Holiday break will soon be upon us. As most great rewards tend to go, such a relaxing time can also come with substantial risk: without proper attention, you may find yourself returning to classes behind, and this is only more of a concern if your school holds first-semester finals immediately after break. Here are four tips to ensure you stay on top of your classes during the holidays.
Compile a list of all your missing assignments and complete them, regardless of whether you can still get credit for them. Most of the time, the assignments you’ve skipped wind up being the subjects on which you require the most review, and even if there are no points to be reclaimed (often, especially if you communicate with your teacher beforehand, there will be), making them up will help you anyway.
Take note of all your lowest exam scores and re-study for those tests. Similar to the first tip, even if you won’t be able to retake any of them, reviewing for the exams on which you struggled most is a way of covering the material you are most likely to struggle with on the final.
Make Cornell notes from your textbook. They’re a way to absorb the material more deeply, and to think about the “Why” and “How” questions—i.e., to critically think—while reviewing the factual material as well. If you don’t know how to take Cornell notes, or if it’s been a while, you can review with this guide.
Reread the chapters you found the hardest to understand. Students are frequently surprised at how easily the topic comes together the second time they go through it, especially if it’s been a while since they covered it.
Hopefully you see the common theme here: if you want to be fresh and in as strong a place as possible heading into finals, you should first turn to your weak spots. Break is a great time to iron them out. Feel free to call our office anytime – we’ll be open all break helping kids get ready for their semester finals!
El Segundo Finals Tutoring at its finest. Study Hut offers one-on-one tutoring to help you succeed on test day. Often times, your finals are worth 25% of your final grade. It is worth it to study ahead of time in order to prep for these big exams. If you are looking for El Segundo finals tutoring, you have come to right place. Our tutors specialize by subject and we are familiar with the expectations of your teachers.
Come to Study Hut El Segundo for top-notch service in order to make a plan and study your weakest chapters first!
Finals Survival Guide
Finals are coming! They will be here sooner than you think—thankfully, Study Hut El Segundo tutors know all the tricks to surviving these oh-so-important tests.
PLAN YOUR STUDY SCHEDULE
Got a half-hour break between class and volleyball? Read those chapters you’ve been sparknoting all semester.
TAKE NOTES ON YOUR NOTES
Don’t just read your notes. Write down lessons that were a little more difficult in your own words, make flashcards, and quiz yourself.
FORM A STUDY GROUP
Ask your teacher if you and a few classmates can use their classroom during lunch, before school, or after school once a week to go over lessons. If you guys get stuck, BOOM, ask your teacher right away.
USE A TUTOR
It’s far into the semester and you are still SO LOST. Don’t give up—get a tutor. A breakdown of foundational concepts can be the difference between passing and failing the exam.
SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE
This is not the time to cram in material. But you know this already, right?
If you have any specific questions or you’re eager to begin making a plan for finals, please email alex@studyhut.com or call 310-648-8526
El Segundo Finals Tutoring books up quickly so please call now to reserve your spot.
Ok the weather is pretty nice…blue skies for days…Ahhhh. Winter Break! A time to relax, eat, hang out with family, and celebrate. You should definitely do all of those things… (here comes a but)…(drumroll please)…
BUT
You should ALSO use your break wisely! Open that backpack and do some studying over Winter Break. It’s been a long, hard semester, and you do not want to spoil all that you have put into it by slacking right before finals. With the biggest test of the semester right around the corner, many of you already have a study guide or an idea of what your final will look like. Use that!
You can start making flashcards for vocab. That’s something you can do with Mariah Carey belting out “All I Want for Christmas…is an A!” and it’s been proven that listening to music while studying can improve your performance on the test!
You should make a detailed outline with flow charts, timelines and pretty colors. This will refresh your memory of the topics and provide a beautiful study guide you can use once finals week arrives.
Grab your old tests or practice tests, and retake them, checking your answers as you go. This will help you decide where you need to allocate the most time for studying, and where you can skim a bit because you already have a good handle on the material.
DO NOT simply run your eyes over every single chapter in the book, or every single page of notes you’ve written. This is a waste of your time. Rereading is a passive activity, plus it is much too general. With so much material to cover, you are better off zeroing in on what’s important (hint: what’s on the study guide or what was on old tests). Have fun over break, but spending the entire two weeks binge-watching Parks and Rec for the 3rd time will come back to haunt you when finals week arrives! Put in a few hours over break and I promise you’ll thank yourself later!
This week West Torrance High School will be having two finals week cram sessions at the library. Friday will be in the evening from 3PM to 6PM. Saturday will be in the morning from 9AM to 12PM. Study Hut tutors from the Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach locations come to the study sessions to help students in large groups as well as individually.
The library is split up into different sections where students can get help in the specific subject that they are studying for. This helps them focus because they do not become distracted by their friends who are trying to learn different subjects at the same time. Once a study feels like they can move on to a different subject, they can move on to the different area of the library and fully concentrate on the new material. Sessions like these are also helpful because then students can work with other students in their class. Many times, students are unable to find a convenient time and location to work together with their peers. These West High study sessions resolve that issue. Students are also able to work through problems together and go over any difficult concepts on the study guide together until a tutor becomes available. This makes their study time more efficient and effective. Many students often have the same question, so the tutor can answer all of them at once. Alternatively, the students can help each other and figure out the problem together. Whether you plan on attending one or both sessions, these study sessions will be highly beneficial to any student.
With finals right around the corner, a lot of different high schools are gearing up for their weekend finals cram sessions. Study Hut tutors will be helping out at Palos Verdes High School, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, and West Torrance High School. The AVID classes are holding the sessions in the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District.
There are a lot of different ways that students can maximize their results during tutoring in large groups. First, find other students who are studying the same subject, or better yet are in the same class with the same teacher. Someone may have taken better notes, or have been there on a day when you were absent. Together your group can try and work your way through the more difficult concepts of the semester together. Go through the study guide for the final together. Make sure that the answers make sense to everyone. If you are having trouble with a concept, have a friend explain it to you. They may be able to make it make sense in a way that your teacher could not. Do the same for your friends. Teaching the material to your friends will also help you get a better grasp on the information. If any of you have contradicting answers to one of the questions, make sure you find out what is actually correct either by looking in your book, asking a tutor, or by searching on the internet. Afterward, review the information later in the day or the following day on your own to make sure that it all sank in.
With finals quickly approaching, it is time to start relearning or brushing up on any concepts that you may have missed and just skimmed over during the semester. A lot of students just never learn a concept if they do not get it because they have the mindset of “it will just be on this test and then I will never see it again”. This is a dangerous pattern of thinking because in most classes, the concepts build on top of one another and show up again on later tests and on the final. There is still plenty of time to relearn something that you missed earlier in the school year before finals.
If you did not understand the concept because of the way the teacher taught it, seek out a different way to learn it. Come in to Study Hut for one-on-one tutoring. If you are cramming the night before and do not have time for a tutoring appointment, try researching the concept. There are plenty of free online resources that are solely for teaching, such as Khan Academy. Remember, these are not as good as someone who knows the material walking you through it, but they definitely come in handy in a pinch.
While trying to learn a concept, it is important to practice practice practice. Do practice problems. Try different types of problems. Fill out worksheets. Anything you can do to engage with the content and solidify the concept in your head will benefit you in the long run.
Once you think you have mastered it, try teaching it to someone else. Explaining a difficult concept to someone will help you learn it better.
For some students, their fall semester finals do not happen until after they return from winter break. This is frustrating because a lot of information can be lost over the two weeks that school is not in session. If you are a student at one of these high schools, here are some ways you can make sure that you do not forget any material over the break.
Make sure you at least glance over material you have learned every day. Do a few review problems for math and go through your vocabulary flashcards for foreign languages or English. This does not have to take very long and is very effective at keeping the material fresh in your head.
If you have homework assigned over the break, do not save it until right before you go back to school. Either try and get it done in the beginning, or before you even go on break, or work on a little bit every day. If you do not look at it at all until the Sunday before school starts again, the concepts will likely be fuzzy and you will be really stressed trying to finish it up the night before.
Create a study plan if you know which classes will have the more difficult finals. This way you can start your studying, and know exactly what to do. It will make it easier to do your studying when you have a clear end goal in sight, and starting your studying early will make those A’s even easier to reach!
Winter break is also a great time to go over any concepts you never really got the grasp of but skimmed over because the class kept moving. Review them with a tutor who can help teach you and make the connection that you are missing. This way you will fully understand before you get to your final!
There is no one size fits all formula for studying for finals. There are definitely a few tricks that are universal in helping you maximize the time and effort you put in.
First things first, make sure that you study in an environment where you will not be easily distracted. Places like your bedroom, your friend’s house or in the living room with the television on are all riddled with distractions that will quickly get you off track. Pick somewhere that you know you will focus, whether it is the library, a coffee shop, or a quiet room in your house.
To make the most out of the time you put in studying, make sure that you have a study plan. This should include which topics you are having the most trouble with, any material from earlier in the semester that will be on the test, and definitely any questions that the teacher specifically mentioned will be on the final.
Pay attention in class leading up to the final. Your teacher will usually drop hints and be very specific about what will be on your upcoming test. Many teachers like to take questions directly out of notes that they have gone over in class.
Do not save all of your studying for the night before the final. Numerous studies have shown that cramming does not do you any good, and pulling an all-nighter will negatively impact your ability to remember info as well as your performance on the test.
Do not forget to take care of yourself during all the stress of finals. A well-rested and happy student is a productive student!
1. Start Early! – This is the most important one. The internet provides plenty of ways to waste your study time, but you’ll be happy you stayed away from Netflix and Reddit when the final finally comes.
2. Study in Chunks – Your brain works best in 50 minute intervals. You may feel studious after your 6 hour study marathon, but a tired brain doesn’t absorb information like a fresh one. Take 5-10 minutes breaks every hour to make sure you’re making the most of your study time.
3. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place – Studying in bed may sound like a good idea, but once you’re in bed, so will a nap. Find a place that works for you. It should be somewhere where you can focus, spread out your notes, and get in a studying groove. And if you get sick of one place, switch it up!
4. Know Your Teacher – Ask questions, take notes, review old worksheets. Figure out what your teacher thinks is important because that’s what will show up on the final.
5. Study Alone – Start with what you don’t know. Review your old tests, quizzes, and homeworks, and take notes on what you missed. Then spend some time on your own with each of these topics. Write down any questions you have because the next step is…
6. Study in Groups – Once you’ve figured out your own strengths and weaknesses in each subject, form a study group. Here you can ask questions you had on your own and answer some of your study buddies’. Explaining concepts and hearing them explained in new ways will strengthen your understanding of the material.
7. Exercise – Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, and you may need all the brain blood you can get for finals week. It’s also a great way to take a break from book to soak up some sun.
8. Sleep – It may be tempting to cram all night, but
it may not help as much as you think. Give your brain a rest! When the night before the test comes around, be confident in the studying you’ve been doing all week and get some extra sleep.
Do you have any friends who seem to breeze through their finals? While your friends are chilling out, are you stressing out?
How do they do it!?!
They know something you don’t know.
Don’t tell anybody, but I am about to let you in on a big secret. This secret will quite literally change your life- it can make you healthier, less stressed out, and happier.
Here’s the secret to properly preparing for finals: stop cramming.
That’s right, to ace your finals and to be less stressed out about them you need to stop cramming. Cramming up to the last minute pulling marathon all nighters is an inefficient and unhealthy way to study.
Instead of cramming, you need to spread out the work. Starting now, you should take a bit of time (not too little but also not too much) to begin reviewing old notes, problem sets, and exams. The key is for this to be a regimented and manageable review process. If you stick with it and do a little bit each day you will not have to do a lot the weekend before your exams.
The bottom line is that you are going pay now or pay later in terms of preparation.
You can coast now and “pay later” with caffeine-fueled evenings reviewing a semester’s worth of materials in a few days. This is the “drinking from a fire hose” approach. Not fun.
Or you can “pay now” by doing a little bit of preparation each night and spreading out the workload into something more manageable. Being well rested and healthy indisputably helps you perform better exams, this approach of spreading out the work means you will be able to cover more material in a smart way.
An additional benefit of being ahead of the curve when it comes to preparation is if you come across any questions you can ask friends or instructor for extra help and advice.
As Mark Twain (or maybe Agatha Christie) once said, “the secret to getting ahead is getting started.” There is no time to wait, start this process now without the unhealthy late-night heroics, and your mind, body, and report card will thank you.
