Najma Godhrawala

What are study skills?
How to study?
What is important for study skills?
Listening skills
Note-taking
Different Study Methods
Group Study, How is it beneficial
Revision
Making a time table
Notes to keep in mind for Final Exams

Skillful Studying is trying to study right, how one studies, the style they use, habits etc can make a difference between a distinction and a pass grade.

The first rule of studying is to learn in an organized way. The second rule is to take active part in what you are learning.

Studying is not about holding a book in front of you and actually thinking of something else. To do well in your exams, you need to remember what you study; so passive reading is not enough (you loose 95% of the information that you study)

Active Studying: - means that you are actively taking part in your studies, your study does not control you, but you are in control of what you are doing. It means to keep your mind as active as possible, take notes, writing, reading your lessons loudly. This helps to retain more information better. The minute you stop focusing or loose your concentration you will not remember the information.

What is important to study?

Imagine if you had no exams, well it sounds like a dream come true, everybody irrespective of how much they study would be promoted to the next class. Well, would you be motivated to study hard??? My guess is NO.

Motivation is important to help you study better, student do better and study better when they have an exam ahead of them. You and You alone can be the best motivator for your studies.

How can one motivate him or herself?

Goal: - Suppose you want to buy a gift for you mother, and you didn’t have enough money, in order to buy the gift you start saving up money and every time you have money you save a little for the gift, because you are motivated to save money to buy your mother the gift.

Similarly, when you set a goal for yourself it helps you to stay focused and achieve your target. Making goals is easy but your goal should be smart.

You cannot make a goal saying that you will study for 5 hours everyday or you will get 95% when you don’t put in as much effort.

A goal should be specific, achievable, realistic, time bound.

E.g. my goal is to study biology, Chapters 4, 5, 6 by the weekend; this is a specific, time bound and realistic goal.

To feel good about studying you need to reward yourself after you study, make notes on your board, praising yourself, take an hour off if you have completed your goal, watch your favorite TV program etc.

Do NOT get de-motivated by:

1. Putting things for later

2. Anxious about studying

3. Resentful about studying

4. Guilty when you have not studied

If you feel anxious, try and think what is bothering you, write your thoughts down. Don’t be negative by saying I cannot do this, I try so hard, this is too tough, my parents expect too much. These are all bad habits of studying.

When you say I can’t ride a bike it means because you do not know how to ride one, but if you learn how to ride one then you will be able to ride a bike. Similarly you say this chapter is too hard and I cant remember it, it means you have not memorized it well enough for you to remember so all you need to do is study it more thoroughly and then you will remember it.

The place you choose to study should be quiet, comfortable, well –lit, well ventilated, distraction-free. Wear loose comfortable clothes and Eat healthy good food.

10 points to help you make a time-table

While making a time-table you must make sure that you add all the subjects equally and you are able to cover all the chapters.
To start studying or getting in the mood of studying you should preferably choose a subject that you really like.
When studying two different subjects (chapters) in a day, make sure you don’t choose two theoretical based subjects or two language subjects together e.g. it would be difficult to try and study Hindi and Marathi in one day or study science and history because both of these subjects have great detail. A better option would be to study history and English or Math and geography or Hindi and Math etc.
On week-ends, Rise early and plan more.
Remember to motivate yourself, reward yourself if you have followed your time table for a week.
Prioritizing you subjects is important. You should concentrate on subjects that you find difficult to learn.
Your time table should be made more than two months in advance, so you can complete more than two revisions.
When studying divide your time well, Study for an hour take a 15minute break and then study another chapter of another subject for another hour. E.g. In a break you can go out of the room you are studying in, drink a glass of water, or just shut your eyes and relax.
Making notes, studying aloud helps in remembering your studies better.
Make your time table chart colorful and bold and place it in a place where you see it everyday so that you are motivated to study.

Important points to keep in mind before the exam

Answer in a clear and simple manner
Maintain tidy-work
Write in points and explain each point
After completing an answer always write: Therefore the reason is …. So that the examiner knows what the question was about.
Be relaxed and confident
Don’t waste time over one question, you can always come back to it later
Avoid panic, sleep well and eat well before the paper.

Understand what is being asked and read the questions properly

- Najma Godhrawala