How to Study: By Subject
While school places a large emphasis on what to learn, they do not really explain how to learn, a fact which makes learning much more inaccessible than it should be. But I am here to tell you that, in reality, studying is a skill, and once you understand the goals of studying and build a strong system of operations, learning can actually become simple, and even fun! Simple does not mean easy, though, and keep in mind that studying will still be a struggle most of the time. But, like the best things in life, that does not mean it is not worth doing.
When studying, remember this Acronym: FAST
F- Forget: Forget everything you think you know about yourself and your capacity to learn. Holding negative thoughts about your abilities will make them come to reality, and has the potential to squander the potential that I know you possess.
A- Active: This is the most important aspect of studying, and the one which most neglect to do. Being active means working with information rather than just consuming it. You will not understand, or even remember words which have no meaning to you, so whilst obtaining information it is vital that you put it into your own words, make connections with previous knowledge, and try to deeply comprehend both what is being said, and why it is important to know. This will make studying much more difficult in the short run, but trust me: it will give you a significant advantage over your peers.
S- State: State just means that when you are studying you should be completely in the moment, and have all your thoughts directed towards what you are learning, remaining active and present in the learning process. I'm not going to lie to you: this is extremely difficult, especially for people new to the process of studying, and will require lots of energy and discipline. However, through practice and techniques such as deep breathing, over time you will develop a stronger and more focused mind, making learning a large amount of information easier and more enjoyable.
T- Teach: Teaching is an underutilized, yet extremely effective way to easily enhance understanding and recall of even extremely complex information. Immediately after (or during a break of) a study session, get out a pencil and paper, and write down some of the main ideas that you gleaned from your studies. Take a few minutes to process the information and its importance, and then give a sort of fake lecture, explaining concepts as if to a small child. Doing this will help you to understand, in your own words, what you have just read and why it matters, making it way more likely to remain in your long term memory. Seriously, try it.
How To Study: Mathematics
Math is, in my opinion, the hardest to study (by far!) of any subject, and I find this to be true for the majority of people. This is because math is very distinct in that it not only requires you to learn and memorize a topic, but also to be able to understand it at a deep enough level to manipulate information in the proper manner, despite never being actually shown "how" to do it. Math requires an extreme amount of not only dedicated study of seemingly unlimited topics, but also dedicated practice, and in order to progress math abilities in an efficient manner, challenge must be sought after by students. But while learning math is daunting, it is also one of the most rewarding subjects- not only do many of its teachings have real world applications, it teaches you how to think effectively about problems, and culminate previously learned information to coming to a proper solution, an invaluable skill in the real world.
So, how should math study be approached, especially if you are not really a "math person"? Honestly, I believe that the most important aspects of math learning are curiosity and enjoyment. Math is the most individual driven course of study available in most schools, which makes it exciting to most, but also an extreme challenge to those with limited resources or poor teachers. Most subjects can be passed through reading textbooks many times over, but math cannot, due to requiring understanding of an idea rather than regurgitation of information. In my eyes, there are a few majorly effective approaches to developing an intuitive understanding of math topics:
1. Do not blindly memorize formulas, understand where they come from. This task, especially in more beginner math, seems like a waste of time, but I promise that taking a few extra minutes to try to derive where a formula comes from, or at least put it into your own words, will very much help you. As you progress, math will become more and more based on problem solving ability and depth of understanding, rather than pure memorization and robotically plugging in to formulas. Having a much greater than surface level knowledge about several topics will make integrating them much more seamless, and will give you a significant advantage over your peers.
2. Do not take shortcuts. I often found my ego getting in the way of my math learning, believing I didn't need to pay attention because a topic was too easy, or had no application to my daily life. Please do not make the same mistake I did- my confidence was shattered as I had to, essentially, reassess my identity as a "star" math student, and descended to being one of the most mediocre pupils in my classes, simply because I did not take the time to understand what I was being taught, and even omitted some topics I found too challenging, and thus labeled as "stupid". However, this mathematical atrophy shows how math is directly correlated with hard work, not just natural talent or ability. Math can only be improved through deliberate effort and solving lots of problems, and I guarantee if you buckle down and really are intentional with your math learning, you can easily achieve top marks and rise to the top of your class. (note, I will provide some good resources for problems to solve, as practicing topics in different ways is a great way to gain a holistic intuition of them)
3. Work on your weaknesses. A lot of math classes, unfortunately, require ridiculous amounts of useless homework, which force students to grind out the same type of problem upwards of 50 times in a row. This work is discouraging, requires little brainpower, and is the reason many students hate math, and neglect to pay attention whatsoever. The approach to math gets less painful with seniority at school, but it sets a precedent that every topic holds the same weight, and should be practiced as such- this is not the case at all! Many topics, such as statistics and probability, come to me quite naturally, yet I struggle extremely hard with geometry, and am likely at a level much below my classmates, despite spending a similar amount of time on the subject. Everyone is different, and that is why I urge you to realize your weaknesses, and hone in on training them, while slightly neglecting topics in which you are already quite strong. This approach is obviously more difficult, and may damage your pride a bit, but is absolutely required if you want to succeed in math. Whenever you seem to not understand a topic or how to do a problem no matter how hard you try, do not give up, but instead think about it for longer than you think you should, until you can arrive at a solution or understanding which satisfies you. While this is quite painful and takes a lot of time initially, it is a much better use of time than continually doing problems you can easily finish, and will save you hours of math study in the long run, not to mention boosting your grades quite quickly.
4. Learn in a variety of ways. While there is no way to really get around struggling in math, it can often help to have a topic explained in several different points of view. Often students struggle because they cannot process how their teacher explains a topic, owing to the lack of passion that many teachers, especially in math, possess. This can make math learning and lectures extremely frustrating, but the good news is that several online resources, such as videos, platforms, and textbooks, explain nearly any topic imaginable in several different ways. If you can find a teacher, or a specific explanation method which really sticks, math problems will become a lot simpler, and you will find it takes much less time to learn a topic than you ever thought it would. I will link several of these free resources below, so that you can fill in any gaps of understanding that you may have.
5. Have fun. Math becomes fun when you think about it not only as a grade you must get, but as a practice that will make you a better person. If you think actively with every math problem you are given, and think of several potential ways you could approach it given your previous knowledge (or what knowledge you lack that prevents you from progressing), you will become a high level thinker over time, not to mention it makes you feel really smart! The amount of dedication math takes, and the cognitive stress it provides you with can be found in very few activities, and if you can learn to enjoy it, you will not only find your skills for problem solving increase, but will become a more disciplined and purposeful thinker, an individual becoming very rare (and thus very valuable) in the modern world
How to Study: English
English is one of the most difficult subjects to improve in a school setting, however, it is also one of the easiest to learn, if given the opportunity. In high school, students are not really taught how to write, how grammar works, or new vocabulary, but rather are expected to "critically" read and write countless essays until they hopefully figure out what they are doing. Teachers have little motivation to actually assist students in writing practice, due to the time it takes to grade student essays, making improving writing skills and command of the language seem impossible.
Writing, in my opinion, can be best improved through one thing: intuition. It is purely a subjective matter, but one can clearly distinguish good from bad writing, despite there not being a set of guidelines of what makes writing "good". To be honest, this can only truly be developed through reading more, and this is the reason why some struggle much more than others in this subject: those with a history of reading find writing extremely easy, because they have, somewhat unconsciously, been introduced to so many examples of proper sentence structure and strong prose, which have been integrated into their writing styles. However, this process of course takes time, and in a school setting it makes much more sense to speed up this process by combining regular reading with specific study of writing technique and proper grammar (although the latter is much more important for beginners.) This will allow for a sort of "structure" to writing essays of different styles, and will allow you to somewhat circumvent the intuition gathered through reading alone, and rather turn writing into a tangible skill, measured by adherence to a certain approach of essay writing. This, obviously, isn't super fun, but this cookie-cutter approach will perform very well in a school setting, and once it is mastered, will enable you to be exponentially more creative within the constraints of writing an essay prompt. Of course, practicing this will take time, but hopefully some of the resources linked below will allow for a quick and simple approach to mastering the English language, at least for what is required at the high school level.
Additional Notes: Critical Reading- Critical Reading Passages are something you must become quite familiar with throughout your school career, as this skill is tested not only in class, but on important standardized tests, such as the SAT. Explanation on how to master these questions will be provided in the Standardized Test Tips Reading, but it should be noted that having a strong background in reading and understanding of grammar will greatly assist you.
How to Write the Dreaded 5 Paragraph Essay
Writing essays at school in English class can be a pain, especially if you do not know what you are doing. Many of these essays will be "analytical", requiring you to make deep observations or thorough explanations of a work of literature or other form of writing. Many students struggle with these types of essays because they do not have a format to follow, a definite structure which will allow them to directly improve their efficiency in writing, rather than essentially starting over each time they pick up the pen.
The easiest method to create a coherent, effective analytical essay is through the following structure: Introduction paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and then a conclusion paragraph, a very simple process which, although boring, will allow for quick, concise, and coherent writing with strongly developed points
Beginning your essay is quite simple: start as "broad" as possible, setting up a scenario or idea which is experienced by many people, and relates to the prompt in some way. This will allow you to simultaneously provide context for your analysis and transition into the beginning of your paper, both processes which many tend to struggle with. After a few sentences of context, followed by a transition into the connection to the prompt, you will end your first paragraph with a thesis statement. This statement can be very nuanced, and I will link a definitive guide to crafting a perfect one below. However, at the high school level, a very simple thesis will suffice: all you have to do is directly answer the prompt with 3 pieces of supporting evidence, which will be used to craft your argument as your essay develops. This approach is so convenient because it allows a perfect segue into the next aspect of your essay, where the "meat" of your answer to the prompt will reside: the 3 body paragraphs.
Body paragraphs are the foundation of your essay, and are where you will give distinct examples that develop your argument in favor of your response to the prompt. The great thing about these is that each paragraph will correspond to one of the 3 listed evidences in your thesis statement! All you have to do is flesh out the ideas you have already created in a coherent way that the reader can easily understand, and it is perfectly acceptable to simply list your paragraphs in the same order as done in your thesis statement. While you will still need to be creative with your developments (and subsequent creation of) your ideas, this format allows you to know exactly what you need to focus on while writing your essay, making it a much more straightforward process.
After these paragraphs comes the easiest part of the essay, the conclusion, which is simply a recapitulation of the ideas you have already mentioned. I find it is helpful to, once again, broaden out the application of your response to the prompt, then summarizing your points which you developed through your 3 body paragraphs. Finally, to finish out the paper, give the reader a "takeaway" related to the prompt, an insight or realization which they can apply directly to their own lives. Often, this part requires lots of creativity, but it allows for a mature ending which makes the essay feel "whole", rather than an abrupt cutoff leading to the reader feeling confused and wanting more of an explanation.
This format makes essay writing much simpler, however, it is still a skill, and if not trained properly, applying these tips alone will not make your writing immediately better. There is so much more to writing, such as effective transitions, word choice, and clear communication of arguments that make writing a seemingly impossible activity to improve at. However, if you consistently practice, and read other texts from distinguished writers, essays will begin to feel like second nature, and your teacher will be blown away by your abilities. For more advanced writing tips on aspects that are not super intuitive, as well as basic grammar to fill in any knowledge gaps about the English language that you may possess, I have linked some online writing resources below. Good luck, and have fun writing!
How to Study: Other
Most of the other required classes in school require almost solely memorization (and maybe a bit of writing) skills, which, depending on the person, can make them either much more/ much less accessible to students. If you feel behind in these classes, do not worry, as the approach to improvement is quite simple, and, although boring, will assist you in other areas of life by teaching you how to effectively learn in as little time as possible. The first "General Advice" section provides amazing information on how to improve in these kinds of classes, so I recommend primarily adhering to those approaches when studying for them. These approaches, though, are mainly useful for reading sections, but what if your class is based only on lecture? Lectures can be extremely painful to sit through, and taking notes can often seem like a useless chore. What you must do in order to make lecture effective is to actively interact with the information provided by the teacher through a similar approach to that provided by the General Advice Section:
1. Write down any specific info which seems quite difficult to commit to memory
2. When learning any general idea, think of its significance to the topic as a whole, rather than as a standalone piece of info- this will make you understand and commit it to memory much easier
3. Never copy down slides! Always, when taking notes, change the information into words which make sense to you, allowing for an intuitive understanding of the topic.
4. If a piece of information confuses you, feel free to ask the teacher/the token class nerd for help. If both of these resources are useless in your situation, use the internet for help- it can sometimes be unreliable, but more often than not will give you insight into a topic. (PS: many teachers steal assignments off the internet, do with that info what you wish)
5. Find a way to make learning in class interesting. I know it is quite difficult, but use all of your power to give yourself a reason to pay attention. What always worked for me was seeing the process as a sort of challenge, a game to see how much I could distinctly remember from an extremely boring lecture about a class which I had no interest in, serving to motivate me by making the act of learning itself of importance, rather than the content of the teaching.
6. Actively review after lecture ends. When information is returned to, your brain sees it as much more important. Always try to remember, in your own words, as much as you can about a lecture after it ceases, allowing it to stick in your brain for an extended period of time. (As mentioned before, pretending to "teach" the content is an amazing way of doing this!)
I promise that, if you practice these tips consistently, you will find memorizing loads of information much easier, and will be able to breeze through memorization based classes like History (although implementing this process correctly may take time, go easy on yourself and understand that anything which is new will come with some struggle. Don't give up!)
