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Believe it or not, math would be a lot simpler—and a lot more enjoyable—if your teachers shared some secrets for success. Since we’re so awesome, we thought we would share secrets that will help you breeze through your math homework, quizzes, and tests, with a newfound focus on success!
Have you ever seen a true speed reader? Check out this video of a speed reader in action. Although, to be honest, we weren’t talking about speed reading out loud. We are talking about the kind of speed reading that will get you ahead academically, no need to sound like a chipmunk on 5-hour energy!
Speed reading is a handy skill. In fact, let’s not even call it speed reading. Instead, we’ll call it “Learning to read faster.” Research has shown that as you read, your eyes are also moving around and seeing other words on the page at the same time, which can slow you down. There are also a lot of “filler” words used in text to make it grammatically correct but don’t really add to the meaning.
Sigh. We know that summer reading lists are not really a favorite subjects for students trying to enjoy their summer break. However, if you are trying to prepare for the AP English Literature Exam, the summer is a perfect opportunity to “know a few works well” which is what the AP English Literature exam advises.
Here are 5 great summer reads that are enjoyable, in addition to helping you prepare for the AP Exam. Rather than having to read amidst 4-6 other classes’ worth of homework, you can take your time and make yourself an expert on these novels. Then, you can save the more, shall we say “challenging” (meaning often dry and difficult to figure out without the help of a teacher) texts for when you’re back in school.
Summertime, and the livin’s easy, right? But as long as you’re lying around by the pool with all your friends, you can use some of that time to for summer math review.
What?!? Summer math practice by the pool?!? Who ever heard of such a thing? Well, math is like a language of sorts, and if you don’t use it, you lose it. We aren’t suggesting you bring the math book you forgot to turn back in, and practice math equations in between back flips. But we are saying that you should do a few things to keep the brain nimble (especially that left brain hemisphere where a good deal of your math knowledge is stored).
So here are just a few light suggestions for ways to keep your math brain in gear, so next year’s math classes will start out easy-breezy.
We love TED Talks—how could we not? They are FREE ways to learn amazing ideas and concepts that help to save the world. We have shared a couple of our favorites with you, and will probably share a couple more. But this TED Talk is part of their TEDxTeen series.
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Summertime is here! Isn’t that the best feeling EVER? The feeling of the last finals being over, the last papers turned in, and the glorious sound of the last bell ringing. It’s time to for beaches, fun family vacations (is that an oxymoron?), swimming pools, later curfews and a ton of lying around and sleeping in.
Studying in the summertime is no fun at all, at least not for most of us. But you can spend some time this summer doing things that are enjoyable and help to keep your brain functioning. As we’ve mentioned before, the brain is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets, so don’t leave it in storage.
For those of you who have a hard time retaining information when you try and read in class, and get frustrated when nothing seems to stick: don’t worry about it. Absorbing information visually might just not be your thing—you might try having the text read out loud to you. For other students, it’s really hard to focus on lectures no matter how completely their attention is on the speaker. If they read what’s being said, though, they remember every word.
This is all totally normal—we all have our learning styles, and we’re here to help you figure out exactly what kind of learner you are. If you haven’t figured out which side of your brain is dominant, do that first. That will help you to start understanding your learning process.
If you haven’t been introduced to SparkNotes yet, then it’s time you met one of your new best friends. Sparknotes is an excellent student resource that can turn the baroque language of Shakespeare, or the often complex and difficult language of academic texts, into English that is easier to manage. Sparknotes has been helping students for the past 13 years!
So which side won the arm wrestling contest? Now that you know which side of your brain is dominant, it’s time for you to learn exactly what that means for you as a student (and a real-life human). How can you improve your academic learning/studying techniques?
First, take out the worksheet from our last post. We all use both sides of the brain when we need to, but when we’re stressed, it‘s difficult for the “weaker” hemisphere to take action efficiently. It can sort of freeze up. And one high-stress situation is in school, when you’re learning something new or when you’re taking a dreaded test or quiz.
Here are a couple of videos you can watch for Left-brain, Right-brain Exercises. Yep! Brain exercises. They are awesome for three reasons:
