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BIOLOGY STUDENTS

LOOK: 

BIONINJA. It’s as cool as it sounds. BioNinja is a compilation of biology resources (specifically for IB) including outlines, videos, and powerpoints. Awesome. My favorite part, however, are the quick reference sheets! They are perfect for reviewing. 

To get to the reference sheets, click “Additional Resources” (as seen above) 

And then click the “Biology Quick Reference Guides” (or click here) 

and it will open a complete list of EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW FOR THE BIOLOGY TEST. (HL and SL!) How cool is this????? 

Each topic is linked to a one page reference sheet! 

I’M OFFICIALLY OBSESSED WITH THESE. I’m currently rewriting them all to study for next year! If you don’t want to rewrite them, it would also be awesome to have them printed out in your binder or folder to study from!

The end product of the other night’s organization. =)

link to my study tips series (strive-for-da-best)

An example of how I set up my bullet journal - a fancy page with an overview of to do list and column setup for detailed day to day tasks. Read more about how I use bullet journals here!

What to Do When School Gets Hard (for the first time)

Total honesty time: I was a slacker in high school. I don’t mean that in the sense that I got bad grades, or that I didn’t do extracurriculars. I mean that in the sense that I was the kid who got good grades without having to try, so I never did. Try, that is. This meant that when I got to college, I got a surprise: professors want you to actually study! Like, with the textbook and everything! Needless to say, I had a rough time figuring out how to do this “studying” thing, and I know I’m probably not alone in this boat. The good thing is, I’ve figured this out, for the most part, so now you can learn from my mistakes.

Assume every class is going to be your hardest, going in. The day you don’t assume you’re going to have to put in five hours minimum studying for the first real test in a class is the day you will really regret. Until you get a feel for a certain professor, treat it like it’s super hard.

Schedule in studying time and STICK WITH IT. DO THIS. Or else you will end up like me, making friends with the other lone person who inhabits the study lounge at 1 am. Don’t be me, guys.

Never underestimate the power of teaching others. Seriously, I definitely have kinda taken advantage of my classmates, because I’m the person who tries to explain stuff and writes out the impromptu study guides. By teaching them, though, I’m actually prepping MYSELF to wreck the curve. Basically, once you know it well enough to explain it to others, you’re golden.

Do ALL the readings. The professor that assigns the most readings is also the professor who expects you to have learned the most from them, in my experience. Also, don’t just highlight stuff: write important points that you would want to highlight in your notes. Highlighting is just coloring for grownups - it’s fine, but it’s not going to help you learn. It’s just going to catch your eye later.

Don’t judge a professor’s tests by their lecture style. Imagine: a sweet little 5 foot nothing professor, dressed to the nines every day and super kind to everyone. My professor who fits this description causes about a third of her students to retake her classes every year. Bigshot business guy with a ridiculously high consulting rate and a weird robe he always wears? 98% pass his classes. Focus on the material, not the prof.

Save your homework assignments. It turns out that in college, homework is 95% of the times something that you can actually study from. Do it, do it well, then hang on to it.

Know your preferred study habitats. Do you like to study around a lot of people or by yourself? Are windows a distraction or a necessity? Is the library great or just too far away to bother with? Keep an eye on when you study best and then try to replicate it later.

Get rid of unnecessary distractions. Turn off your phone. Notifications are Bad for concentration. Close your email unless you absolutely need it. Have a drink and someone to nibble on if you use that as an excuse to avoid studying. Maybe avoid studying with that one person if you are distracted by existing near them.

Plan out regular breaks. Tell yourself every half hour you can go on Facebook, or wander down the hall and talk to someone, or read a chapter of that thing you’ve been working on. Just have something planned out that you can actively work towards. Not just having an abyss of time to fill with studying can be really useful.

As for studying itself:

Notecards, re-writing notes in a different format, having someone quiz you, making study guides, and writing practice essays about stuff have all been super useful for me in some respect or another.

Other studying help:

Seven 

Study

Moods 

Rain generator

Coffee shop chatter

How to Study

How to Study pt. II

Bullet journal guide

You’ve got this. We can study together.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself!

6/9/2016 I was in Portland OR for a few hours and stopped by Powel’s to get two books. The Micron, charcoals, and notebook are from an art store in my town. I then sat outside and started my first bullet journal. I am really enjoying journaling.

Hello, On september 2nd, i got the news that my mom had passed away, because of that, i missed almost 2 and half weeks of class, i take 4 college classes and was wondering if you have any tips on getting back on track. I could really use motivation

I’m so sorry for your loss, sweetheart. 

Here are some things you should do first:

Ask your teachers for advice: You can ask them for any hand outs you might have missed, ask them for practice tests, ask them what you can do to catch up, ask them to explain difficult bits after school,…

Ask friends/ classmates for their notes or help: If they don’t want to give your their notes, just ask them to explain things if your teachers don’t have time! 

Read through your textbooks and start making summaries: If you’re pretty much alone on this one, start by annotating and summarising your textbooks. You’ll be able to study and learn on your own.

some links:

a guide to motivation

v nice printables

the studyspo tag

how to start studying right after school

some good study playlists

buy some cute stationary

self care masterpost

self discipline 

motivational quotes

motivational wallpapers

How to Make Maths Notes

Hey everyone! Following my post on How to Make Notes on a Laptop, I received another lovely ask to describe how I make notes for subjects that have lots of workings and diagrams (such as Maths)

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