StudentZona - Caring For A Better Student Life And Learning

Keeping a schedule book might be one of the most important things you can do to keeping yourself on track both in school and in your day-to-day life. What medium you choose to do this in is entirely up to you. Many people keep their schedule on their cell phones, their laptops, their blackberries, or in a book. Regardless of which medium you find most convenient, implementing and maintaining a schedule is an important thing to do. The following will show you the most successful ways to implement a schedule and how to best maintain it.

The best scheduling books and programs seem to be the ones that allow you to not only look at the current day, but the entire week, as well. This allows you to plot your week in advance so that you’re not surprised day-to-day. This is only successful, however, if you start scheduling the right way.
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Now in they’re sixth year of existence, iPods can be seen virtually everywhere on college campuses. These portable music players come in a zillion colors with a variety of different memory capabilities. From the shuffle to the 5th generation iPod that can play videos along with your music, there is literally an iPod for every budget and every need. While we all like our music, iPods can also be a great convenience and study tool—yes, I did say study tool—for college students. Let’s look at why.

Although they started as basic music players, iPods today have many more capabilities that should be taken advantage of. The first feature that can be beneficial to students is the calendar feature. Sick of lugging your schedule book around with you to class? Your iPod might be the perfect solution. Along with synching your music play lists, you can also synch your calendar into your iPod. What could be easier than to look at your day while listening to music on your way to class? With this feature, you don’t have to stop what you’re doing to see where you’re supposed to be. Your schedule, literally, fits in your hand.
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This is not about simply making a list of facts and dates. It is much more about nudging your memory and boosting your creative abilities than it is about cramming information. Some cramming may indeed be unavoidable on the night before an exam but most of what you push into your mind will be forgotten after the exam. It is more effective to have your required knowledge comfortably established and needing only a pen and paper and a few memorized phrases to bring it to the foreground. What you want is to create links in your head that lead to other aspects of your knowledge that are applicable to the topic on which you are being examined.

This begins in each and every class as you are learning. The clue is to find where your passion lies in any particular topic. Even if you find some aspect of a subject boring, with a bit of creative thinking you will find something in there that connects to what really motivates you. Write this down in brackets as you take notes and then review later. You will be surprised how all things connect in some way and as soon as your motivation is stimulated what once seemed tedious takes on a whole new look.
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There has never been so much information to absorb and so much to learn in the history of humanity! The more technology we create, the greater the need for learning, so anything that can aid us in learning better is very welcome. Here are five simple strategies that can increase learning and retention of information.

The first learning strategy is a simple one, and one that might not appeal to young people in particular. This strategy is simple: Turn off the TV, turn off your radio and find a quiet place to work with no distractions. If you must have music, opt for classical music, and not rock music or hip-hop. It is amazing how many students like to have background music playing when they are learning, unaware of how counter-productive it can be. If you need to have background music, then choose Baroque, and then preferably strings, rather than brass. Baroque music played on strings has actually been shown to be beneficial to learners.
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For those of you that are students, here are a few tips to help you succeed in your endeavors.

Do you drive your car to school? You better buckle up because many of today’s car crashes are caused by sleep depravation. Chances are you’re not getting enough sleep at night. Sleep depravation doesn’t just cause physical symptoms; your brain can be affected as well. This article looks at the connection between sleep and learning.

According to the national sleep foundation 85% of students do not get enough sleep at night. What’s enough sleep? While definitions vary, the average is 8.5 hours of sleep per night according to the foundation. If 85% of your fellow students are suffering from sleep loss, then you can gain a major edge in the classroom just from lying in bed, relaxing, and falling asleep.
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