Do you know how to utilize your $150 textbook? As a tutor, my goal is to create independent students who not only know the material, but how to learn it when I am not available for help. So, the first 2-3 minutes of every session start off with the following questions:
Now this can go for any subject, from Anthropology to Algebra and everything in between, so the questions are universal and don't really change from student to student. The thing is, when I ask what tools students are using, they rarely cite their textbook or professor as a tool. Instead, it will be YouTube videos, another student, or maybe even "nothing" that they reference. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked a student to open the book and ask if they know how to read it. Most look at me like I am nuts, but some admit that they don't know what I am talking about.. especially math students. It's baffling how many students, after teaching them how to read their textbook, look at me with tears and say thank you because nobody taught them before. Here are my tips to help students learn how to read the textbook to understand.
Here's a quick look at my notebook pages - Click on each to zoom If you are a classmate, professor, or student I tutor, you will likely see a notebook like the one above with an index in the first few pages, followed by chapter notes that follow with objectives, vocab, and key learnings written down. For me, this has many benefits - The first is that because I generally make my notes prior to class, I don't have to lug the entire textbook with me to have key information at my fingertips. Second, when I go to see my tutor, I can check for understanding on certain things that I am not 100% clear about. Finally, organization pays off - and if I have rented the textbook and the book is due 5 days before my final (like this fall), my notebook and past exams are all I really need to study. Personally, I am a proponent of writing things down because for me, reading words requires only the reading of letters, which form sentences, which have to be give meaning through a range of internal processes. However, writing things down requires reading, processing the information, and then using a different part of your brain to physically use a pencil to write those ideas down. Somewhere I read that writing it down is like reading it 7 times. Probably not true, but I can promise that the things I write (not type) I remember much better and can even visualize where in my notebook I wrote it down, which for me can help when taking a quiz of exam.
1 Comment
gabby
9/19/2019 03:56:58 pm
so... i never study. laziest thing ever. definitely regret it every time I'm welcomed to class with a pop quiz. cool thing though, my teacher allows your own notes to be used during these sessions. choosing to not go through your textbook before you walk into class isn't smart. I mean who really wants to lug a heavy book around all day? not me. this blog was extremely helpful to figure out how to actually look and read your book. i know you probably have a 600 page book like i do full of things you never heard of but haven't you gotten a teacher who just doesn't use the same language as the book now you can refer to the notes you actually took yourself at home to the lecture notes given in class. thanks for the advice and I hope to apply is throughout my college carrier from chem to cal.
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AuthorI'm Michelle, and I've got a full plate! As a full-time dietetics student, step-mom, wife, study coach, and tutor in my late 30's, some days I'm barely scraping by. But, no matter what is on my plate, it's always gluten free! Categories
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