We’ve all had a catchy song stuck in our heads for ages so we all know that it’s easier to remember things when there’s an associated jingle. The same is true for easy-to-remember and familiar acronyms, say, SALT. Our brain is better at absorbing information in simpler, bite-sized pieces, and that’s what personalization does. It’ll make your task easier to remember, so you’ll learn more and process faster. You shouldn’t need more than this during test week.
Here’re some ideas on how to personalize your learning.
Find out how you learn best
Some people find meaning in doodles and others don’t get them at all. You may work well with acronyms or putting everything in a song, or acting it out. Some learn how best to retain information by getting feedback, and some attach what they’ve learned to other things in their life; such as giving nicknames to different aspects of their studies. And then some simply highlight what they study. Jot down your strengths and weaknesses, and you will learn how you learn best. Also, have you ever heard of a Memory Palace? Not only does it have the potential to change your learning patterns forever, but even if it doesn’t, it’s super interesting.
Ask a lot of questions
Whether you personalize or not, this step is essential to recall. If you understand what you are doing better, you will retain it better—and for that you need to ask questions! The simplest question is usually just ‘why?’ such as ‘Why do we learn math and how can we apply it, apart from in tomorrow’s quiz?’
Set goals
Goals will give you direction and make you feel more confident about your personalization strategy if you manage to get to them. For example: plan to do at least 20 problems a day and hold yourself accountable. Slowly add on the number of problems you do per day, and with your new personalization strategy and your goal in place, math won’t remain an obstacle for very long!
Aim to learn, not work
Don’t focus on the fact that you have math worksheets that you don’t understand piled up. Focus, instead, on understanding one aspect at a time. Talk more about concepts and adapt to the new things by understanding them, instead of panicking and throwing up your hands when you come across something that throws you.
Personalization won’t do the studying for you!
Personalization is just one of the ways you can make learning easier and more fun. However, you do still have to sit and actually study for an upcoming exam, because stringing a few words together into a song or highlighting your entire textbook doesn’t get you out of actually knowing the material behind your personalization! So study hard, and try to get all the experimenting done before your test!
Once you’ve figured out what you’re best at, you need to make it a part of your studying routine. Stay tuned to the TPT Study Blog to learn how to remember everything you learn!
And if you have a unique style of studying that works for you, feel free to comment below 🙂
The topic of the article interested me. It’s a rampant problem that you learn but you don’t remember! And sometimes I feel I am afraid of asking questions. Is there a solution to that? I mean I have heard that no question is a stupid question a million times, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick. Waiting for part 2 as well, because following through is of course extremely important.
Hey Wardah. What instills the fear of asking questions in you? Maybe try with not perceiving the other person as all knowledgeable and superior and see if that works for you!
I think many students have this problem. An interesting method of learning in my view is to read out loud, explain yourself what’s written in the text and then test yourself. I have seen people doing this and it has worked. Another way is to make pictures and learn through them.
Definitely. In fact have you noticed any new innovative ways that people have come up with to remember?