St. Benildus College Study Guidelines for Students

St. Benildus College Study Guidelines for Students

STUDY GUIDELINES for Students

Getting started:

·  Make a study timetable. Include all your subjects. Take extra-curricular activities and other commitments into account.

·  Put a copy of your study timetable into your school journal and leave a copy beside your desk.

·  Use homework journal as a daily organiser. Check what books you need to bring home for homework and study.

·  Don’t just study the subjects you like best. Spend extra time on your weakest subject.

·  At weekends, get study done in the morning. Research shows that the earlier the study is done the better.

·  Eat well. “A healthy body leads to a healthy mind….”

·  Sleep well. At least 8 hours per night. Study isn’t as effective when you are tired.

TIPS for studying at home:

·  Study in a quiet place. No distractions!

·  A large desk and comfortable chair will help you study well. Make sure chair is at the right height.

·  Good light is necessary. Not too dark. Not too bright.

·  Room should be at the right temperature. Not too hot and not too cold.

·  No phones. No music. No TV! Ideally turn off phone, or leave it in another room.

·  Be prepared: Bring home all the books/copies you need from school.

·  Have extra supplies (eg. Calculator, pens, paper etc) at home.

·  If you don’t have a suitable place to study, consider Evening Study.

·  Do your study before you start homework. You are fresher and less tired.

·  Study in blocks. For example, 30 or 40 minute blocks.

·  Take breaks. If you study continuously for too long, it will become ineffective. Take a break, get up and walk around, have a snack…..BUT don’t start playing computer games! Limit break to 5 minutes.

How do I study a topic?

·  Read through notes in book/copy. Write down key words and definitions.

·  Make ‘mind maps’ of most important points per topic. Use different colours to make important points stand out.

·  Practice drawing important diagrams.

·  Test yourself with the “key points” section at end of chapter and questions at the end of the chapter.

·  Ask someone at home to test you on facts and definitions.

·  3rd and 6th years should go through past exam questions on a particular topic from your exam papers.

·  Set specific targets. (For example, instead of saying “I’m going to study science for 30 minutes”, it would be better to say “I’m going to learn the functions of the blood and all of the parts of the heart”)

·  Record yourself (eg. Reciting a poem or quotations from a play) and listen back.

·  Study each topic very well at first. Then, over following weeks, go back over it 2 or 3 times. This makes you more likely to retain the information in the long term.

·  Take a photo of study notes and look over them on Luas on way to school etc.

·  Avoid Cramming! (ie. Trying to study everything the night before an exam). It doesn’t work.

·  Study each topic as if you have an exam on it tomorrow. This pressurises you into remembering the information as best you can.