As we approach the second semester now is a good time to do a bit of a check-up to see if students can improve their approach to their learning. Parents you may like to go through these questions with your child and together set goals for Semester 2.
- Have you set yourself goals to strive for during this year?
- Do you know what motivates you to learn and complete your work for school?
- Do you try to take a positive approach to school and your studies?
- Do you make the most of class time, listening and focusing and completing all work?
- Have you been asking for help if you don’t understand something?
- Have you been writing all your homework into your diary or online planner and getting it done?
- Have you been breaking down bigger tasks and scheduling the work in your diary/planner?
- Have you been keeping track of what you complete and rescheduling unfinished work?
- Have you organised your folders for papers and digital resources for school?
- Do you have folders or somewhere at home to file away all your work and notes for your topics?
- Have you been working on study notes each time you finish a topic for a subject?
- Do you have a term planner above your desk where you can easily see when work is due?
- Have you set up a good study environment at home, a place where you can focus and work?
- Are you doing around an hour and a half of schoolwork most nights (2-3 hrs for seniors)?
- Have you thought realistically about whether you have too many outside school activities?
- Have you allocated set periods of time for school work (eg at least 3 x half hour blocks)?
- Do you remove all distractions etc. when you are focusing on your schoolwork at home?
- Do you prioritise each afternoon what you will work on that night?
- When you make study notes, are you making them visual with mind maps, highlighting etc?
- When you study for a test, do you both ‘learn’ the content and ‘practise’ the skills?
- Do you try to do lots of the practise under examination conditions?
- Have you reviewed the different study techniques that you should use for your learning preferences?
- Are you doing more than ‘just reading’ when you study for an assessment?
- Have you thought about how you will overcome the obstacles you face in achieving your best?
- Have you set up some routines to try and create habits that will help you this year?
Students can learn more about being more effective and efficient in their schoolwork and study techniques by visiting the at www.studyskillshandbook.com.au located on the Student SharePoint site and logging in with their school log in.