What Study Techniques Help You Most?

What helps you learn the most when you're studying? What sort of techniques do you use? Please share your successful techniques so that others can give them a try and be successful too. ¡Gracias!

The Dreaded Final Exam

Yes, it is that time of year for final exams. Let's face it together . . . nobody likes final exams. That's OK! Try to think of it as a rite of passage! You will make it through to the other side, preferably in good shape! There are things you can do to make the experience more manageable. Starting early is key. If you haven't started yet, start immediately! Do you know where to begin? Sometimes getting started is the hardest part so I would suggest taking your study guide and going through it, part by part. If you come across something you honestly don't remember, mark it. Once you've gone through the entire guide, review one marked area at a time. You can go to the text, practice those topics online, or go to an old test/quiz that covered those areas. Once that's done you can go over the topics that you feel more confident about, one by one. It is very important that whenever you do study, you don't do marathon study sessions. Study in smaller blocks of time and take breaks. As long as you know you need to come back from a break it'll work! Really!

So what does it mean to study? I suggest that you be active when you study. Try writing out those verb endings, irregular verbs, pronouns, etc. in charts. Once you're used to writing them down you'll be able to do it when you get to the test and you'll have some great sources of reference to use during the test. Redo parts of old tests and quizzes. You can check your answers to know if you're on track or not and that's very helpful. You can also go through all your flashcards and make piles for the ones you know and the ones you don't know. Then attack the "don't know" pile until all the words/phrases are in the "know" pile. Again, doing this a little at a time is a good way to study. You can also utilize the Internet sites I've discovered to help you. Remember that they're easily accessible in the "Class Files" section of my homework website.

Finally, and this is probably a lot of the mom in me talking, be sure to get a good night's sleep and eat a good breakfast in the morning. Don't skip a meal; your brain needs the energy to work right. Have faith in your abilities and be sure to try; you can do it. ¡Buena suerte!