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!

All You Can Eat

Have you ever been to an "All You Can Eat" buffet, stacked your plate so high with food that your hands hurt from carrying your plate because it was so heavy, and then sat down to eat and you could only stomach the first layer? Chances are you are one of those people that have "eyes bigger than your stomach." Usually these people are so hungry that they overestimate how much food it will actually take to suppresstheir hunger. So, rather than grabbing amoderate amount of food and then going back up for seconds if they are still hungry, it ends up being like a competition to see who can fit the most amount of food on one plate.

In a weird way, my studying habits are like an "All You Can Eat" buffet. Instead of dividing my studying up to a little bit each day, I tend to wait until the day before a test to start studying, where it all piles up to one huge mess. Each time I trick myself into believing that I am capable of preparing a study guide, making flashcards, and memorizing the material all in one night. I don't know who I think I am, SuperGirl? Because someone must need superpowers in order to get all of that done, and then do well on the test the next day.

Thankfully Dr. Blumin introduced me to the "20-Minute Test Prep," a strategy for test preparation and a method of time management. I first applied this technique to my NSD225 class, Nutrition in Health. As I copied down not es from the lecture, Professor Short would make it a point to inform us when she was about to give us a question that would be on our next exam. In my notes I put little stars next to these questions so I knew to study them for the test. After class I stopped by the Kimmel Computer Lab because I had to print something for a class later in the day. As I waited for the computer to load (PCs take so long!!!) I realized that I could use that time to do a "20-Minute Test Prep".

I took a few minutes to read over my notes from that day and do a quick review. I also made a few flashcards because that's the way I like to memorize information, so by making a few flashcards now I will be saving myself time later on. Knowing that I already had 3 test questions from class, I divided a sheet of paper into two columns, and on one side wrote "Her Test Questions" and on the other side I wrote "My Test Questions," where I would come up with my own set of potential test questions. By doing a quick review and making a list of potential test questions after each class, the amount of preparation I will need to do before the test will be minimal. This way, instead of needing to relearn all of the old material since I had not looked at it in weeks, I will only need to briefly review my notes and my study guide will already be made from the composite of anticipated test questions. Bye Bye Cramming!

With the success I had from using the "20-Minute Technique" in my NSD225 class, I figured why not apply it to my WGS101 class, Introduction to Women's Studies. NSD225, being a facts-based class, it was easy to come up with potential test questions since the assessments are multiple-choice exams. However, even though WGS101 is also a facts-based class, we are assessed through readings and papers, so creating questions off of notes wouldn't be too helpful for me. Instead, after one of my lectures I sat down and reviewed my notes, and then on a piece of paper I wrote down my thoughts and ideas that I could possibly use in one of my upcoming papers. By doing so I am able to review my notes so I will remember the material for the next class, as well as basically start writing my paper since I will have a lot of my thoughts already down on paper. While I did not follow the "20-Minute Technique" 100% for this class, I adapted it to better suit my needs for the class and way of learning.

In the end, it's not about sticking

to the rules, it's about doing what's right for you in order to better manage your time and tasks. By evaluating yourself and your classes, you will be able to then take action and try out different learning techniques that in the end will help you succeed.