Can’t Memorize?

So it’s April Fool’s on April 1, 2011. And I was definitely fooled…by myself that is…

As I was about to get on the bus on April 1, I realized that my April bus pass is still sitting on my desk at home. This resulted in me having to go home to retrieve it and making me late by having to wait for the next bus (30 minutes later). This is similar to the student life, when you’ve studied a lot (like my April bus pass, which is ready for use) but when the test comes (like my bus arriving), you’ve forgotten what you studied.

However, sometimes you may be secretly sabotaging yourself without even knowing it. Have you ever thought that you can’t memorize the information necessary for an exam? If so, you should think again.

Studies have shown that up to 90% of your ability to learn is determined by your belief that you can (outside of any obvious physical handicaps – like brain missing).

Think about the things you “know” you can NOT learn. Way before you even tried to start memorizing, a mechanism in your brain has already shut off any possibility of you learning it. Now pick one thing you’ve been trying to memorize, but just can’t seem to. Hold that in your mind. Now start paying attention to what you’re saying to yourself. Are you saying, “I’ve been trying to memorize this, but it never works, maybe I’ll just give up”?

If so, I want you to approach the material with a new perspective. Pretend that it’s something you’ve never tried to memorize before. If you haven’t tried yet, how do you know you can’t memorize it? So, start by saying to yourself, “I know I can memorize this, I just know it!”

Remember this feeling next time you feel completely blocked off from taking in information for your next exam. Then ask yourself, “How can I believe in myself more so I can study this?”

What are your thoughts on memorization? Share them with us!

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Don’t Read Everything in One Sitting

Your short-term memory can only hold so much. Imagine having an empty water bottle. You need to fill it up. So you start pouring water into it. Most people know to stop filling it when the water bottle is almost full. Your brain is like the water bottle, although it does have a very large capacity, when you first read the material, your learning is stored in short term memory, which has limited capacity. Then, your brain needs to transfer that learning to long-term memory so that you’ll remember it later.

If you read a lot in one session, your short-term memory capacity will max out. Like the water bottle that overflows if you continue to fill it with water, if you try to read everything in one sitting, your brain will not have space to store all the things you learned because you’re throwing too much information at it! Then you wonder later why you don’t remember much even though you read so many pages! So if you try to read everything in one session, you will waste time and energy because:

You read everything the first time
Remember some parts but forget most of the other parts
Need to re-read the parts you forget

That’s doing double the work! I don’t know about you, but I’m not that crazy about doing twice the work to get the same result.

So split up the required reading into many sessions to make sure you don’t max out your short-term memory for each session. Studies show that students who split up their reading into many sessions, compared to those who read everything in one session, actually take less time to read AND remember more!

What are your thoughts? Share them with us on your success or problem with reading.

You can get more useful study tips by clicking here.

Here’s to you getting high marks!

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Benefits of Online College Degrees

Many students are now considering online degrees as a smart option for adult education. An online education can give you the knowledge and expertise needed to pursue the job of your dreams while allowing you to build professional experience at the same time, since the time invested in the degree is determined by the student.

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Take Notes While Reading

You can choose to write down notes as you’re reading. This will help keep you engaged. If you come across important information that the teacher didn’t cover in class, you should write it down. If you don’t understand it, you should create a questions page. Once you have most of your questions then ask the teacher all your questions in one visit. It’ll save both you and the teacher time. Going to your teacher each time you have a question will not only waste time for the both of you, but your teacher may also become annoyed when you visit too frequently.

If you see additional information to supplement the class notes, you can also write that in your notes.

While you read the textbook, you can also see which questions can come from a particular paragraph. Then, write down the possible test question on the margin of the page or create a questions page along with where to find the answer in the textbook. This will help you study as you’ve already created possible test questions regarding the content. You’ve also noted down where to find the answer in case you forget.

What are your thoughts? Share them with us on your success or problem with taking notes.

For more study tips, click here.

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Memorization tip!!!

You can watch the following video on a memorization tip that my friend, Mark Abella (teacher and tutor who also focuses on study skills), wants you to know about so that you can do well on tests!

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Doing Your Test Faster & Easier

So one of my friends brought up a very good question when she was studying for the LSAT…how to do multiple choice questions when you have to read a large narrative combined with both specific and general theme multiple choice questions?

As I’ve mentioned in my video for Doing Your Test Faster & Easier, you start by reading the first few questions and then going back to read the narrative. In the case of specific and general theme multiple choice questions, you start by looking at the specific questions - e.g. “What is the type of material used by the main character to create the invention?” For now, if you come across any multiple choice questions that deals with things like “What is the overall theme of this story?” ignore it.

So look at a few of the specific questions, then read the narrative and every time you find the answer, fill in the answer for the multiple choice question. Then stop reading and go read what the next specific multiple choice question is asking for. Once you’ve finished answering the specific multiple choice questions, you’ve most likely read the entire narrative. At this point, you’d be equipped to answer the general theme questions.

This saves you valuable time on the test as you won’t have to read the narrative multiple times to answer the questions and then read it one more time to get the general idea of the narrative.

If you want to find out more about how to do well on tests – visit here

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Goal Setting – Why Does It Matter?

With summer being in full swing, sometimes it’s good to take this more relaxed time and figure out what you want to do in the upcoming months. Goal setting may have been mentioned to you by your parents, siblings, relatives, colleagues, teachers, and more. But really, why does it matter?

In life, you can set goals to achieve them or you can wander around aimlessly. Not that there’s anything wrong with wandering around aimlessly, but if you want a good job, pay, or fame, you’ll probably have to set a goal for yourself to motivate yourself to achieve it.

There was an elementary class and the teacher asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The kids had all sorts of answers including astronaut, president, doctor, lawyer, and other inspirational jobs. There was one child who simply said, “I want to be a firefighter.” The teacher was quiet for a moment and then said, “Why would you want to be a firefighter? Dream bigger and you can be standing on the moon, or be the president, or make lots of money as a doctor!” But the child was set on his goal of becoming a firefighter.

After some time, the students turned into adults and the child stuck to his goal. So he applied and was accepted as a firefighter. After 30 more years, did the kids that say they were going to be astronauts, presidents, doctors, lawyers end up achieving their goals? No. However, the child who had a goal when he was young to be a firefighter, is now the Chief at the city’s fire department.

The child had a goal and set out to pursue it. Even though sometimes there were challenges along the way, dangers as he fought against the blazing fire, he still persisted in his goal. And in the end he succeeded at becoming the top of his field.

With goal setting, it will help you clarify what you want so you don’t waste time pursuing other things. Goal setting will also help give you a reason to wake up in the morning and feel like you have a purpose. Often there are reports of seniors’ health quickly worsen after they retire. This may be that they don’t have a goal in life anymore. So, goal setting will let you feel empowered in life and motivate you so that you can do the things you want to do. Fame and fortune will follow.

So for your personal and academic life, set some goals. Don’t set too many – 1-2 goals per course is fine – otherwise you get overwhelmed. Further, set the goals prior to the start of your courses so you can actively be on the look out for how to achieve your goals faster. Don’t make the goals close to impossible to reach. At this stage in your life, make it slightly out of reach but still do-able if you work at it.

My usual practice is to set out weekly goals and then write down what I will do each day to achieve those goals. This habit has helped me become more efficient and better at time management so that I have more time to do the things I love.

Good luck!

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Study by Teaching Others!

If you like studying with others, you’re in luck to get high marks while helping your friends! Studies have shown that students who teach others about the concepts while studying actually do better on exams. There’s 3 main reasons:

1. The reason is you must first thoroughly know the concept before you can explain the concepts to others. That’s why many people with high marks tend to maintain their marks because people with lower marks may ask them for help. Then, the people with higher marks have to show they actually understand it by teaching people with lower marks.

2. During your studying with others, your friend may ask you a question that relates to something that you forgot to study! This will help you ensure you cover all your bases and study all the necessary information for your exam.

3. When you explain the concept to your friend, you may not be able to explain it clearly to him/her the first time. So you try again, by the time you’ve explained it clearly so that he/she understands, you have also helped yourself by reviewing the material multiple times. This helps you with memorization as repetition is key. Furthermore, when you have successfully explained it to your friend, you’ll be able to do the same on the test when your teacher asks you to explain something.

So help yourself by helping others! Ultimate golden rule!

Watch my video training on YouTube at:

Study Tips for Students: Study by Teaching Others

To follow that rule, help me to provide better service for you by voting on the polls to the right so that I know what areas you want to learn more about and your preferences.

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Scholarship – Enter to Win $10,000 for College Dream Sweepstakes!

U Promise College Dream Sweepstakes

I just found out about this recently (it started on July8) and thought it’d be worth mentioning to help you pay for college or university.

The 3rd annual U Promise College Dream Sweepstakes is giving away $100,000 in total to 10 students, who will each receive $10,000. I must say your chances of winning the sweepstakes are much higher than playing the lottery (not that there’s anything wrong with the lottery but it’s simply a probability factor). This is also the company who’ll let you save a portion of your shopping on everyday items for your college tuition! So double benefits!!!

It ends Aug. 31, so I would suggest you hurry to ensure you get entered in and start benefitting from their program! Best of all – this is all free to you! You can click here or on the banner below.

Save for College the Smart Way!

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