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.