Study Strategies
Key Points:
- Learning is easier when you have good study habits.
- Make time to study and review.
- Be prepared by being organized.
- Think positive.
- Ask for help when you need it.
Study Skills and Habits are Important!
Learning how to study is one of the most important skills you will learn during your school career. And now that you’ve had a concussion, you will benefit from establishing good habits and improving your study skills.
Students who have good study skills and habits, have an easier time learning and remembering information. Having good study skills and habits can also increase your confidence, competence, and self-esteem, and reduce your school stress and anxiety.
Staying Organized
Adolescents live very busy lives and it is important to find time to study. The following strategies might be helpful for staying organized:
- Post a monthly calendar in your room which tracks important dates, appointments, sports practice times, and upcoming tests/deadlines.
- Use a planner or agenda to break down your weekly plan and outline daily to-do lists.
- Use calendar alerts and notifications in your smartphone for reminders and due dates.
- Prioritize your to-dos by creating a list in order of most to least important. If a task feels too big to accomplish easily, try breaking it down into smaller chunks.
Your Study Area and Routine
Creating a good routine, and an organized environment for studying, will help you keep up with your learning in school.
Try the following:
- Find a good spot for your “homework station” (away from the tv and busier/noisier areas of your home) and have all your materials in reach (such as binder, textbooks, pencils).
- Choose a daily study time, and commit to that same time for the week. Add it to your calendar as a reminder.
- Study for small chunks of time (try 30 mins at a time), with breaks in between. Use your smartphone or timer to set an alarm for study chunks.
- Do not cram for a test so that you can get a good night’s sleep. Sleep helps with memory and learning. Daily review is a better strategy for remembering information easier.
Ways to Review
There are many different ways to review your school work. Try the following:
- Use pictures and words when creating your notes. This will help you understand and remember the information easier (eg. mind mapping).
- Practice using flashcards, quiz yourself, and/or try teaching someone what you’ve learned.
- Form a study group with friends, or study with a partner.
- Use technology as a study tool. Apps such as: Popplet, JeopardyLabs, and Quizlet are easy to use and lots of fun.
Using mnemonic devices will help improve your ability to remember something. The best mnemonics are ones that are funny and unique. Try coming up with a rhyme, song, or joke to remember bits of information. Here are some examples:
Acronyms
- “ROY G BIV” is an acronym for identifying the colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
- “BEDMAS” is an acronym for prioritizing calculations in a mathematical equation: brackets, exponents, division, multiplication, addition, subtraction.
Rhyming
- Rhymes can be used to help us learn and recall information easier. For example, the spelling rule: “i” before “e” except after “c”
Chunking
- Organizing information into more easily learned groups such as when you’re learning a new phone number. Instead of trying to remember: 6047376420
Learning it in chunks will make it easier to remember: 604 737 6420
It is common for students, with or without a concussion, to feel worried when taking tests.
For some students, tests can cause so much stress that their worries impact their performance. These students feel like they freeze up during a test, or forget everything they know, even though they studied.
The following strategies can help you stay calm while taking tests:
Be prepared
- Give yourself enough time to study before the test (use your calendar/agenda to organize your time).
- Know what will be on the test so you know what to spend time on reviewing (ask your teacher for an outline, or try to predict the test questions then practice answering them)
- Review your notes using the study strategies mentioned earlier
Think positive
- Be positive and tell yourself: “I’ve got this!” or “I can do this!”
- Be realistic - don’t expect yourself to be perfect.
- Remind yourself that even though this test is important, your entire future does not depend on it.
Be at your best mentally and physically
- Practice self-care regularly to keep stress levels low overall
- Get a good night’s sleep
- Eat healthy and stay hydrated
- Exercise
- Learn ways to calm yourself down when feeling stressed. See Self Manager: Stress Management for more details.
Ask for help
- Talk to a trusted adult (caregiver and/or school counsellor) if you feel like your worries are getting in the way of taking tests.
- Your school team may be able to provide accommodations for test taking.
- Tutoring can be helpful for improving your skills and confidence
- Attend tutorials, study groups, and FLEX blocks for extra help.
Digital Tools
Using technology and digital tools can help you learn. Try the following:
- Evernote
- Popplet
- Glogster
- Studyblue
- Quizlet
- Brainscape
- Onenote
- Photomath
- KhanAcademy
- MathSpace
- IXL Math
- Grade Proof
- Summarize This
- Drafting Board
- Turnitin
- Audible
- The Brain AR
- Discover Magazine
- BBC Focus Magazine
- TED
- Memrise
- Duolingo
- Babbel