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Back to school!!

September 3rd, 2014

Back to school!

It’s that time of year again! School bells are ringing and classes are officially back in session. Sharpen your pencils, change your calculator batteries and dust off your backpack. Check the shopping list from your teachers and fill in any gaps.  Some important things to remember:

-A planner! Arguably the most important thing you need for the year. A planner will keep you organized and ahead of the game all year, and take the stress out of trying to remember assignments and due dates.

-Highlighters. These are great for critical reading when you need to mark passages or important quotes, or for marking your answers in math

-Sticky Notes. Need to remember a page in a textbook? Mark a date in the planner? Make a to-do list? Remind yourself about anything? These will do the trick without damaging your books.

-Hole punch. Papers aren’t going to fit in your binder without one of these! Really useful if you hate your assignments flying out of your binder or getting crumpled in the bottom of a backpack.

-Colored pens. Using different colors to make notes or color coding your outlines and flashcards will keep you organized and help with recall later.

And most importantly, schedule your tutoring sessions! The Study Hut is gearing up for the school year, with some fresh new faces and a lot of new school supplies. Things are already getting crazy here, the first round of tests are coming up fast!  Whether you need an extra push with schoolwork or want to practice for standardized tests, we are here for you. We have several diagnostic tests coming up for SATs and ACTs, as well at tutoring in all subjects. Need help in math? Got an essay to write and don’t know where to start? Just want to get ahead? Come on by! Our goal is to help students be successful.

The BIG Secret to Preparing for finals

June 11th, 2014

Title: The BIG Secret to Preparing for finals

 

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.