// I’m Back With Some Tips On Taking Notes From Readings! This Is A Sequel/prequel (whatever Floats

“I’ve been living alone so long, everything about me’s private. I’m surprised anyone’s able to understand a word I say.”

— Kurt Vonnegut, from Mother Night; “Werner Noth’s Beautiful Blue Vase,”

My Study Method

My post 10 types of planners got way more notes than I expected. So today I will show you how I prepare for my exams. The method I’m going to explain is the one I’ve developed over the years and got me to get all A’s in high school. From taking notes, to nailing your exam.

1. HOW TO TAKE NOTES

1.1. Sit in the front of the classroom Don’t give a f**k if you look like a dork. Make sure you can see the blackboard clearly. You should be able to look at your teacher and the other way round. In case my experience is not enough: Studies show that those who “sit in the front and center (middle) of the classroom tend to achieve higher average exam scores”. Plus, your teacher will know who you are and will be aware that you pay attention in class.

1.2. Ask questions Don’t be afraid of asking questions. This took me years. Your teacher won’t think your question is stupid - in fact, it is their job to make sure everybody learns whatever they are supposed to teach. AND even if it looks as if the whole class has already understood the lesson, trust me, they haven’t.

1.3. Don’t write every word the teacher says There’s just no point in doing such thing. Contract words and use symbols and doodles. Once you get home, fair-copy your notes if they are not clear enough (or at least, re-read them). Otherwise, when you try to study with your notes a few weeks/months later, you won’t understand a thing.

1.4. Clarify your notes What did you just write down? Was it something that didn’t appear on the book? Was it an explaination of what the book says? Some info you should expand? Use a color code or symbols to clarify your notes. It doesn’t take time but will save you time in the future.

1.5. Compact notes Write with tiny (but legible) handwriting. It is quicker, tidier, and it saves paper. Also, write in two or three columns.

1.6. How to stay motivated to take good notes Last year I told one of my best friends (who is one grade bellow me) that I would give her all my notes at the end of the year. People normally dream of setting fire to their notes (and at least in Spain, people actually do that). But this other option (giving away my notes) was good for her and for me, since whenever I felt like writing carelessly, I’d think, “she won’t understand these notes, I have to do it better”.

2. PRE-STUDYING

Start pre-studying the very first day of class.

2.1. Active reading

Everytime I see someone whose book is entirely highlighted I’m like “why don’t you just dip it in a bucket of yellow paint?”. Seriously, stop.

Underline only the key words, not the whole sentence.

Use a different color (at least) for each paragraph.

When you read a paragraph, open a key in the margin and summarize what that paragraph is saying. Use between 1 and 10 words. Write as small as you can.

Right after you finish with a page, do an outline of the whole page in order to make sure that you have understood what you’ve just read. How? Scroll down.

2.2. Make it visual

Outlines, mindmaps, graphics… it really depends on the subject. All I know is that I just CAN’T study from a block of text.

Separate coordinated sentences and link them with symbols.

Use bullets or numbers and indent.

Color is not decorative. The same color links together different ideas.

Pink highlighters are cute but they don’t highlight at all.

Small handwriting and columns are your friends.

Highlight just the KEYWORDS. About 4-8 words per page.

Don’t use the same template or style on every page, unit or subject.

Number your pages.

Here you have a messy and a tidy example:

3. STUDYING

3.1. When should you start studying?

When I was in high school, I used to start studying one or two weeks before the exam. A few days before when I was too busy. The day before when I was about to jump out the window.

Divide whatever you have to study in equal parts to make it more approachable.

Try to organize yourself so that the day before the exam you don’t have to study because you already know everything (and you just need to revise a little bit).

3.2. Studying (and by studying, I mean memorizing) Once you have read it and understood it, you have to memorize it. My favourite quote is: “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.”

These are my methods. I also recommend reading this article for more. Use the method that works best for you or all of them to ensure you’ve got it.

Write your mind-map again and again and again. Don’t change the placement of each concept in your mind-map or you’ll become confused in the end.

Translate words into drawings. Translate your drawings into words. Repeat. Repeat!

Read a little bit, try to explain it out loud as if you were a teacher. Repeat endlessly.

Make a story that helps you fully understand what goes next and WHY.

3.3. Keywords list This is the spine of my whole studying method. So basically, reduce each sub-topic to ONE word. Then reduce each topic to ONE word. Study those words by heart.

In the exam, just write down your list of keywords and you will easily remember each topic and sub-topic.

4. EXTRA TIPS

4.1. When studying a list of words or names It is really important to know how many words there are.

Make a sentence with the first letter of each word.

Make a song. You can use a jingle you already know.

Picture a scene which contains all the words.

4.2. IMPORTANT!

Highlight, bookmark and make a list of those concepts that you usually forget or make mistakes, so it is the first thing you see (and revise) the next time you study.

The night before the exam, write in a little piece of paper that thing (an important formula, something that you always forget, your keywords list…) and that’s the only thing you should revise the following day.

Talk to older students and ask them for their old exams. Your exams will probably be different, but if the teacher is the same, they’ll be similar.

5. HOW TO NAIL AN EXAM

First of all, you should take a look to the Text Anxiety Booklet. It contains a lot of information for the ones who get really anxious.

5.1. Appearance matters My teachers always say that when they are correcting our exams, illegible handwriting really pisses them off. Since they are humans, that attitude towards your exam will be unconsciously reflected on your mark. On the other hand, when they get to a visually appealing exam, they are more compassionate. Conclussion: MAKE YOUR TEACHER’S WORK EASIER.

Use your best handwriting.

Write your name on every page (if you are asked to do so).

Leave margins.

Separate your paragraphs.

Indent when necessary.

Number your pages.

5.2. Don’t ever leave a question in blank Ever. Every little point adds up to you final mark, and a blank question means 0 points. If you write something and it is wrong, you simply made a mistake. But if you don’t answer, your teacher might think that you didn’t do it because you didn’t study. However, remember that your teacher is older and wiser than you, and will notice if you are trying to fool them.

In some tests, mistakes subtract points. In that case, you’d better leave the questions you don’t know in blank unless you like taking risks.

5.3. What if you go blank First of all, wait a minute and take a deep breath. This is not a waste of time because it will actually help you do better. Now, do the rest of the exam and come back later. Then, if you still can’t remember, try retracing not what you studied but what you were doing while you were studying. Maybe you were drinking tea, maybe your father came into your room or maybe you heard something on the street. And remember that you control your breathing, and your breathing controls your feelings.

5.4. An exam is not a race I guess some people believe they’ll receive a prize if they are the first one to hand in their exam. Those people have all of my disapproval. Use all the time your teacher gives you and always, I mean ALWAYS, revise your exam before handing in it. Revise. Your. Exam. Did you follow the instructions correctly? Did you answered all the questions? Are there spelling mistakes?

That’s it. I hope you found it helpful.

Organization

How to Take Notes from a Textbook

How to Write Long Papers

Organization Tips

How to Choose the Perfect Planner

Bullet Journaling How-To

Keeping Your Cool

Focus and Energy Management for Students

Sending Emails to Teachers

Waking Up Early

Achieving your full academic potential: Things to Avoid Doing

Study Playlists

College

tips for college freshmen

How to study like a straight A student

College Tips

42 College Tips I Learned Freshman Year

College tips: Advice from a professor

10 Commandments of Dorm Shopping

AN EASY GUIDE TO BE HEALTHY IN COLLEGE

How to Write the Perfect College Essay

COLLEGE SHOPPING LIST

10 Tips for Getting Along With Your College Roommate

High School

33 Things High School Seniors Wish They Knew As Freshmen

Expert nutrition tips for high school athletes

16 Studying Hacks For Finals Week

School Tips

High School Advice

Survive high school with our how-to guide

Back to School: Tips For Surviving High School (Video)

JUNIOR YEAR ADVICE

13 Incredible Back-To-School Hacks You Won’t Believe You Survived Without

Senior Year Advice

Hello everyone! I asked you if you wanted me to do this post and many of you seemed really surprised that I actually have 19 subjects. Welcome to Croatia, people haha.

So, first I’m going to tell you more about how it works in my school. I’m going to one of Croatia’s many Gimnazija’s (in my case opća gimnazija) [opcha gimnazia]. It is a school where you learn a very good amount of general information. I’m in the 3rd year (or as you would say junior year) What classes am I taking? Croatian, English, German, Music education, Art education, Psychology, Logic,  Sociology, History, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, PE, Religion, Information technology (an elective subject that every student has to take (from opća gimnazija)), and I have 2 additional subjects which are different in learning (and very very optional) DSD (for German diploma) and advanced Physics.

One class lasts for 45 minutes with a 5 minute break, a day has around 6-7 classes, with a big break after the 2nd period for 15 minutes (some schools have up to half an hour). My school has two shifts of students (this year the 3rd and 2nd year are together, and the 1st and 4th year). The first shift: 7:10 am-1:05 pm, and the second: 1:15 pm- 7:10 pm. One week you are the first, the other week you are the second shift, so you have to be really good at organising your time. We have two different schedules.

Here’s an example of my schedule for one day:

1. Math 2. Math 3. Psychology 4. Physics 5. German 6. Chemistry  7. Biology 8. DSD

You of course have to have a notebook for each subject and a textbook (and maybe a workbook if required)

I eventually come home by 3 pm and start with my homework and studying.

Okay, now how I organize my time and my tips.

Pay attention in class and take notes.

This has saved me a ton of times. I always learn a lot more when someone explains it to me the first time and taking notes is a must. If you want, you can always rewrite notes, but for me, the best way is to just re-read them 2-3 times when you get home or the day before you have your next class. You will always follow up with your class and studying for an exam won’t be that hard.

Do your homework as soon as you get home.

I always do it as soon as I can because that way I won’t push it aside and forget about it. Also, doing it immediately helped me to have more time to study something else.

Get a bullet journal.

This is important because writing down your tasks helps a lot when getting them done and with organization. I also like to keep track of my exams, my grades, my habits and important dates. What helps is making a study schedule in your bujo. Here’s how you can do it.

Revise every subject the day before.

As I said before with notes, reading a few pages of your textbook or notebook hleps keeping up with your subjets. Doing that for every 19 subjects seems impossible but if I take 20 minutes for a subject I have tommorow that’s 2,5-3 hours which works. If I really don’t have that time I revise on the bus, or when I arrive in school.

Set priorities.

When I have an english essay for tommorow and a math exam, I will learn more for my math exam. I do this because I have set priorities for those subjects. I maybe have already an A in engish and a B in math, so of course I’m going to learn for something harder. Another example is that I’m going to need the math later because I’m going to work as a math teacher and not as an english teacher when I finish uni.

Weekends can save you.  Holidays are your best friend.

All that work that I have set aside I can do on weekends and I can study more for the following week.

Doing your summer/winter work is really important for not getting stuck in that pile of work.

Find your best study place, and your speciall style of studying.

Not all of us can study in our bed, or at a desk. Not all of us learn by re-writing everyting. Finding what works best for you can save you so much time.

Here 2 helpfull links:

- types of studying

- learning styles

You don’t have to be a perfect student.

Accepting that I don’t have to be a straight A student but doing my work as if I am helped me achieve my goals. You have to do your best in order to achieve what you dream of. But, if being a perfect student means that you have no social life, or that your health is in danger it’s not a good option.

Thank you so much for reading and hope that helps some of you. Do you want to see a what’s in my backpack and my daily study routine?

xoxo, V.  ❤

hi!!! i’ve seen lots of posts going around about how being a studyblr only means to have cute and expensive stationery and i know that lots of you don’t want or can’t spend that much money on stationery and i thought that doing your own stuff is waaaaay more fun and cheaper than buying it!!! (and it’s so original! no one will have the same notebook as you!) picture from here

dorm

dorm decor by @notquitenightingale 

dorm room masterpost pt1 and pt2 by @studypops

46 cheap ways to decor your room

33 DIY ideas / 25 / 18

15 cute af ideas

16 even cuter ideas!!

10 DIY for lazy ppl

20 DIY DESKS!

stationery

school supplies pt1 and  pt2 by @gracelearns

custom notebook covers by @studyquirk

make your own syllabible by @xannerz

map compositon book cover

pen loop! (rlly useful) by @studyingalpacas

make shift tabs by @vellichoristic

decorate white boxes! by @wodka-aunt

13 stationery ideas!

17 DIY projects

very very cute DIY

really nice DIY

10 DIY ideas

10 DIY pencil cases!!

20 backpack and pencil cases!!

15 pencil case tutorials

20 DIY pouches

super cute DIY pencil case

organize your binders

DIY cardboard binder

stylish af binders

11 DIY notebooks + another one!

17 cute ways to cover your books!

10 tutorials to make unique books!

15 ways to personalize your pens!

DIY calligraphy pens!

Flower pens!!!!!

+ my printables masterpost

treat yo self

25 relaxing spa ideas

so many face masks

a whole page on DIY beauty

17 DIY beauty products

50 DIY from pinterest!

27 hacks!!

10 DIY treatments

40 genius beauty hacks

+ my food masterpost

Today’s notes!

bi·ol·o·gy \bī-ˈä-lə-jē\ noun - the branch of knowledge that deals with living organisms and vital processes

I’ve noticed that there are quite a few younger studyblrs and since biology is usually the first high school science students take, I thought I’d make a post on how to study for it as it is my favorite subject. 

1. Use Diagrams

Biology textbooks are full of diagrams and they’re there for a reason. Always look over the diagrams and copy ones on important topics (e.g. photosynthesis, taxonomy) into your notes.

2. Memorizing & Understanding

I have heard many people say biology is just memorization, but it’s really not that simple. There is a lot of memorization involved for vocabulary and basic information, but biology is also full of processes (e.g. cellular respiration, evolution). You cannot just memorize the steps, you must fully understand what purpose each step serves. Many tests have short answer or essay portions and there’s no way you can answer them by just memorizing the steps of a process without understanding them. I recommend drawing out diagrams and mind maps for understanding processes and cycles as that really helped me. Once you can teach someone else how that process/cycle works, then you really know it.

3. Color code

Color coding is useful for many subjects including biology. Color code your diagrams (it always comes back to the diagrams) and graphs as it makes looking back over your notes much easier and it keeps things organized and easy to study which is important since there are many complicated processes and cycles (e.g. DNA replication, transcription, & translation) that can get confusing if drawn all in one color.

4. Pay attention to labs

You’ll probably do quite a few labs during your time taking biology. Labs serve to let you see concepts in action for yourself which can really aid understanding. Always record data down in your lab notebook and do the conclusion questions. The conclusion questions gauge how well you understand the labs. Most importantly never ever record results you didn’t get. A lot of times (especially in basic high school biology), you will go into a lab with a pretty good idea of what will happen, but if your results don’t match your hypothesis, it’s okay. I remember once I did a lab involving different sugars and enzymes and I was sure of my hypothesis, but my results didn’t match my prediction. After a class discussion, we found out that quite a few other people didn’t get their expected results either and it turns out the enzymes we were using were expired. So if you don’t get the expected results, maybe you did the lab wrong or maybe not, either way don’t fake data, talk to your teacher instead.

5. Learn your word roots

A lot of biology terms (particularly anatomy and biomed) are from Greek and Latin roots. Now you don’t need to go take a Latin class or anything, but look up etymologies and focus on recurring prefixes and suffixes (e.g. hemo-, hypo-, -cyte, -derm) and soon you’ll begin to be able to predict what a term means before looking it up. 

6. Review

A lot of concepts in biology are interconnected and you need to know one topic to understand another. For this reason, always review anything you’re rusty on especially if you plan on taking other biology classes in the future. 

HELLO AGAIN EVERYONE! 

I thought that since in the last few days I’ve been working on organizing my school supplies I share a bit about how i organize my binders! I hope this helps some of you a little bit! :)

Things You’ll Need:

One set of dividers for each binder

One 1 ½” binder per class, per semester

Optional Supplies:

Labels

Step One:

Lay out one full set of your dividers and decide what kind of organizational scheme you’re going for. Possible systems include:

Chronological Order – This is usually the best choice if you haven’t received or won’t receive a full and detailed class syllabus. In this system your first divider will show you where all of your important documents for the class are held (for example: you might put thing like project outlines here). The next divider will separate where regular handouts and class work from the rest of your papers. After your handouts, you’ll want to create a section for your in-class notes. Following this, you’ll want to place a divider to separate your homework assignments. These two sections are where the chronology of the class comes into play, because you’ll want to date everything and keep it in chronological order. After your homework assignments you’ll want one final divider so that you have a place to keep all of the marked tests and assignment rubrics you’ve got back from your teacher/professor.

The Sandwich – This system works best when you receive a full and detailed class syllabus. At the front of your binder, create a section using one divider for important documents (like the syllabus). After this, create one section for each major unit you’ll be covering in class. After these sections, you want one final one for tests and rubrics that have been graded and handed back to you.

If you feel that colour coding helps you stay organized, try to stick to one system for all of your binders; this way you can use the same colours in all of your binders for their respective sections (e.g., red for important documents, green for graded tests/rubrics, etc.).

(Optional) Step Two:

If you’re planning on labeling all of your binders, now would be a perfect time to do so. Possible uses for the labels might include: using one on the front/spine of the binder detailing the name of the class, the teacher, and the building and room in which it’s held, or using them to label each of your dividers with the names of their sections.

Step Three:

Insert all of your dividers into your binders, making sure to add a little bit of loose-leaf paper where you need to. If you’re using a notebook instead of loose-leaf for your homework or other things, make sure you still add a bit of paper – just for those days when you’re in a rush or you’re just not feeling well and you totally didn’t forget your notebook… ;)

Step Four:

Step back and admire your work, then remind yourself that the things that go in these binders are important, but they aren’t so important that they can ruin your life. You’ll be okay if you don’t reach your targets, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to reach them. Do your best and recognize that that’s the extent of what you can do. I believe in you.

Now before I finish, I’d like to add a small disclaimer: by no means am I saying that the methods of organization are the only or the best methods to use, however they are the ones I’ve always used and I’ve found they work quite well. If your teacher wants you to organize in a certain way, use that way, and if you have a system that you like and find works well for you, feel free to message me – I’d love to learn about it!

I hope everyone has/has had a wonderful first few weeks of school! If you haven’t or you’re feeling overwhelmed, my ask is ALWAYS open if you want to talk! I love you all, and I BELIEVE IN ALL OF YOU ♥