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Hi. I'm just taking a small break from studying to post this blog. It's exam time in Ontario, isn't it great? Fortunately I'm only in grade 9 so it won't be so bad. I have 3 of the hardest exams (for me anyway) this week, math, science, and geography but I haven't been studying for too long. I study about 3 hours a day (but seeing as it's grade 9 that's sufficient).
I'm white, my parents don't push me hard, I'm in academic everything and I'm looking for 80+ on all my exams. My study method for math is just do a lot of questions for an hour at a time and then break. For geography and science I got a review sheet and I just write down what I should know about everything on the sheet.
I'm doing this to get off studying for a bit and to ask, what are your favorite methods of studying? Also, how long do you study for each day and how long do you think breaks should be?
  
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3 hours of studying a day? I don't think you need to worry about academics too much then. Keep that up and you'll do fine. Right now you may not have good study habits but you'll be able to brute force your exams and learn them while doing so.
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According to wiki, the equivalent of grade 9 is year 10 here. There wasn't anything important that year so I pretty much didn't revise at all. I'm very academic and have pushy asian parents, but they can't complain about my studying habits once they see the results.
For important and easy exams I'll do some papers the night before. For important and difficult exams I like to rewrite all the relevant notes I have in the weeks prior. Then a few days before the exam go through as many practice papers as possible.
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No point studying until your final year, where your marks actually dictate where you're going to end up in post secondary. 3 hrs in grade 9 is definitely over kill.. imo
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On June 15 2009 09:19 jyhlol wrote:
No point studying until your final year, where your marks actually dictate where you're going to end up in post secondary. 3 hrs in grade 9 is definitely over kill.. imo
I think it's little more individual. Some people prefer/require more time to learn the material than others. And of course, some people like having a nice record, even though it won't affect their university prospects.
EDIT: Whoops, I didn't answer the OP's question.
Studying methods depend on the subject. However, the usual progression is: review notes, review textbook, do practice problems (I'm in engineering, so there is a little less memorization).
I'm the more lazy type, so even now during my midterms I'm not studying that much (posting on TL for example). I probably get around 10 hours or less per midterm. Usually around finals I'm trying to pull at least 6-8 hours a day, but I'm usually too lazy (mind you 8 hours is already pretty slackerish). I usually take breaks for meals, and probably a few short (15 minute) breaks every hour or two.
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Haha, I live in America and I'm in 11th grade and I don't Study that much 0.o
I probably should though, since finals are this week.
But yeah, 3 hours for grade 9 is overkill... With that amount of studying, you should be getting straight A's?
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Well so far in my courses this semester I have:
Math: 80
Science: 80
Geo: somewhere around 80
Drama: 85+ (im very dramatic to the point people think I'm gay... but I'm not)
So I wanna do well on these exams just to keep up my record of over 80.
3 hours may be overkill but I have no idea on what to expect and I'm scared shitless for my science exams 5 days away
EDIT: I should probably mention that I never studied during the semester and I'm only studying for exams.
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drill problems of every type you're going to see on the exam for math. 100% best way to perform on high school level math is to do that. Geography read a page then ask yourself questions from it. See what you've forgotten, go over it again and then move on. When you're done for the day, quiz yourself on everything, see where your weak points are and quickly review those when you start next time.
Science at your level should be problem based too, so just do those.
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Does anyone know the best studying times? Was it study for 20 minutes and then a 5 minute break being the most effective?
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Lol, finally exams and everything will be done this week. Everyone else is like already out while I'm still in school. ;_;
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Study whatever amount makes you feel comfortable with the material - whether it's 3 hours a day or a last minute cram session (me). I went to school in ottawa and basically did nothing academically for gr 9-11 and somehow got 90s in Grade 12. That's the only grade that matters so I got a nice entrance scholarship to all the schools I applied to.
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I study 2 hours before the test that day and that is about it.
That works for me though >.>
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http://ichi2.net/anki/
useful program for long-term memorization (using SRS, or a "spaced repetition system")
i don't have to study much because i actually pay attention in classes (either that or my classes are really easy)
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just don't do the same shit when you are in university, never study the night before any exam, recipe for failure. for math, just do alot of practice questions, that's how you study for math, science(biology part) and geo are pretty much memorization.
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In high school, I never studied for any type of test including the end of the year state assessment test. I turned out fine :D
+ Show Spoiler +
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Sorry bout them Magic 
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Right now it's 5AM here and I'm studying for my uni exam tomorrow (11 AM). Probably gonna have a nap for a few hours and then revise some of the harder stuff over a cup of coffee and light breakfast (not in my dormitory, somewhere in the neigborhood).
You should get a decent night's sleep before an exam, but as for me, I can't sleep before 5AM anyway, it's just how I live during the exams. Studying at night works a lot better for me. I just go to bed in the morning, then sleep for 8+ hours, have breakfast (well, lunch ^^), watch some Futurama, browse TL and then I start studying. The only thing that really annoys me is the sun coming up (my shades aren't great) and those stupid birds waking up and starting to sing. I wish they could stfu until I 'm asleep. 
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People are saying that you shouldn't have to worry about studying as much as you are now, but I say you should get in the habit and keep it. I've been steadily procrastinating on studying for law, functions and phsyics all day, and I don't think I've spent 3 hours on any of my homework assignments put together all year.
gj on your initiative and get back to work!!
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On June 15 2009 09:26 Chromyne wrote:Show nested quote +On June 15 2009 09:19 jyhlol wrote:
No point studying until your final year, where your marks actually dictate where you're going to end up in post secondary. 3 hrs in grade 9 is definitely over kill.. imo I think it's little more individual. Some people prefer/require more time to learn the material than others. And of course, some people like having a nice record, even though it won't affect their university prospects. EDIT: Whoops, I didn't answer the OP's question. Studying methods depend on the subject. However, the usual progression is: review notes, review textbook, do practice problems (I'm in engineering, so there is a little less memorization). I'm the more lazy type, so even now during my midterms I'm not studying that much (posting on TL for example). I probably get around 10 hours or less per midterm. Usually around finals I'm trying to pull at least 6-8 hours a day, but I'm usually too lazy (mind you 8 hours is already pretty slackerish). I usually take breaks for meals, and probably a few short (15 minute) breaks every hour or two.
Actually, doing your homework everyday and spending an hour or two on weekend days revising your marked work from last week will suffice.
Come final examinations all you have to do is look for hints the teacher gives you and revise heavily on those sections, skim through the rest.
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I pretty much never "studied" for, like... anything. And I did okay-to-fine. I always did all the homework though (minus one semester in college where I ended up with three insanely hard courses - I sort of skipped on the homework for one of them). It really depends on how you learn best.
I also would have done a lot better in my language courses if I had actually studied, but at the time there were more important things to do. So even for me, "not studying" didn't reaaaally work all that well.
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I think about studying 10x more than actually doing it... fairly ineffective.
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Well I think you got math down. Nothing better than running through problems, especially the more difficult ones.
For geography I like to cover the names up with paper/w/e and then name them, seeing that I am more of a visual learner.
Science it sort of depends on the subject...what are you taking?
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Im in first year of college. Got an essay due tomorrow but Im not even done yet. Its like 12:34 and I have to wake up at 7 tomorrow. I dont think ima do the essay lol. I will turn it in tuesday .
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Studying for math is pretty different than studying for something like history. I've given lectures on 'how to study math', and you'd be surprised how many people didn't know why their methods weren't working until I talked with them about it.
I can talk more about the topic if anyone's interested, but for now I'll tell you the single most important thing people get wrong when studying for a math test. They study, but they don't study under similar conditions to the exam. In an exam, you can't look back at examples and try and fit your question to them. You check the answer, and then work backwards to see how they got it. You especially don't get to read over a bunch of examples and write "I understand" or "I don't understand." But that's exactly how lots and lots of people prepare for exams.
Before a math test, here's what I would do. First, make a list of all the topics going to be covered on the exam. Next, choose example problems for each topic, and try and complete them without any outside help. Don't look at your notes, don't look at examples. Act like it's an exam. Only when you get stuck on a problem do you go back to examples and see if you can find out where you went wrong. If you try problems this way, you'll have a much better appreciation for the solution method than if you had just read over the example without attempting the problem first. You will have a better appreciation for the steps that do work, and you'll learn something else that's important- what not to do next time. Next, after you've convinced yourself you understand that type of problem, put all the notes, etc. away, choose a similar one, and do it all again.
Repeat this process until you can choose any random example problem from any of your problem types, and you can get it right without any help. Know the problems well enough that you can describe solution methods for the general case. Be able to complete any example problem with nothing but a blank sheet of paper and a writing implement (and a calculator, if they apply). Then, when you go into the exam, you'll be doing the exact same thing you were doing at home, and you'll be set! It will be easy.
Does this sound like a lot of work? Sure it does. But it's focused and productive work. Studying over notes is fine. Looking at some formulas at the last minute so you don't forget them is also fine. But having all the formulas memorized, or all the examples memorized won't matter if you don't know how and why they work. I can't tell you how many times I've had students do poorly on tests and then tell me, "but I understood all the example problems." When I sit them down and talk them through it, they do understand, but at a lower level. If we write the 'levels' out in something like below, I would say a lot of people are at 1 or 2 and think they're prepared.
1. When I'm reading over the solution, I understand the steps they're taking.
2. If I have the exact same structure, I can repeat the exact same steps to get the correct answer.
3. I understand why they chose the steps they chose, and I know when to use (and when not to use) these steps based on the problem given.
You want to be at 3.
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EPT
