Improve Your Study Habits (1961)

[Music] judging from your papers on analyzing my study habits your writing skills are improving as they should be after all the assignments I've given you this year there was one paper in particular I liked someone who I thought had done a pretty good job of analyzing his study habits well let's not fool ourselves study habits are important whether you go on to college or take a job right after you graduate one of the things a college register or future employer takes great stock in is the record you've made in school Ron has made some good points about study habits so let's listen to his paper and then we can talk about it come on Ron [Music] before you begin Ron I'd just like to tell the class that your paper is organized around these three points improving study habits in the classroom the study hall and library and at home Ron the floor is yours about 7 months ago I found I wasn't getting much out of school no I'm really serious about this I didn't even know I was missing anything until the first day of football practice even before I could try out my passing arm the coach whistled for me he was sorry but I wouldn't make the team this year my grades weren't good enough even though I always went to class and spent as much time as anyone my studying wasn't showing any results well the coach couldn't do anything about that maybe next year later when my friend Bert Kenzie stopped by instead of talking about girls or cars we talked about studying Bert who's a letter man and an honor student had plenty of ideas on that topic he knew I put in a lot of time studying but he wondered if maybe my study habits were a little bit sloppy or that maybe I thought of studying as a duty something that had to be done to make the team that kind of thinking can get in the way of good studying if I really wanted to change my attitude toward studying Bert would give me some pointers about study habits it was a bargain perhaps I'd never make an honor student like berd still I did think I could do better than I had in class for example I know the rules one is that to get the most out of a subject you must follow the class class work but I've gotten into the habit of letting my mind wander to other things berth though manages to keep his mind on classwork first when he comes to class he has a general understanding of what the lesson's about I noticed that Bert writes a summary of the text chapter says this helps him grasp the main ideas he also writes down questions about ideas he doesn't understand and asks about about them in class the answers to class questions Bert takes down as part of his class notes though he spends most of his time in class listening Bert does note key ideas so that he can recall the classwork later on he also gave me some advice on writing class notes write brief sentences use abbreviations that can be understood after the class is over on the same page Bert puts down the homework assignment so good class notes make up a day-to-day record of classwork Bert takes another step with his class notes during study periods he's gotten me into the habit of checking over our class notes as soon as possible we copy our class notes while the information is fresh as we copy the notes we fill in the information and details the notes remind us of so that when we're finished our original class notes have been extended and filled in if Bert finishes copying his notes before study period ends he starts his homework assignment I found out that this is a good idea because if I get a head start on an assignment or two in school it's easier to pick it up again at home of course I didn't become a scholar overnight there were days when bir almost had to drag me to the library but once I got into the habit I found that I like studying in the library encyclopedias and other reference books were always close by and could help clear up points I couldn't check at home specialized reference books came in handy for preparing class reports when I find the material I'm looking for I've learned from birth that the best thing to do is to read through it quickly and watch for the main ideas then I read the material again more slowly this time seeing how the main ideas fit into what I'm reading I also make notes to remind me of what I've read one thing I'm learning from bird about notes they're pretty useful so far as homework is concerned Leed frankly I don't like homework there are plenty of other things to do but when Bert's around he helps me stick to business as a kind of conscience Bert helped me draw up a homework schedule that list list my subjects the assignments when they were made and when they're due of the assignments that come up first Bert has taught me to start my homework with the subjects I find hardest I'm also learning to schedule my time a little better when we work on an assignment our class notes generally help remind us of the purpose of the assignment so before starting any assignment I read through and check my notes as carefully as possible I'm finding out that the better I understand an assignment the better I can do it and in the long run the work goes faster too another rule I've learned about homework don't try to do everything at a single sitting after about an hour and a half of work we take a break sometimes we may have something to eat or make a phone call whatever we do a short break keeps us from getting too restless and gives us a pickup I've also learned a few pointers from bird on how to study for a test first allow more more time than for a regular assignment using my class notes I make an outline of the material that will probably be covered in the test usually the outline reminds me of points I'm not sure about then I brush up on those points in the text and of course review my homework assignments well there may be other things you do but these are some of the ways I'm trying to improve my study habits I'll admit I don't always follow Bert's advice about studying sometimes I get lazy and studying seems like too much hard work but once you get the hang of it studying can be interesting thank you Ron you know I agree with everything you had to say but seriously everyone in this class could improve his study habits in these three areas this is how one person analyzed his study habits now I'd like to ask you something I know you've been thinking about how would you go about improving your own study habits [Music]