Studying is overwhelming enough, but bad habits make it worse.Studying is overwhelming enough, but bad habits make it worse. Click To Tweet
The list below focuses on reducing the feelings of being overwhelmed and increasing the manageability of your schedule and information.
Check out the Youtube video that goes with this for more details.
1. Make monthly-weekly-daily Goals
Tasks — like writing a term paper, preparing for a large exam, or learning a large concept — cannot be accomplished in one day.
Split it into small pieces and then move those tasks into a convenient time within a month, week, and day.Split it into small pieces and then move those tasks into a convenient time within a month, week, and day. Click To Tweet
Month of January – Write a 20 page paper on the First Chinese Emperor
Weekly goals – Collect all the research • finish the first draft • finalize the paper
Daily goals – Research for 45 minutes • write the introduction • proof edit the conclusion
2. Do a little everyday
Collect your notes or grab your book.
Marathons are more efficient than sprints.
Reread your study guide once a day.
Just read it, nothing fancy.
Or take another 10 page dent out of that book.
5-10 minutes is all.
You will be better off to study or read a little rather than a lot at one time because you will not become burnt out or overwhelmed.
Also, your mind will be open to new perspectives and soft to remembering new nuances if you reread your material regularly.
3. Write and rewrite and rewrite again
Each time you rewrite something, you will simplify it and make it more memorable.
This is particularly true with study notes.
Rewrite them after a period of time and not just all in one day.
Check the video at the bottom, which goes with this post, for more details.
1. Don’t list non-accomplishable tasks
Only write todo items that are achievable and measurable.
2. Don’t use a highlighter in a textbook
Highlighting words is a passive action.
In order to digest what you read, you need to write your own comments and not just highlight the original.
Capturing impressions and observations in your own words promotes remembering and understanding the information.
3. Don’t keep your space messy
All of yours things randomly distributed will only clutter up your mind.
A tidy space keeps your mind tidy.
In the morning and evening review your todo list and tidy your space for optimal productivity.
Bonus tip in my Youtube video! Watch ’til the end!
Latin is over two thousand years old!
Until being displaced by French and then English, Latin held the position of being the literary language of the West.
Authors took to their pens with it to record ideas of philosophy, politics, spirituality, science, diplomacy, music, and love.
You may have heard of some of the most famous Latin authors: Caesar, Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, and Seneca.
The list does not end there…additionally: Augustine, Bede, Erasmus, Issac Newton, etc.
No matter what you are interested in, there is a book for you in Latin!
There is even a thrilling description of a haunted house by Pliny the Younger. What are you waiting for?
Here I want to introduce you to Latin by highlighting its differences from English.
When deciding whether to take up a language, understanding its features informs upon your decision.
Cozy up with your new Latin book effortlessly with the same alphabet as ours.
It is like ours with only a few differences, for example no “j” or “w” and “v” is written as “u” and vice versa.
A full explanation on pronunciation can be found here.
The sound of Latin is very melodic with its long and short vowels. Here is a preview:
The grape and the raisin
English is a very word-rich language.
Like a delicious stew, with it we combine many large and small elements to create hearty sentences.
Latin is not like this.
It uses the least words necessary to say the absolute most.
Like a raisin, it packs a punch in the smallest form possible.
And so, when translating to and from Latin, it can feel like moving between a grape and a raisin.
Imagining the water leaving the grape or putting water into the raisin creates intentionality with each word choice.
Students worry about adding too many words in English or they have trepidation over the lack of words in Latin.
Regarding the transition as a change in the fruit itself helps.
The office and the briefcase
This transformation happens because Latin is an “inflected language.”
This means “the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs have variable endings that indicate the relationship of the words to each other in a sentence” (Wheelock’s Latin p. xxvi).
Think of it this way.
English is like an office.
Everything stands independently of everything else — the bookcase, the lamp, the laptop, and the chair.
Latin is like a briefcase.
The laptop, books, and pens are all together within one portable object. Both are offices of sorts, but they are packaged differently.
In English word placement is very important because that conveys meaning and grammar.
However, in Latin, since the words carry their own meaning and grammar within the variable endings.
You can have fewer words and they are not in a fixed spot within the sentence.
The number one difficulty for English speakers in reading Latin, in my opinion, is word order!
This issue directly results from Latin’s inflected nature.
Though word order does exist in Latin, it is significantly more fluid than that of English.
Students hate to see the direct object first or sentences without a clearly visible pronoun subject.
Exposure to lots of Latin cures this.
That said, the student must make the conscious effort to understand that Latin operates significantly different than English.
A secondary hiccup finds itself in Latin’s lack of articles (a, an, the) and diminished use of possessive adjectives (my, your, ours, etc).
When inflating that raisin, the color of the fruit changes to green.
So too, while translating into English the color of the language changes as we add in our own vital elements.
Surveying this here is easier said than done.
Time and dedication are required to straddle the complexity of Latin’s inflected system.
Motivation sits at the root of that effort.
So why Latin?
Why Learn Latin?
1.Your vocabulary will grow.
Once you know the root of some our English words, taken from Latin originally, then you will know many more English words instantly.
Additionally, your eyes will be open to the components of words you already know.
This knowledge will carry into other languages with similar words.
- Ira (Latin – anger) => irascible, irritated, ire.
- Dormire (to sleep) => dormitory, to lay dormant.
- Ducere (to lead) => induction, reduction, production, abduction
- Exit (English) => exire (to go out) – ex = out; ire = to go
- Casa (Latin – house) – la casa (Italian – house)
- Dare (Latin – to give) – дать/dat’ (Russian – to give)
2. You will learn grammar. period.
The safety net of fluency is taken away when reading Latin as with any other language.
As I showed above, Latin has a sophisticated “labeling” system with its inflected nature.
Verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs look distinctly different and they are built, instead of merely placed.
Navigating this will bring to light the fundamentals of grammar:
- What is a noun?
- What is an adverb?
- How do words “agree” with one another?
Moreover, a thorough understanding of Latin’s grammar specifically can provide a head start in the grammar of other languages.
For example, compare “to be” in French and Latin below.
Other highly inflected languages, such as Greek, Hungarian, or Russian, will come more easily as well.
3. You will read some wonderful writings
These include such things as literature, pieces of music, engravings, etc.
As I preached in the introduction, Latin has something for everyone.
The latin library has a rich collection: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/
Is Latin Dead?
There is a myth that Latin has taken its last bow.
Now it is true that students read classical ancient Latin literature in their classes.
However, some amazing people share some real-world Latin!
Have a look:
Watch the video for more information and a look into Latin grammar!
*Veni Vidi Didici – I came. I saw. I learned.
*Column from Volubilis
Reading comprehension is not automatic.
Helping students with this vital skill can only help them multifold in the future with writing and more difficult readings.
Once the student considers the information within a text to be meaningless, have them create a story connecting those facts!Once the student considers the information within a text to be meaningless, have them create a story connecting those facts! Click To Tweet
In late elementary and early middle school, students learn the skill of comprehending what they have read.
They are starting to ask themselves, “What are the main points? Which are the supporting facts versus the actual arguments?”
Reading is the gateway to writing.Reading is the gateway to writing. Click To Tweet
While they compose their essays, they will ask themselves the same questions.
Learning reading comprehension is an important step in any child’s education.
Not every student can read well.
Some students struggle to connect the details and myriad of facts they encounter.
What do you do?
I am mesmerized by people with an excellent memory.
One can demonstrate this asset through the memorizing of decks of cards.
I cannot do this and never will, but it got me thinking.
Cards themselves are basically meaningless pieces of information. If you can find a way to remember them, then you can carry that over onto other situations.
I gave my students random cards from a deck.
I asked them to remember those cards for 30 seconds.
They did so easily when I did not talk, but the second round I talked during those entire 30 seconds and they were unsuccessful.
Afterwards, I showed them how to make the random cards into a story.
Then, students were able to remember the cards for any length of time within the lesson.
Here is an example:
- Jack = The jack
- Loves = The heart suit
- To ace = Ace
- Irish = The clubs suit
- 5 = 5
- Higher = the spades suit (it looks like an up arrow)
Honing the skill
After this, I want to hone the skill of story telling, with that story lasting only a sentence or two.
I give my students random facts and ask them to connect them into a story.
We must concentrate on this, because a story that does not connect properly will be harder to remember.
If I say, “A man runs down the street and sees a boy,” now I must remember him running and seeing the boy, which is more work.
I can tweak the story somewhat…. “A man runs and almost trips over a boy sitting in the street.”
Now I have a bond between the man and the boy.
You cannot have the man tripping without the boy in the street.
Many times I will give the students random pieces of information in order for them to practice making meaningful connections.Many times I will give the students random pieces of information in order for them to practice making meaningful connections. Click To Tweet
Here is an example:
I make the story and also reinforce items: an old man with an old and a $12 ring for a 12 year-old granddaughter.
Applying the skill
Lastly, we need to apply this to an actual reading assignment.
I will ask the students to read the passage to themselves and then ask me about any words they do not know.
Then we will go over it together to make sure they understand the words and passage 100%.
Now we employ the story-telling technique in order to keep track of important items.
- the main argument
- something in parallel or conflicting
- one example.
Here is an example:
A mother goes shopping with her teenage, ninja son. He says, “Mom, all my friends are wearing black! I want this shirt.” She responds, “We are just regular farmers. You should dress normally. I like this shirt more.”
Though inauthentic it captures the main points in a funny and unexpected way. (text original source here)
Stories are more potent and useful when they are weird, funny, and unexpected.
The goal of the story is to digest and install the information without making your mind work even harder to remember even more.
As you move through a reading, you can employ this technique as you go.
Instead of trying to remember what happened two paragraphs up, just review the story going on in your mind.
They are learning a skill with this, not merely a method.
They are connecting facts over and over.
With time, the inventive and strange stories slip away and what remains is the ability to keep track of and connect information within a reading.
Everyone will have different stories and they may see them as a movie in their mind or just more text.
This is adaptable to all kinds of learners because it is completely individualized.
Making the short story serves as a vehicle to remember and digest what the student has read.
Try it today!Making the short story serves as a vehicle to remember and digest what the student has read. Click To Tweet