Please read my study skills advice in Units V, VI, and VII of Dragons.
These chapters offer advice on how to approach college reading assignments, exams, and papers. If you were Polonius and trying to give advice to a son or daughter headed off to college, what bit of advice from these chapters would you be most likely to include? Why? [Remember: Polonius' advice usually sounds good, but it isn't necessarily all that helpful....though it might be!]
If my child were heading to college, the advice from the text that would give them would be to find the purpose in their assigned readings. A good way to do that is to form questions to be answered by the readings before the text is read. Skimming to find the information needed is also a helpful piece of advice, especially for extremely long reading assignments. Sorting though unneeded information can be a daunting and unenjoyable task.
ReplyDeleteWhen writing papers, I would advise my child to use the writing process as provided in the text. Writing has always come pretty easily to me, but I believe it is because I was taught the writing process, and I have stuck by it. Focus especially on doing good research, creating a thesis to stick to, outlining the paper, and revising several times. Most importantly- cite your sources! Even when you think you are covered, double and then triple check your work. Then have someone else check it. Most professors do not take lightly to plagiarism, accidental or not, and your grade will reflect it. -Reeba Sullivan
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ReplyDeleteHi Ancient Art,
ReplyDeleteI also learn a lot more from reading than listening to a lecture. I can read about anything and feel good about it. I find reading much more helpful than a lecture because when I. am reading, I find information that I may have missed in a lecture by zoning out for a sec or so. Some instructors are so fast, I find it hard to take notes and listen. I have been reading at a high ability for a majority of my life and it is one of my favorite hobbies
"Jot down your recitation, or make an outline of what you’ve learned. This process really helps you retain what you’ve learned. Also, it’s very helpful to underline important/striking passages and make marginal notes that will help you remember important ideas. Discourse on Method is great practice."- This part is very helpful to anyone who wants to read books the right way.
Writing is necessary to be a successful student. Writing is not my strong virtue because finding what to say or how to say something is difficult. The hardest thing is clearing up the thesis because I always have so many ideas. But i have developed good habits like going back to read over my essay and fix mistakes. I have even invested in expert help in writing better papers, since half of our education requires us to write and submit essays.
I've taken a class that I have found so incomprehensible and boring and failed the course and than I prioritized college a lot more. Reading Ancient Art’s no-guarantee guide to doing your best on exams did give me some more insight. I would say that don't wait till the last minute to study as the best advice for passing an exam. Really learning the material helps with test taking anxiety.
Thank you,
Harmony Mariar
Harmony
DeleteI believe I need both — the lecture and the book. Although, I’m an auditory learner I like to the instructions in text; for confirmation.
I’ve found these chapters to be the most valuable thus far. Since Mr. Marmorstein touched on critical and active reading — how to get what you need from your reading. In which I deemed knowing your purpose as well as reflecting on what you’ve read the most beneficial. Since, you can skim the text to find what you need then apply what you’ve learned to experiences and knowledge you’re familiar with— this in return helps you retain what you’re learning.
ReplyDeleteI also admired the writing tips provided because I’ve learned from personal experience that I must begin a writing assignment as soon as it’s assigned —- due to my intensive editing process. Which is the best route for me because I hate feeling rushed. It drains me dry and besides I’m a firm believer there’s no such thing as good writing just great editing. So, I’m always delighted to read confirmation to never trust the first draft it’s guaranteed to be garbage.
And lastly the test taking tips which also involved writing tips. So, I would also give my child the advice to learn how to write a decent essay because it’s beneficial in most classes. I would instill in them the basics of writing a paper— with a thesis statement, with topic sentences that relate back to the thesis statement, and sentences that support the topic sentence of each paragraph. Because if they learn this it’s almost certain they’ll do well on papers and essay style exams if they know the material.
And as a bonus, I’ll pass along Mr. Marmorstein quote which I’m in love with 😍
“Whenever something is really important to us adrenaline pours through our systems.” —Art Marmorstein
I would pass this along because just like you said fear is a gift from God.
Ebonie