Reading 5 Tips for Success Tip 5 Tip 5 : Keep a List of Questions

When you feel confused about something you’re reading, write down any questions you have. Sometimes your questions are answered as you read further. If not, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember, teachers create assignment; they’ve read the text and are familiar with them. When you have a specific question, your teacher can provide answers that will help you better understand the material. Learning is rooted in questions developed and asked by the learner.

Asking questions to yourself, to the teacher, and to other, is a great learning method. When you cease to ask questions, you cease to exist to a great extent. Read actively by silently asking questions as you read. Questioning immerses you into the material you’re reading and therefore will expand your mental capacities more than almost anything else.

The philosopher Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.”
Improving your reading comprehension is the key to gaining important knowledge and making the most of your education. So pick up a book . . . and pen.

Successful Students 7-8

7.  . . . understand that actions affect learning. Successful students know their personal behavior affect their feelings and emotions which in turn can affect learning.

If you act in a certain way that normally produces particular feelings, you will begin to experience those feelings. Act like you’re so bored, and you’ll become bored. Act like you’re disinterred, and you’ll become disinterested. So the next time you have trouble concentrating in the classroom, “act” like an interested person: lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the professor, nod occasionally, take notes, and ask questions. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and professor may also get more excited and enthusiastic.

8.   . . . talk about what they’re learning. Successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words. Talking about something with friends or classmates is not only good for checking whether or not you know something, it’s a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most direct path for moving knowledge from short term to long term memory. You really don’t “know” material until you can out it into words. So, next time you study. Don’t do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, readings, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, organize an oral study group, pretend you’re teaching your peers. “Talk learning”  produces a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.