end. Of course it did benefit me. I realized that if I go home or to the library after class and review my notes and actually anticipate test questions, I would probably wind up seeing some version of that question on the next test! I plan on testing this out and following through too! I did give it a try though, and it also was a good way to study and review your

notes, like we should be doing after every class anyways. I did like this, but I'll admit it was tough to think of questions! I can't even imagine being a teacher and thinking of 50 questions to use.

As Dr. Blumin always says, "If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get what you have always gotten!" That quote will linger in my brain for the rest of my life, and now I am not doing what I have always done, I am slowly getting better and will continue to do my work earlier and use these useful strategies to help me succeed. Sunday's will no longer be a surprise to me!

Best Intentions

This weekend I went home to celebrate Yom Kippur with my family and to have a little time to myself and relax. As I was packing my bag of things I would need while I was home, I thought back to my IC meeting I had just a half hour before and remembered that I needed to start working on my Exam Experiment. While I had already done "Anticipating Test Questions" during the week as part of my CLS homework, I figured that I could do a "Source and Topic Outline" over the weekend and use it for both my Tech Assignment and Exam Experiment. After all, who doesn't love making life a little easier? Unfortunately, as I was already halfway home to Connecticut my mind began to wonder back to CLS (it's a 4 1/2 hour drive, you have a lot of time to think) and all of a sudden Dr. Blumin's voice popped into my head and I heard "Always study by topic, NEVER by source."And that's when it hit me, I had left my Dynamics of Addiction textbook at school. I originally had thought that all I would need was my class notebook and syllabus since it lists the chapters I would need to study right there, but clearly I forgot about Wednesday's class and my mindwas already on Noodle Kugel (only after I fast, of course). So, despite my best intentions this week's blog will focus on the "Anticipating Test Questions" I made during the week.

The first class I applied the test-prep strategy to was my Nutrition course. During each class Professor Short reveals a few test questions that will be on the next exam. While this is extremely beneficial, the handful of questions she has given us by the time the exam comes around isn't enough to study off of. Therefore, by anticipating test questions I am able to provide myself with 60 potential test questions as opposed to 15.

To Create these test questions I thought back to our first exam and noted that since all of the questions were multiple choice, and the pattern of the course information is by definition, that the majority of the questions were, and will be, defining terms and fact based. As a result, a lot of the questions I wrote are based on one or two word answers, since that is how it will look on the actual exam.

I've learned that by studying by asking myself questions in the format that I will be tested on, rather than simply memorizing information off of a flashcard, I am learning the material but in a way that is much more effective since I have basically created my own mock-exam.

The second course I applied the test-prep strategy to was my HTW318- Dynamics of Addiction class. Similar to my Nutrition class, in HTW318 the Professor asks the students a few questions each class, to which we have to answer by using our "clickers". Although Dr. Bergen-Cico isn't blatantly saying "these are the questions that will be on your next exam" I've learned through CLS that the chances that those questions, or ones very similar to them, will be on the exam are very high.

As well, when the Professor asks these questions I am able to see the way in which she is asking them, therefore giving me insight on how the questions will most likely be phrased on the exam. I also created five questions on my "Anticipating Test Questions" sheet based off of the syllabus. When I looked at the calendar I was able to see that a lot of focus was placed on "Uppers" and especially "Downers". From this I was able to look back at my notes from class, find information on these subjects, and then write potential test questions based on the way the Professor had phrased the questions in class.

When I can remember to do so, I also use the "20 Minute Test Prep" that I had first tried out on my first blog. While this technique and "Anticipating Test Questions" are similar because they both involve creating potential test questions, I found that this new test-prep strategy opened my eyes to a new way of creating questions and studying. Now, instead of just relying on my class notes to anticipate questions, I can refer back to my syllabus or listen for questions the professor is asking in class.

Even though I wasn't able to get a head start on my Exam Experiment like I had planned, this new strategy will help me in the future and even with the exam I will be using for the Exam Experiment. Now I have 10 potential questions to study off of! Wohooo!!