5-6
5. Don’t sit in the back of the room. Successful students
minimize classroom distractions that interfere with learning.
Students want
the best seat available for their entertainment dollars, but willingly seek the
worst seat for their educational dollars. Students who sit in the back cannot possible
be their professor’s teammate (see no. 4). Why do they expose themselves to the
temptations of inactive classroom experiences and distractions of all the
people between them and their instructor? Of course, we know they choose the
back of the classroom because they seek invisibility or anonymity, both of
which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If you are trying
not to be part of the class, why, then, are you wasting your time? Push your
hot buttons, is there something else you should be doing with your time?
6. …Take good notes. Successful students take notes
that are understandable and organized, and review them often.
Why put
something into your notes you don’t understand? Ask the questions now that are
necessary to make your notes meaningful at some later time. A short review of
your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps you to learn
more. The more you learn then, the less you’ll have to learn later and the less
time it will take because you won’t have to include some deciphering time,
also. The whole purpose of taking notes is to use them, and use them more
often. The more you use them, the more they improve.