For this week's Top 10 Tuesday I thought I would do the top ten things I do while studying.how I study. I figured since exams start next week for myself and my fellow classmates that this is very fitting.
1. Study Tool- Use Concept Maps: I was taught how to use concept maps in high school by my music teachers and they have saved me on more than one occasion when it comes to studying I love them!
2. Study Tool- Study Notes: I go through all the notes and slideshows from my classes and try to get down the big points I know we discussed in great detail in class to be able to use them as study notes/ I make study notes based of the reviews that come teachers give out
3. Study Tool- Audacity: Audacity is a free recording tool you can download from the internet. I use Audacity to record myself reading my notes that way I can internalize the notes better and I'm able to get other things done (ie. doing the dishes).
4. Study Tool- Reading my notes backwards: doing this is something I was taught in music where we take apart our music and read it backwards or start from the end and go back so that we learn the material in a different order. I still find this helpful even when it doesn't concern music as it gives me a break from reading the same thing over and over again, granted I am still reading the same material it's just not in the same order.
5. Study Tool- Trying to guess what's on the exam: sometimes I will go through and make up a mock exam with questions that I think will be on the test based on discussions in class or highlighted points in my notes from class/the slideshows.
6. Study Stress Buster- Playing music and I don't meaning like playing music to listen to I mean physically getting out my flute or my guitar or sometimes even both and just playing them. A lot of the times I will just run through drills on my instruments because I was one of those weird music kids that actually loved doing drills in high school. The music helps calm me and makes me feel like I can actually get something accomplished.
7. Study Stress Buster- Singing solfege! For those that don't know solfege is simply your do, re mi's but instead of just singing the do, re, mi's I will get out a piece of my sheet music I have for my instruments and go through the piece singing it to solfege. Not only does the singing help me when I go back to playing the piece but it just makes me feel like I'm speaking another language and it soothes me.
8. Study Stress Buster- Nap. As many of my friends know I tend to be asleep about 90% of the time but that's because I use it as an escape from life and I'm usually just always really tired. Taking a nap helps as a stress buster because it allows me to relax, have a few dreams then get up and be energized for the next study session I'm about to begin after my nap.
9. Study Stress Buster- Watching an episode or two of one of my favourite shows. I don't necessarily mean to use this as a method to catch up on shows but more of and I actually go back and rewatch episodes from my favourite shows because I like to feel I'm involved in their drama rather than dealing with my own of studying.
10. Study Stress Buster-When in doubt dance it out! In the past as a break from studying I would dance around my room or my living room and make up a new routine. But being off at college I don't exactly have that space to my advantage unless I want to look like a fool dancing in my lounge on the floor. Instead of actually trying to dance since space is limited I go through on youtube and find dance routines I love and watch those or look for music that when I hear it for the first time it makes an instant routine appear in my head.
