While the key to doing well on any exam at Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach Middle School, Pacific School or American Martyrs school is to conceptually understand the material backwards and forwards, there are some tips you can employ to give you
an edge and make your time spent studying as efficient and effective as possible.

What kind of learner are you? Everyone is different in the way they learn and
absorb information so its best to identify what kind of learner you are when
deciding on what study strategies to use.

Cramming doesn’t pay! Don’t wait until the night before a test to review all your
materials. Space out your studying up to several days or weeks before your exam
which will keep you from getting overwhelmed and increase the likelihood you will
understand and recall the information you need to.

See, Write, Say! – Experts maintain that your chances of recalling information
increases greatly when you look at a given piece of information, write it out again in
your own words or way, and then say it aloud to yourself.

Summarize information, concepts, and big picture ideas in concise charts, graphs,
or outlines. This will make the information easier to recall and extrapolate upon to
answer critical thinking type questions.

Study actively! It is best to study during daylight hours. Don’t study in your bed to
avoid being tempted to fall asleep. Also ask yourself questions as you go through the
material to keep yourself actively engaged in the material at hand.

Avoid distractions! Find a place away from things you’re easily distracted by. A quiet
room away from the computer, television, and disruptive friends or siblings is an
ideal study location. Sometimes music such as jazz or classical may help keep you
more interested and stimulated if complete silence is unappealing to you.

Take a break! It’s good to periodically take a short break from long periods of
studying. Get up and walk around to get your blood flowing or go and make yourself
a nutritious snack. Your brain may only account for 2% of your overall bodyweight,
but it consumes 20% of your calorie intake. While studying, this figure can increase
to nearly 40%! Snacks rich in nutrients such as nuts or fruits are great to munch on
while studying to keep your brain working at full capacity.

You sit, minding your own business. Suddenly, you feel a twinge of unease crawl up your spine. A feeling as if someone, or something, is watching you. You shake it off. Clearly, you’re just being paranoid right? You look back down at your desk. And then… IT HAPPENS. Suddenly, tiny Tialde, mild-mannered 2nd grader is throwing paper around the office, laughing hysterically, and running out of here as fast as he can!

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!

You just found yourself victim to one of the Study Hut’s new competitions: who can keep their room the cleanest in exchange for pizza! Actually, you’ve found yourself victim to the inevitable aftermath of such a challenge: who can mess up everyone else’s room enough so they don’t get pizza! This, the first of many new challenges being formed around the Hut, is part of a new initiative starting up this semester. Now, at first glance, this may seem like meaningless prankerism (trust me, it’s a word) and time-wasting nonsense. But it’s actually a piece of what sets the Study Hut apart.

You’re children spend all day in a very ordered environment. They’re told where to sit, when to stand, how to speak, and what to do. To be fair, in a classroom of 30 children, such order is necessary. But the Hut doesn’t exist just to replicate school. We’re not here to just provide an environment that students just have to come to due to bad grades. We’re here to provide an environment that students want to come to (to help improve bad grades!) Initiatives like this promote better communication among tutors, which leads to better tutoring, and smarter students. And involving the students, like we did Tialde, promotes the idea that this is a place where that they can look forward to coming too. Most students here know most, if not all the tutors: not just the one they work with. They come here because the Hut is a place where people know you, get the work done, and have help in the process.

Plus, you get to occasionally throw paper around in exchange for pizza. That’s awesome.

When a students claims Junior status in HS, we realize it’s not only a moment for discrete gloating but also a time for stress and scrambling for steady ground. Juniors have the most coursework. Unfortunately, this is just how things work. Juniors have to mark down the upcoming SAT dates, ACT weekends, and AP exam weeks. On top of that, they have to start looking at colleges and majors. College Board is responsible for all the SAT & ACT exams. Juniors have to get off their FB accounts for a couple min, stop Twittering, and get onto the College Board website, make an account, and register for tests. Once you register, the stress starts. We will do all we can to ensure students meet their deadlines and are ready for the exam. We provide SAT, PSAT, ACT, and ISEE diagnostic tests. We assist not only in the academic coursework but also in how to juggle the immense workload of stuydying for the SAT, AP, and midterms in U.S. Government. ACT is optional, but if students find themselves splattering over the SAT, they have to take the ACT. So, how do students know if they need to take one or the other if the SAT and ACT registration dates are so close? SAT diagnostics. Juniors, whether they are confident in their ability or if they are not even planning to study, have to test the waters and check where they stand. Once they know where they stand, everything starts growing clearer — set a schedule, take another SAT diagnostic every other week, and stay for extra time at Study Hut to ensure you will know what you are doing when the awful date comes. We have cereal so feel free to stay — but no overnights…obviously. With SATs done, Juniors should be ready for AP exams. What the — ? While studying for the SAT, Juniors have to stay on top of their AP courses in order to prepare for the AP exams. Unfortunately, this is how it is. On top of all of that work, Juniors have to start thinking about Senior status. Start volunteering in community events to rack up the minutes, join a writing competition, work your stress away in track and field, juggle your academic coursework with extracurricular activities — it will all come back not only when college apps are due but also when you gloat about it in interviews and over Christmas when you are starting on the 30s. While this may be an overwhelming academic year for Juniors, Study Hut is there to set a schedule, give diagnostics, comment, give quizzes on the functions of the mitochondria and the political reasonings of the English Civil War. We will assist in the year of cramming and if students start hallucinating from the stress — we are there with crunchy granola with dark chocolate — and then it is back to grinding out information, constantly editing the weekly schedule to fit their needs, and prioritizing work to make things just a bit less stressful.