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Study Tips: How to get the most from StudyMinder
The StudyMinder Homework System can help you develop your study skills, get
organized and improve your grades.
Use these study strategies to design your own personal study program. And
then follow it every day.
Keep your assignment notes together
 Make one section of your
school notebook for new assignments. Label it "Assignments". While in class,
write down new assignments and upcoming tests in the Assignments section of your
notebook.
When you come home from school, you won't have to search through all of your
class notes to find new assignments. They will all be listed together in the
same place. This prevents you from forgetting about tests or misplacing
assignments.
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Enter new homework assignments first
Use StudyMinder as your
homework organizer. Before you do anything else, enter your new homework
assignments into StudyMinder. Good study skills won't help you if you forget
about assignments! Once new assignments are entered, you'll see exactly how much
studying you have to do, and you can plan your time to get it all done.
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Make accurate study time estimates
With StudyMinder, you
estimate how much time it will take you to complete each assignment and prepare
for each test. Then StudyMinder shows you the total time you'll need to study to
complete all of your assignments. The better your estimates, the better you can
plan your time.
If you are not sure, it's better to estimate too high than too low. That way
you'll give yourself plenty of time, just in case you need it. And you'll
probably get done sooner than you thought.
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Schedule time to study
You can use StudyMinder's Events Mode to schedule your study time. StudyMinder will let you know if you have not scheduled enough time to finish all of your assignments. You can also make use of the recurring events feature and schedule your study time for the same time every day. That will help you establish a study routine and build good study habits.
Update the status when you're done with an assignment. This will help you see your progress in completing the day's homework.
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Keep an eye on big assignments
In Homework Mode,
StudyMinder shows you the total time required to finish each day's assignments.
But if you only look at tomorrow, you may forget about big assignments coming
up. Check Today's Reminders. It will recommend how much time you should study
today. This amount takes into consideration all upcoming assignments.
Each assignment in StudyMnder has a Notes section you can use to add
reminders and comments. For big assignments, enter notes about what you have
completed so far. And remember to add your Study Sessions even when the entire
assignment is not done.
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Enter your grades
StudyMinder lets you
enter the grades you receive for each test and assignment. When you get an
assignment back, add your grade to StudyMinder. You can see your current grade
average in the GPA menu.
By going back and reviewing your grades, you'll be able to see where you need
to concentrate your homework efforts.
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Be honest with yourself
StudyMinder is your
personal tool to stay organized and do your best. Use it as a homework diary.
The more accurate the information you give StudyMinder, the more it will help
you.
- Make sure to add all your assignments
- Give your best estimate for each assignment's completion time
- Enter the true amount of time you study for each assignment
- Add your grades for each assignment
You'll soon have a lot of information about which classes are the most
difficult, where you need to focus your efforts and how much time you really
need to study to get the best grades.
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Additional Tips
Get help when you need it
Don't guess if you are
not sure about something. Ask your teachers, parents and classmates if you can't
figure something out. There are also lots of Internet sites where you might be
able to find the answers.
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Do your hardest assignments first
StudyMinder lets you set
the difficulty of each assignment when you enter it. Take a look at your
assignment list and get the hardest assignments done first.
There are many reasons to do the hardest first.
- You are less tired.
- If you need help, you still have time to ask your parents, call a friend or
do research on the Internet.
- Best of all, you can look forward to having the easier, and more fun
assignments to work on later.
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Get your homework done early
You'll enjoy the rest of
your day much more when your homework is finished. And by doing homework before
other things, you'll still have plenty of time to finish even if your study
estimates turn out to be wrong.
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Study every day
Even if you don't have
assignments due tomorrow, you probably have one or two big assignments or tests
to study for. An important aspect of good study skills is to work on the big
assignments when you have a chance. Get started now. You'll do much better when
you are not working under deadline pressure.
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Avoid distractions
Most people do best when
they have a quiet place to study. Turn off the things that will interrupt you:
the television, video games and online chat.
Some people can concentrate with music, others can't. If you can't, then turn
it off. Wait until your homework is done, when you can fully enjoy your favorite
music.
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Be consistent - the key good study skills
Try to do your homework
at around the same time each day. It's natural to want to take a break after
school, but don't put off your homework too long. The longer you wait, the
harder it is to get started.
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Stay focused and work hard
It's best to concentrate
on your studies and work non-stop. If you estimate that it will take you 30
minutes to complete an assignment, that should mean 30 minutes of continuous
working. If half your time is working and half is doing other things, then it
will take twice as long. And you won't be doing your best work.
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Try to like what you're doing
Make it a point to try
and find something that you like about every class, and the tests and homework
you receive from your teachers.
Most students dislike math. But even with math, there must be something that
you can find that you like about it. Modern society would not exist without
math. Especially things like television, video games and digital music. If your
teacher and your text book are not enough, do some research of your own on the
Internet to find an area of the subject that interests you.
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Enjoy the challenge
Do mountain climbers
really like all the hard climbing? Maybe, but the key is that they love the
challenge. The bigger the challenge, the harder they work. In fact, if mountain
climbing were easy, they would find something else to do.
You can be that way too. Enjoy the challenge of each test and assignment.
Feel proud of yourself for working hard, developing your
study skills and striving to do your best.
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