A Toolbox of Ideas for Helping Your Children Study More Effectively

1. A Toolbox of Ideas for Helping Your Children Study More Effectively Teresa Massey Study Skills Consultant Chemeketa Community College tmassey@chemeketa.edu

2. How We Practice Based on • Understanding of the task • Student learning preferences • How the brain stores and retrieves information

3. How the Brain Stores & Retrieves Information • Help your brain learn • Attend • Organize • Make it memorable

4. HELP YOUR BRAIN • Get enough sleep • Drink enough water • Keep a healthy blood sugar level • Eat brain-friendly food • Handle anxiety

5. ATTEND Let the brain know the information is important enough to remember. • Avoid distractions • Ask questions • Think about what you already know • Use your learning preferences

6. Avoid Distractions • Learning Environment • Internal Distractions

7. Learning Preferences • Auditory • Visual • Tactile/Kinesthetic

8. ORGANIZE Help the brain see the patterns and connections • Time Management • Determine what is important Reading a textbook Taking lecture notes • Have a Study Plan

9. TIME MANAGEMENT

10. Keys to Effective Time Management • Be organized - keep track of assignments & due dates -have organized notebooks • Estimate how much time is needed to complete an assignment or study for a test • Know the best times for you to study • Keep daily to-do lists that are prioritized

11. JCU Study Skills Online http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/notetaking/reviewing.html

12. RESEARCH ABOUT PROCRASTINATION • Students who do not procrastinate are motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic forces. • Students who procrastinate tend to be motivated only by extrinsic forces. • Procrastination leads to lower grades and increased stress and anxiety • Source: Brownlow & Reasinger, “Putting off until tomorrow what is better done today: Academic procrastination as a function of motivation toward college work.” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 15(2000):15-34

13. Cognitive Distortions Made by Academic Procrastinators • Overestimating how much time is left to complete your work • Underestimating how much time is left to complete your work • Overestimation of how motivated you will be to complete your work at a later time • Belief that you can only do the work well if you are in the mood to work on it Procrastination & Task Avoidance, Ferrar, Johnson, & McCowan, 1995

14. NOTE TAKING

15. Note Taking Formats • Outline • Cornell • Split Page • Map

16. OUTLINE Causes of Stress 1. Pressure Def. - feel they must live up to standard of beh. or adapt to rapid change 2 Kinds of Pressure: 1. internal self-esteem constructive or destructive 2. external pressure to compete rapid state of change family/friends 2. Anxiety Def – doesn’t know why they are frightened or upset Psychoanalytic theory – sign of internal, unconscious conflict 3. Frustration Def – prevented from reaching a goal 5 sources 1. delays 2. lack of resources 3. losses 4. failure 5. meaningless life

17. CORNELL METHOD

18. SPLIT PAGE

19. Three Column Method

20. CONCEPT MAP

21. Mind Mapping Software Kidspiration From Inspiration Software http://inspiration.com Can be downloaded for a free trial

22. TEST PREPARATION(aka STUDYING)

23. TEST PREPARATION • Organize your study • Use multiple study techniques • Begin each study time with a review • Predict test questions – both rote & conceptual • Manage your time effectively • Self-test. Know you know it!

27. MAKE MEMORABLE Strategies to retain information that you’ve organized. Based on • Learning preferences • Objectives Rote Conceptual

28. MEMORY STRATEGIES

29. Rote • Mnemonics – acronyms, acrostics, songs & rhymes, location, imagery, word associations • Repetition • Flash Cards • Use Color, Movement

30. Acronyms • Order for Math Calculations PEMDAS – Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction (Or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.) • Conjunctions Between Independent Clauses that Require a Comma FAN BOYS – for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

31. Acrostics • Order of the planets My Very Earthy Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. • Great Lakes Super Machine Heaved Earth Out. (or HOMES)

32. Memory Websites The following songs come from http://faculty.washington.edu/chulder/songs.html Other sites http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler.neurok.html (Neuroscience for kids) www.caine.learning.com (Has free information to download) www.dana.org www.sfn.org (Society for Neuroscience) (Can download Brain Facts)

33. Songs & Rhymes "Old McScientist Had a Brain“ Song from third grade HORIZONS Students at Big Creek Elementary,Forsyth County Schools, Cumming, Georgia. Teacher: Stephanie Silvestro (Sung to the tune of “Old McDonald Had a Farm”) • Old McScientist had a brain with many neurons in it.And in that brain he had a cerebrum to help him make decisions.Cerebrum here, Cerebrum there, Cerebrum Cerebrum everywhere.Old McScientist had a brain with many neurons in it.And in that brain he had a cerebellum to help him keep his balance.Cerebellum here, Cerebellum there, Cerebellum, Cerebellum everywhere.Old McScientist had a brain with many neurons in it.And in that brain he had a Brain Stem to keep his heart a beatin'.Brain Stem here, Brain Stem there, Brain Stem Brain Stem everywhere.Old McScientist had a brain with many neurons in it!

34. Word Association • A principal is a pal A principle is a rule • A stalagmite grows from the ground A stalactite hangs from the ceiling

35. Conceptual • Recite – explain in your own words. • Create charts, maps, outlines. Then try to recreate them without looking. • Use flash cards to create maps.

36. Create a Map of the Terms • VASCULAR TISSUE SYSTEM • XYLEM • PHLOEM • TRACHEIDS • VESSEL ELEMENTS • SIEVE-TUBE MEMBERS • XYLEM VESSELS • PITS • SIEVE PLATES • COMPANION CELL • ANGIOSPERM

37. Angiosperm vascular tissue system xylem pholem tracheids vessel elements sieve tube members pits xylem vessel sieve plates companion cell

38. Create Matching Quiz

39. Self-Monitoring Awareness Assessment Management