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!