Tackle those Midterm Woes

It that week again....midterms *cue the dun dun dunnn*. Here are some tips to tackle those deathly midterms. Sorry the pictures are not align, I know it bugs me too :/

1. Make Notecards - if you have standards like IB does or just general topics that will be tested then notecards can help you with studying because they organize the topics and are convenient to take around with you to study. If you are getting tested in vocabulary, then notecards are fabulous and are usually recommended to use for vocabulary because you can quiz yourself or take it on the go!

2. Make Study guides - this is good if you have some time before your midterm for a certain subject and if you know what chapters are going to be tested. Making study guides are like making a condense version of all your notes and what you have learned into a packet where you can study everything you need to know. Plus, you can put diagrams from the textbook into it like in my biology study guide so you can visual see things if you are a visual learner like me. Also, it is good to t4 or highlight the information on the study guide to help better your understanding even more. If you have an iPhone/iPod/iPad, then get the app, Evernote, because you can put in you teacher's ppt or notes and study on the go and it is all in one place!!!!

3. Re read those Notes/Lecture Notes & T4 - if you didn't get a midterm review guide like me for biology :/ then re reading your notes and lecture notes are your best bet to study for the midterm. Likely the teacher will put materials that you learned about and lectured on. So, t4ing or highlighting are great refreshers for studying because by T4ing you will more pay attention to the information instead of glancing over. Don't have the lecture notes or still don't understand a concept, look it up online because they are people out there that teach these things better and it will help you learn and understand. Some sites include khanacademy.org

4. Don't stress eat! - Midterms are stressful and stress eating will not help and just will break you out or put a few pounds on you, so instead when you are stressed out take a breather and put down the textbook and walk around for a few minutes, take a shower/bubble bath, watch some funny youtube videos, or drink warm water/tea/coffee to help sooth you brain. This will make you feel rejuvenated and motivated to study again. I find also despite many things against it that listening to your favorite music will help you power through the large amount of informations you need to learn again.

5. Practice Practice Practice and Repeat - Especially in math or chemistry, doing practice problems will help because they will allow you to practice the materials you have learned. Also, they say practice makes perfect so you can refresh you math skills with practice problems and apply what you have learned because they for sure will be on the midterm. Also, for languages like mandarin re write characters are a good way to ingrain them in your brains, and this can be applied to memorization of materials. Repeat them over and say them out loud because then you will hear it and absorb it instead of re reading in your head.

6. Drink tons of water - I know this sounds like a tip for good skin or exercising but really it help! I find that when I take a test or studying, drinking water help me focus better and keeps me motivated. You don't want to be dehydrated and not be able to focus so drink some H20 and not soda or sugary drinks because sure they will give you the buzz but after you will feel brain dead. Thats why I don't recommend coffee beforehand if you have a long day of midterms because you are bound to crash.

7. Sleep! - I know I break this rule way to much for test, but seriously SLEEP! If you really are desperate for study time, then way up a little bit early because your mind will be refreshed instead of staying up late and feeling tired because your brain will not absorb anything and you will just be hurting yourself.

Be confident! YOU CAN DO THIS! No matter what happens just know you have tried your best (: 

Oh, don't cheat because you won't be helping yourself (:

x o x o

For more tips this site is one of my favorites for studying tips and just in general:

TheCollegePrepster Intense Study Tips

How To: Organize & Take Notes from a Textbook

       Everyone says New Year, New You so what better way to start changing than changing your study habits and these are my step by step guide into taking awesome notes that will not only look impressive and organized, but will help you study for tests, midterm, etc. These notes might be more than you would do, but I promise that these extra steps will help you in a life time. *Note: to see the pictures more clearly, click on them (:

Chemistry Notes: 

Layout Sample of my chemistry textbook notes

Page # : This is helpful when you are studying and want to look up your notes in your textbook. Instead of spending hours searching for the page, you can flip right to it! *note: for a new page, skip a line...it will make your notes look neater.

Vocabulary :  These will most likely appear of test or quizzes so it would be helpful to highlight them in a certain color that will let you know which is vocab. terms and which isn't. What I do is I give some space for the definition and align it on each new line to make it neater and easier to read.

Section Heading : Section headings gives you the topic and summary of what will be talked about in your textbook and are very important to include because they organize your notes without you having to do any work. Write them in a different color to distinguish the heading from your notes.

Examples : This is especially important in subjects like chemistry or math because for someone like me, I learn things best visually so writing out examples will help you see how to work out a problem and helps you apply it to other problems.

Important Equations : This too is important to highlight, star or circle for subjects like chemistry or math because they are the general equation that you will be 100% tested on. Highlighting them prior will quickly bold them when studying and lets you quickly studying the important information rather then spending time reading and searching for the important stuff.

Biology Notes:

Sample Layout/Example of Biology Notes Extreme Style

These are my required notes for my biology class. Yes, I do view these very extreme, but hey they really help when it comes to studying for his test and quizzes because everything I need to know is in one notebook. 

Page # : This is helpful when you are studying and want to look up your notes in your textbook. Instead of spending hours searching for the page, you can flip right to it! *note: for a new page, skip a line...it will make your notes look neater.

Vocabulary :  These will most likely appear of test or quizzes so it would be helpful to highlight them in a certain color that will let you know which is vocab. terms and which isn't. What I do is I give some space for the definition and align it on each new line to make it neater and easier to read.

Section Heading : Section headings gives you the topic and summary of what will be talked about in your textbook and are very important to include because they organize your notes without you having to do any work. Write them in a different color to distinguish the heading from your notes.

Lecture Notes : Lecture notes are information you should add to your notes in the general section heading they are in because they added important information or elaboration that could very well be on your test. *note: write them in after your lecture because you won't catch everything while trying to find the section heading they are in. Write your lecture notes during the lecture on another piece of paper...tedious I know, but they say writing things over again will help you remember.

T4'd Information : This is otherwise known as "Talk to the Text". This is very beneficial to do while taking notes or if you don't have time after you finish taking all your notes because if you have questions you write them done and you won't forget to ask during the next lecture. Or if you are like me and do it after, you can elaborate on information from what you learn or even connect it to different things you learn. This makes a good study tool. *note: T4 in a diff. color to keep organization and distinguish your notes from the book notes.

Answers to Question # : We get IB questions that correspond to the chapter and if you do too then this will be perfect. Putting the question number in the general section heading that answers it will make it easier to study because questions given are usually those tested and if you are looking to find more information, its right there for you! *note: these too do in a different color for the same reason as above

Okay, these seem too extreme for you...here is my simplified organized notes that I did before:

Sample Layout of Biology Notes

These notes just require 3 things :

Page # : This is helpful when you are studying and want to look up your notes in your textbook. Instead of spending hours searching for the page, you can flip right to it! *note: for a new page, skip a line...it will make your notes look neater.

Vocabulary :  These will most likely appear of test or quizzes so it would be helpful to highlight them in a certain color that will let you know which is vocab. terms and which isn't. What I do is I give some space for the definition and align it on each new line to make it neater and easier to read.

Section Heading : Section headings gives you the topic and summary of what will be talked about in your textbook and are very important to include because they organize your notes without you having to do any work. Write them in a different color to distinguish the heading from your notes.

History Notes:

Sample Layout/Example of History Notes

Okay for history there is a bunch of little things you need to remember like dates, key events, people, etc. so here is what you do:

1. Assign a highlight or pen color to dates, key events, people, etc. and stick with that color.

2. Go through your notes and highlight wherever you see the dates, people, etc.

  Voila instant study helper!

For Example (using my notes above)

Vocabulary = pink

People = green

Places = blue

Time/Dates = yellow

Key events = orange

These are my tips for 3 subjects that require me to take book notes. I promise if you follow these steps, it will not only organize your notes but help you study for tests and quizzes!

x o x o