Steps To Becoming A Smart Student

Help yourself become a better achiever

I've gathered together here a selection of previous posts. These will be of benefit for parents, teachers as well as students. They offer guidelines that will help boost achievement and performance.

Seven tips to student success

1. Learning new skills. It is important to realize that studying effectively is a skill. Listening in class is a skill. Thinking and memory are skills. Skills can be improved.

Skill Acquisition
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/skill-acquisition.html#more

2. Often students have a mistaken belief that they are no good at certain subjects. This often leads to lack of confidence and fears of failure. Examine the possible causes of mental barriers that stop your learning effort.

Mental Barriers to Learning
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/mental-barriers-to-learning.html

3. Prepare for the school year ahead. Steps that will greatly benefit your achievement and performance are listed. Pay careful attention. They will help you.

What Successful Students Do
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/what-successful-students-do.html

4. Learn how to learn more effectively. Bring your subject content to life. This is the secret of learning success.

Visualization, Imagination and Learning
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/visualisation-imagination-and-learning.html

5. Learn how to get the best out of each lesson. Good classroom skills can save you much time at home.

Key Habits for the Classroom
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/key-habits-for-classroom.html

 6. The importance of developing good concentration skills. Poor concentration results in poor learning and performance. Poor concentration also wastes many hours of your precious time.

Concentration is a key Mind Skill
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/concentration-is-key-mind-skill.html

7. Beliefs. Beliefs are powerful things. They can stop you in your tracks before your learning even starts. What can be done?

Beliefs
https://bestlearningplace.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/beliefs.html


Students. I know the above information will help improve your learning performance enormously. You must be the person to decide to improve your student skills. This decision may change the course of your life. If you want to ask me a question then see Contact for my email address.

Gaining Perspective (Part 5) -The Inner Self

The source of self-deception and self-delusion

 The so called "inner-self" resides in that part of our mind that we cannot consciously access. It is buried deep within our unconscious. This part of the mind is the source of all our irrationalities and partialities. The inner-self affects our rational thinking processes. This in turn leads to distorted decision making and reasoning. 

Unless we are careful the distorted thinking and reasoning traps that arise from the inner-self will lead us down the pathway to self-deception and self-delusion. Often without our being aware of it.

 How can we overcome our faulty thinking and reasoning?

There's not much we can do about it. all humans are born with these tendencies. The best we can do is to learn to recognize some of these biases in our own thinking and decision making. It will take time and practice but you will soon become aware of your self-deceptions. In fact, you will probably learn to recognize them in other people before you become aware of your own!

 How do all the biases and self-deceptions affect our learning?

The inner-self will offer you temptations and distractions to try and take you off-task. You might decide to study later after you watch the movie on TV. Then you will feel tired and the inner-self will be whispering to you "Never mind. Do it tomorrow" after you visit your friend for the day.

The inner-self will always be finding excuses of why you should not get down to writing up that assignment right now. Now that you have the time!

You might find a reason to go shopping first. Yes students, this is called procrastination. And it comes from deep within you. The evil work of the inner self.

Learn to resist through self-talk

Become aware of the usual distractions that draw you away from your studies. Learn to recognize them them as the arise in your thoughts. Learn to resist through self-talk. For example, "I will do this now" or " I will start now". self-talk can be an effective way to over attempts at self-deception.

A Final Word

Students. Do not let  irrationality, faulty reasoning, biases and self-partiality become a mental barrier to your learning effort. Take the time to learn about your inner-self and to recognize its attempts to distort your thinking.

Gaining Perspective (Part 3) - Meaning and Purpose

You may sometimes ponder


Is there any meaning to life?
Does life have a purpose at all?
Why are we here?
How can I find meaning?
What purpose if it ends in death?



These are the big questions. They have been debated for centuries in philosophy, science and religion. They will continued to be debated for centuries to come.

Students

Perhaps you have never given thought to the big questions at this early stage in your life. Being so young and so absorbed in the busy world of your youth that the time to reflect is yet to come for you.

Nevertheless, there is no harm to pausing and reflecting at this moment. It may help clarify you ambitions and goals.

My thoughts

Life is what you make it. Your decisions and choices largely determine the road that you will take. Finding some meaning and purpose earlier on in life may help guide you towards you destiny.

Some life experience may provide a meaning and purpose which then shapes the direction your life takes.

For example, you may want to study medicine after a family member died from an illness. You have a purpose to motivate you and to drive you towards your goals. You now know what you want to do. You have found a meaning and purpose. It's a worthy contribution to care and treat unwell fellow humans.

Others will find meaning, motivation and purpose in an almost unlimited range of human endeavors. Once you discover a reason "to get you out of bed every morning" you will find direction in your life and with that a feeling of contentment and happiness. Yes, I know life has its ups and downs but on the whole you will live a more satisfying and fulfilling existence.

Students. The wonderful thing is that we all have free will. This gives us the freedom to choose. To make life choices. To seek out all available pathways and direction. In other words we can explore, discover and find meaning and motivation.

Our freedom is bound by the physical and biological constraints of our human existence. Other limits to our freedom include culture, health status, law and societal norms. Despite these limitations to our total freedom we are still free to seek out a meaning and purpose for our human existence. The world can be your oyster!

Stages of Life

Across the various stages of life you may find slight shifts in your meaning and purpose. After careers and families have been established your attention may include other interests. Perhaps a member of a community organization or a sporting club. You might become a volunteer firefighter involved in protecting your local community.

Later in life, as Grandparents, you may spend time providing a range of diverse experiences and travel for your grandchildren. Helping them find their feet in life.

Take the time to reflect

Students. It is important that you reflect on the big questions. This will help you see the pathway ahead and provide motivation to work towards your dreams and find success!

Free Will and Courage to Choose

Key Habits for the Classroom

Come to class prepared !

Preparing for the Classroom

Don't sit back with your mind in neutral waiting for your teacher to "spoon feed" you. That's not an effective way to learn.

How many students are just hearing but not listening closely, seeing but not observing, taking notes without thinking, allowing their minds to drift ?

Sadly the answer is too many.

Are you one of these students ?
Would you like to improve ?

Beliefs

Beliefs are very powerful things !

Beliefs can affect behaviour (click to enlarge)

They may arise directly or indirectly. They may arise consciously or unconsciously. They can hold you back or propel you forwards.

Beliefs are simply brain circuits and the good news is that you can rewire these belief circuits if you want.

 Wrong beliefs can stop you learning.

Prepare for Learning Success

Skills, Habits and Behaviors (click)

                Is IQ enough ?

While IQ is important there are a host of other intellectual and non-intellectual abilities that underpin a successful learning effort. (In fact IQ is not the best predictor of future success but more on this later).

Skills, Habits and Behaviours for Learning

 Become a better student

I draw you attention to On Preparing the Student Mind (below).

This YouTube video (32min. Prezi) gives you a brief, flying overview of the essential skills, habits and behaviors necessary to develop if you wish to become a more successful student (regardless of ability).

No need to view it all at once. I would suggest to watch Part 1 now (approx 12 mins.)
and then Part 2 on another occasion.