<p>I've never hated doing something as much as this summer assignment. It's really simple actually--just take notes on the first 5 chapters. But the font is so small, each page has two to three columns, and the chapters total to 130 pages. Plus we have to put it in "outline form", like with roman numerals and ****. I hate history in general, especially what we're learning, and I just want to die.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear how you guys kill procrastination, how you study, how often, how you take notes, etc. Anything you want to list, one liners or paragraphs. I don't know how to get out of this summer rut and back into school mode.</p>
<p>I wish I could be more helpful, but I have found that the best way to get something done (like outlining 5 chapters of a textbook) is to just sit down and do it. I go to my room, close my door, sit at my desk, eliminate the room of all noises and just start writing. I find that after the first few minutes, I get so absorbed in what I am doing that I am able to complete it relatively quickly and efficiently.</p>
<p>You are still at the high school level, so I will relate to my high school experiences. I did not study a whole lot, but when I did, I spent about 1 hour a day 3 days a week studying. For an exam, at least two or 3 days before.</p>
<p>As far as taking notes: I usually start by putting the main header of chapter and title. Then I will put a subheader with the title of the subsection. And then I will start making bullet points of the most important information in the text. I keep an eye out for bold or italicized words to help me pick out the important points. I find it helpful to stop after each paragraph and spend a short amount of time thinking about what was important in that paragraph and writing it down. Or you may prefer reading an entire subsection of the chapter and then writing.</p>
<p>It is a very tedious process, but on the bright side this will give you some very good college prep :).</p>
<p>^^^ agreed. When you are taking notes make sure your doing so actively. Be an active reader and an active note taker. Engage yourself in note taking and paraphrase don’t just copy what’s in the book or it won’t stick.
When studying what I do to keep myself from getting distracted or going to bed is think that this small sacrifice or 1 or 2 hours of sleep to study for tomorrow’s test could mean the difference between an A or a B or getting into the college I’d like to go to. If that stresses you out more then don’t think that but it generally keeps me going.
Make yourself a schedule and stick to it.
I like to take billeted notes sometimes with drawings but last years hist teacher wanted that kind of notes also. It wasn’t too bad.
The first step is always to breathe.</p>
<p>I’m only a rising sophomore so don’t take what I say too heavily.</p>
<p>I’m probably not the person to be answering this since I am possibly the biggest procrastinator in the world lol. For my APUSH summer work I had to do almost the same thing only for the first three chapters, mine entailed doing ton of definitions and 12-20 essay questions per chapter.</p>
<p>I start school tomorrow (but don’t start APUSH until Monday) and I JUST now finished my summer work a couple hours ago, but how I would do it is this. Per each 3/4-1 page of reading there was an essay type question associated with it. So I would read, do a question, then take a 10 minute break messing around on the net or my phone lol. Not the most efficient way to study or do work I know. But what I do when I really crack down and do some hardcore studying and/or homework, I sit at my desk, put my phone and laptop in my closet and unplug the cable from the television and I force myself to get it done. That works for me, and I’ve also found that short, frequent breaks work better for me than just one or two longer breaks. Ultimately you just have to experiment to see what helps you study/work more efficiently, hope this helped and good luck!</p>
<p>The only thing that got me through APUSH note-taking last year was investing in really awesome pens and markers that kept me from killing myself. </p>
<p>** I highly suggest Japanese pens like Hi-Tec Cs. I also like Uni’s Jetstream, Signo DXs, and Zebra’s Sarasa pens. I have no life.</p>
<p>When I ever need to just sit down and work I usually just go to the library and leave my phone at home. I also sit by the really boring books so that i don’t get tempted to read anything but my textbook. Home is just too distracting for me to do some serious studying (computer, tv, food, people, and the urge to suddenly redecorate my room just as i sit down to study, and draw on my desk instead of reading, etc). You get the point.</p>
<p>I become very easily distracted when I do a subject that’s very boring. When I take notes, I do a bullet list/ outline format (create a header with the lesson title, subheadings for the title of the section of the lesson…). Then, when I find it appropriate, I write a small paragraph to summarize little chunks of the lesson. I sometimes feel like reading a bullet list can turn into unengaged reading.
I also like to write in colored pens for different sections of the notes. Monotonous pencil scribbles aren’t interesting or engaging to stare at.
Anyways, good luck, and I hope I helped.</p>
<p>Definitely need to go to the library one of these days, I just feel weird going alone (but I know friends will distract me). The colorful pen ideas are great too. And I’m definitely trying to read actively, since I can “read” a whole page and realize my eyes have just been glazing over it for half an hour. I was using sticky notes to jot down notes and pay attention at first, but I like what you guys have be doing much more!</p>
<p>Another thing that helped me with getting through the reading and actually retaining the information read was reading with an accent. I would read my textbook using Gru’s (from Despicable Me) accent. I’m not sure how legit this is, but it got me high As in the class and a 5 on the AP exam.</p>