Finals Study Tips for Students

Finals time is approaching! Even if it will look a little different this year than years past and future.  

My current work as a learning specialist at a top tier university has allowed me to work on creating easy and quick resources for students to use to help improve their study habits and approaches.  I wanted to share a few quick and easy bites of information that you could pass along to your students as they get ready for final exams! 

1.  Come up with a plan and start organizing at least two weeks before the exam

   I know, this seems unrealistic, and not something that our students will want to do, or do they even think that far in advance.  BUT I like to make this part of the finals prep a part of class.  I  usually spend a chunk of one class session having students get out all of their handouts, notes, and resources.  We then make a list as a class of all the possible resources they have to study from.  As always, there are some students who do not have the needed materials, or these things went missing in the abyss of lockers and backpacks. I allow time for students to reach out to a friend in the class to get a picture of the missing resource so that they have it to reference later.  Again, I start this about two weeks before the exam date, to get kiddos thinking about the fact that there WILL be a final exam, and to show them how much information will be covered on it. 

2.  Choose a good study space 

This is key.  I always suggest NOT studying in your room, but especially not studying in your bed.  Your body feels your bed and just wants to go to sleepy sleep!  I suggest a desk, a kitchen table, or ( in the future) a favorite coffee shop or library. This change of location lets your brain know that you are ready for studying and studying only! 

3. Minimize Distractions 

PUT THE PHONE DOWN. This is SO hard. Even for adults.  I suggest setting a timer for a certain amount of time you want to study, and then placing your phone in another room.  I also always think back to my college days, in the height of Facebook.  My friends and I would dutifully go to the library to study for finals and inevitably end up wasting so much time on social media.  The solution we came up with?  We would assign a friend ( THAT WE TRUSTED) to change our passwords so that we couldn't log into our accounts even if we wanted to. And we would give them a task we needed to complete before they gave us the new password to change back.   You don't even realize how much you reach for social media until you try and can't do it.  Easy way to limit distractions! 

4. Chunk Your Time

Activity study for about 20-30 mins and then take a 5-minute break.  During this break, make sure to stretch and move around.  The more movement the better to wake your brain up and ger oxygen to your brain.  Sitting down for a 2-hour study session is a daunting process.  But a 20-minute chunk? Easily doable. Plus, your motivation will not run out as fast, and you can keep studying for longer!  Make sure to take a snack and water break too! 

5. Utilize the Study Cycle! 

Studying is not a one-time thing.  It is a constant cycle that should be repeated over and over! 

These are just a few of the tips myself and my fellow learning specialist have come up with for our college students!  You can find these and more  Here on our TPT store!  

What are some of the tips you give your own students for finals? Post them in the comments below! 

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How to Survive the Holiday Stress in the Classroom and Still be a Nice Fun Teacher Who Spreads Holiday Cheer!

It can be harder than it looks…

So, what are our go to moves to keep our cool?  Well, they involve yoga, puppies, a giveaway and lots and lots of coffee.

Most importantly, how can you get yourself some free stuff? First, check out the form below and take time to fill it out to win a $200 TPT gift card! Then read on for some stress-busting advice

The 12 Days of December

Molly’s Moves

You know that feeling, when you are standing in the front of your perfectly decorated classroom, in the middle of what you thought was an immaculately planned lesson, and you are just slowly watching it all fall to pieces around you?  We have all been there. And around the holiday season, with stress running high from final exams, and student’s bodies pumped with sugar from cookies and treats, the odds that a lesson will fail spectacularly are pretty high. So...  What can you do?

As a sneaky teacher (which is an essential life skill) I make myself stop, do some deep breathing, and add a little calming yoga moves into my classroom routine.  Now, it’s not possible to stand in the back of my room doing downward dog if I want to keep my job… But I have found a way to sneak some calming moves into my everyday classroom chaos!

My first move is a low ankle tree pose.  I take some time to stand behind my desk, or in the back of the room as my students are working independently, take a few deep breaths, and go into a low tree pose for about 1-2 minutes.  Gives me some time to breath, center myself, and then I am ready to jump right back into the melee!

Here is a helpful visual to aid you in your practice!

My other favorite sneaky classroom yoga move is a reverse namaste heart opener.

This one can be done anytime, anywhere!  You simply put your hands behind your back, and stretch those shoulder and chest muscles while taking a few deep breaths.  This move is called a heart opener, and I think it does just that!  Lets in new air to your lungs, and helps destress by opening up your heart!   The image below shows one way to place your hands behind your back for the maximum stretch, but some of us (me) can’t totally get our hands like that… A modification for this pose is simply trying to reach for your opposite  wrists or elbows.

I also like to spread holiday cheer when I can! 

 Here is a little freebie to spruce up a super easy gift of an EOS lip balm! 

Katy’s Kicks

The best piece of advice I have been given in my years of teaching is “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” This time of year I wish I could write this phrase all over my classroom, my house, and plaster it on my forehead. As teachers, we all have a hard time putting ourselves before our students, but during the stressful time of the holidays when we have 5,000 things to do at home, students are bouncing off the walls, and there are too many treats in the faculty room, it is even more important that we fill our own “cups.” My best suggestion is do what makes you happy. For me, I get kicks wearing glittery shoes to work (the more sparkle the better!) and convincing the school to let me have a Christmas tree in my classroom (I moderate National Honor Society, and we do an Angel Tree gift drive every year for the Salvation Army.)

But the best is planning fun lessons that involve food so I know my students won’t complain by saying “Mrs. Muth, you said this lesson was going to be funnnn… but I have to do math…” like they usually do.

My favorite one is an introduction to Statistics using bags of M&M’s. I have this activity for any day I feel like my students need a pick-me-up (or more importantly when I do).

It is free in my TpT store!

Also, let me suggest a secret stash of chocolate or whatever your go-to treat is for when days get really long and your students are extra crazy. Calories don’t count when you’re teaching, right?

And when all else fails, win yourself some free stuff!

Check out this amazing giveaway with 12 days of fabulous prizes! And, make sure to head over to our co-blogger's page The Chemistry Corner. She has another freebie for you and another way to enter the giveaway!

May the odds be in our favor these last few weeks before break!

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