"Pass Your Weak Subjects" : Book Review

Are you struggling with some subjects at school?

There is a book specially written for such struggles, titled Pass Your Weak Subjects, by Richard Palmer, 2008.

Biology

Use mind maps, diagrams, flow diagrams. They contain a lot of information and help in visual learning.

Chemistry

Master the vocabulary.
Use graphs.
Use mnemonics, devices that help you retain the new information you've just picked up.

Economics

Use mind maps
Use revision notes e.g. Cliff, Barron
Practice active recall.

Math

Revisit the topics constantly.
Do lots of examples. Study worked examples.
Stop when your targeted load/quota is done, celebrate. Don't burn yourself out in ambition and greed!
Use mnemonics.
Use colorful imagery.

Physics

Pay special attention to and master key equations and phrases. Such phrases cover key concepts.
Master key math concepts and skills.
Use revision guides. e.g. Cliff, Barron, Schume

Taking Notes

"How to Be a High School Superstar," by Cal Newport, 2010.

Make good notes to save time and effort later.
1. For non-Math subjects, order your notes like:
Question ---> Evidence, Raw Facts---> Conclusion
Thus, you imbue the middle section with meaning and motivation.

2. For Math-related subjects, order your notes like:
Problem --->  Steps for algorithm, explanations---> Answer, Solution
Again, you imbue the middle section with meaning and motivation.

Note-taking during Class: "Secrets of Getting Better Grades," by Brian Marshall, 2002, 2nd edition.

1. Leave some thinking space.
2. Organize:
   
   1. Outline. Use sub-headings etc.
   2. Use mind maps.
   3. Use circles, arrows, blocks, etc..
   4. Use numbering.
   5. Use colors.
3. Capture the essence. Listen for word clues, emphasis, repetitions, what's written on the board.

Taking Notes during Class: "Ace Any Test," by Ron Fry, 2000, 4th edition.

1. Select:
   
   1. What is unknown to you?
   2. What the teacher emphasized.
   3. Explanations
   4. Examples and demonstrations.
2. Summarize.
3. Sort: relationships between the points.

Taking Lecture Notes: "Study Smarter, Not Harder," by Kevin Paul, 2009, 3rd edition.

1. Key words, in your own words.
2. Key patterns
3. Diagrams, graphs.
4. Flexible, non-linear arrows to link points.
5. Spaces to fill later: With what you might have missed, With our own insights, etc.

Study Skills | Problem Solving | Start With the Doable

Mathematical Methods

We have reviewed so many books, principles, methods and techniques for doing school examination Math. We have tried them out with our classes and have found some of them useful and practicable. Here we are sharing those battle-tested. proven methods with you.

This week, we're discussing the method of starting with the doable.

When reading a math problem, sometimes you can see all the way through to the solution. On such occasions, you don't need any help. But at other times, you feel stumped or overwhelmed. You may even become panic-stricken. How do you control such unhelpful feelings? You need to remain calm and even a bit hopeful. In How to Solve It, George Polya calls the development of such emotional muscles an essential part of a student's mathematical education, insisting that a maths teacher should not fail in this responsibility.

Easier said than done? Yes. Exhortations, preaching, theoretical explanations alone will never do. We must make the kids see and feel for themselves. With advanced or mature students, the teacher may even model such emotional stability behavior.

Exercise 1.
1. Imagine you are in a very important exam. You get 3 minutes to answer the question below.
2. "For how many three-digit integers will reversing the order of the digits yield a two-digit multiples of thirteen?"
3. You don't need to solve this actually. Just record your own emotional reaction and that of your child.

Answer: The question comes from "Zen in the Art of the SAT" by Matt Bardin and Susan Fine, 2005, page 7-9. It was meant to freak out the typical SAT taker and to invoke their Maths anxiety.
If you decide that the question is too much, too high for a P6 student, how can you make it more approachable?

Exercise 2.
1. Which of the following are the multiples of 2?
2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 22

Answer: 2,4, 10, 22

2. Which of the following are the multiples of 13?
12, 13, 24, 26, 35, 39

Answer: 13, 26, 39

3. What are the first 8 multiples of 13?
(13 x 1), (13 x 2),(13 x 3), ...

Answer: 13, 26, 39, 52, 65, 78, 91, 104

Exercise 3.
1. The following is a list of the multiples of 13 from smallest to biggest.
Pick out the "two-digit multiples of thirteen"
13, 26, 39, 52, 65, 78, 91, 104

Answer: 13, 26, 39, 52, 65, 78, 91

Exercise 4.
1. You need a three-digit integer and you reverse the order of its digits(e.g. 912 becomes 219) to get 13.
What is that three-digit integer?

Answer: 310

2. From which three-digit integers do they come from?
26, 39, 52, 65, 78, 91

Answer:
26 comes from a reverse of a 3-digit ... such as ... 620
39 comes from a reverse of a 3-digit ... such as ... 930
52 comes from a reverse of a 3-digit ... such as ... 250
65 comes from a reverse of a 3-digit ... such as ... 560
78 comes from a reverse of a 3-digit ... such as ... 870
91 comes from a reverse of a 3-digit ... such as ... 190

Their moral from this is to walk through the open doors and look for such doors patiently and with optimism. "You may think there's something great behind one of those locked doors, but if you can't get to it, it's useless. The open door is the only one that provides a point of entry." page 7-9, Zen in the Art of the SAT by Matt Bardin and Susan Fine, 2005.

My moral from this is : most of the times a complex problem is nothing more than a bunch of simpler, smaller problems.

Can you help your kid look for and find the smaller ones,the open doors?

Can you teach your kid the right time, the right place, the right way to give up and search for the open doors?

"Secrets of Getting Better Grades"

Secrets of Getting Better Grades, by Brian Marshall, 2002, 2nd edition has many useful tips for study. It shows us how to do note taking and reading with purpose.

Note-taking during Class

1. Leave some thinking space.
2. Organize:
   
   1. Outline. Use sub-headings etc.
   2. Use mind maps.
   3. Use circles, arrows, blocks, etc..
   4. Use numbering.
   5. Use colors.
3. Capture the essence. Listen for word clues, emphasis, repetitions, what's written on the board.

Reading Purpose

1. Preview: Select, look for structure.
2. Skim: Overall ideas, specific locations.
3. Scan: Main ideas, key details.
4. Intensive: You can almost re-create, re-construct what you've read.

"Study Less, Learn More"

Study Less, Learn More by Benson Soong, 2006 is a good book for young students. This single line is worth the price of the whole book: Format of the input determines the ease of absorption, understanding and recall.

1. Format of the input determines the ease of absorption, understanding and recall.
2. To memorize numbers, replace numbers with letters, words, or some other symbols.
3. To aid memorization, put key words and phrases into acronyms.
4. To understand concepts, well, ... I still can't differentiate between the three kinds of levers.

This book is short and thin. But the content, the key ideas are gold.

Teach Like a Champion

Teach Like a Champion ,by Doug Lenov, 2010 is a nice book. Well, I have to be positive. But the notes truly reflect what I got and what you are likely to get from reading the book.

T 13

Name the steps.

T 14

Make what you write on board look like what you want your students to write down in their books.
Model good note-taking behavior.

T 16 : Break It Down

1. Provide an example.
2. Provide a context.
3. Provide a rule.
4. Provide a missing step or a first step.
5. Roll back.
6. Eliminate wrong choices.

T 23 and 24

Groupwise recall, review, chorus, reinforcement.

Reading

Using your skills with vocabulary and grammar, you decode and deposit some facts and ideas into your short-term memory.

Skills levels :
words, phrases, sentences --> paragraphs --> essay/chapter/article, book, topic/theme
--> field/subject/discipline

Pre-reading:
1. Provide some context or background knowledge.
2. Alert them to focal points, like a tour guide.
3. Front-load, that is, introduce key scenes in advance as in movie ads/trailers.

While reading:
1. Ask.
2. Solve bit by bit. Don't let problem or difficulty pile up.

"Ace Any Test," by Ron Fry : Book Review

Ace Any Test by Ron Fry, 2000, 4th edition, is an excellent book. My son likes the section on Cramming a lot!

What Parents Can Do?

1. Set up a study routine for the kids.
2. Convince them of reality and real life.

If You Must Cram

1. Set realistic goals. Be modest, don't be greedy, ambitious.
2. Go for selective depth, not breadth.
3. Use mnemonics.
4. Decide when to go to sleep. Get up early.
5. In the exam room, write down things during the first few minutes.

Taking Notes during Class

1. Select:
   
   1. What is unknown to you?
   2. What does the teacher emphasize?
   3. Explanations
   4. Examples and demonstrations.
2. Summarize.
3. Sort: relationships between the points.

Efficient Reading

1. Read the questions at the end of a chapter. Ask why you should read this?
2. Ignore repetitions.
3. Slow down with the new.
4. Focus on what is highlighted.
5. Maps, photos, drawings etc are key.
6. Get the big picture:
   
   1. Rephrase the headings.
   2. Read the introductions and the first few sentences.
   3. Answer your initial questions, those question you asked yourself before you started reading.
   4. Write down summary notes.

Essays

free associate to generate new ideas --> organize --> write, leaving some spaces --> correct/edit

Exam Room, Exam Time

1. Read the whole question paper.
2. Mark the easy ones you intend to tackle.