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Taking it all inWe all talk about 'Learning'. Everybody keeps banging on about how important it is. How often do you hear 'You'll learn' or 'Won't you ever learn'? These comments get thrown at you as young people, but what does it all mean? We all know that learning is about taking in information, remembering it and using it when necessary, but it seems to connect to lots of other things that are starting to affect you too! |
This article is not just for particular age group. As we already know from the It's not a life sentence article about lifelong learning, you can be any age to benefit from learning more! You may have started a new year group, course, school or college in last couple of months. Eitherway, you will be finding more and more things that you need to learn, essays to complete, exams to pass and so on. From year 7 onwards, you tend to find that the dreaded 'homework' becomes more heavy going. Sometimes you may wonder whether this is just another form of torture that the 'grown ups' thought up to make you even more miserable, along with curfew, detention, grounded and other such words that you would prefer to avoid! Well, the point is that homework, as depressing as it is, can help you with your learning.
Different people learn at different speeds and in different ways and homework
gives you the chance to go over your class work, in your own way and your own
time, so that you are sure about the information being studied. It also gives
your teachers a chance to check that you have understood what is being taught.
There are lots of people in your class and teachers don't have the time to teach
you all individually, but with homework, they can check on how you are doing
and give advice to you individually (the benefit being that you don't have it
broadcast in the classroom if you are stuggling with something!) It may also
be that the whole class is finding something difficult and the teacher needs
to go over it again. You see……it is there to benefit you!
With homework, you know that you have to do it, so don't leave it until the last minute. This gives you the chance to get help if you are finding something difficult. Your teacher or tutor should be happy to help you but won't be impressed when you try and explain that you have left it until the morning it's due in because you'd had a hectic weekend and all you could face was the OC omnibus and large bag of goodies! Plan your homework so that you can clearly see what you have got to do and what order it should be done in. It doesn't take a genius to work out that something that's due in 2 days needs doing before something that's due in 2 weeks! Read through the homework questions so that you can work out whether you need to use the library or internet to research more information. The most important point is that homework can really help your learning skills when it comes to revising. All of your notes can be used for revision as well!
Learning for exams can be quite hard when you feel under pressure, take a look
at Exams - Feeling stressed out? for more
tips on chilling out and learning more! Revision and careful planning are a
couple of the important steps you can make to your learning plan. No matter
what year you are in there are loads of helpful books and sites such as the
BBC Learning Zone, Key Stage 3 Bitesize, GCSE Bitesize and the AS Guru. You
can also have a look on the National Grid for Learning website which is a "gateway
to educational resources on the internet…..there are resources for you".
Remember, learning can be fun and it can be difficult. Not everything will come easily to you, but don't feel alone. Just because you sit next to the brainiest person in your maths class and they seem to score top marks with hardly any effort at all, don't lose confidence in yourself. Remember that they might really struggle in a different subject that you are really good at. We can't all be good at everything, but with planning, revision and organisation, we can get better. Getting your learning skills right will really help you with your qualifications, careers choices and opportunities and skills. If you feel that you are finding your studies difficult, don't sit in silence until it is too late. Get help! Your parents, tutor, teacher, careers co-ordinator or connexions adviser are there to listen to your problems, so tell them how you are feeling and get the help you deserve! No-one expects everyone to become the next Einstein….just the best that you can be!
BBC Revision Guides - Including Bitesize and Guru
NGfL - National Grid for Learning
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
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Previous article: Exams - Feeling stressed out?
Good Luck
Jennie Glitherow
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