<p>I am currently in a community college trying to get my act together and go off to school. However I've never done well in school and I don't really know all the intricacies of how people excel and do well. So how do you?</p>
<p>How, when and how much time do you spend of homework?</p>
<p>How do you prepare and study for tests?</p>
<p>How do you make sure you are thoroughly learning the material.</p>
<p>And anything else important to succeeding in school</p>
<p>There are three important factors to school succes.
<p>–most teachers will read drafts of papers before you hand them in for a final grade. (I know I always did when I was teaching)</p>
<p>–Most teachers will go over a quiz or test with you and point you in the right direction if there are specific things you missed or are lacking from your previous education.</p>
<p>This is a place you might run into trouble, as you may have math gaps you need to fill in and information gaps you need to fill in from past issues in school. Professors can help you catch the pattern and recommend things to do about this, as well.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. Many kids who don’t excell in high school do go on to be fantastic students later when it comes to really matter to them.</p>
<p>Re-read poetgrl’s post. She is giving you great advice.</p>
<p>The one thing I will add is do not procrastinate. Get help the minute you find yourself not understanding something in class. Do not wait until the last minute to do assignments,write papers or study. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Another tip I would add is to take notes during class. Then, within a few hours, review those notes, and fill in the “holes” in your notes with other things you remember. </p>
<p>It’s as if you were rewinding and rerunning the tape of the class. It’s much better than waiting until right before the test to review your notes, when you won’t remember what the heck your chicken scratches mean.</p>
<p>I was told trick #3 by a 5th grade teacher…She had been educated in China.</p>
<p>1) attend classes. If you must miss a class, ask a RELIABLE classmate for info, but also check with teacher to make sure no test/quiz dates were announced or homework was assigned. (Too many classmates will “forget” to tell you that a test/quiz was announced or that homework was assigned!! And, when asked, “what was taught in class yesterday,” too many classmates will say, “nothing.” 
)</p>
<p>2) Sit towards the front of the classroom…you will hear better, you’ll be distracted less, and if you have a “confused” expression on your face or in your eyes, the prof will likely re-present the concept. 
:)</p>
<p>3) the biggie…don’t wait until the night before to study for a test. If you wait, you’ll be nervous and that anxiety will make it hard for you to “absorb” the material. If you begin studying a few days before the test, you’ll be relaxed and the info will be retained. THEN, the night before the test, review what you studied during the previous days. That “night-before-review” of material that you’ve recently studied, tends to cement the knowledge into your brain.</p>
<p>I told the above to my kids many years ago…it worked for them thru middle school and high school, and still continues to help them do well in college.</p>
<p>Don’t “study” by just passively reading the textbook, handouts, and lecture notes. Find active ways to get involved with the course material.</p>
<p>This could mean making a list of the most important points in a chapter or set of lecture notes. Having to figure out what’s important gets you involved.</p>
<p>It could mean making flash cards and testing yourself with them if what you’re studying involves a lot of facts.</p>
<p>In a math course, it could mean doing as many sample problems as possible – from the textbook, from old tests, for any other sources you can find – and checking your solutions against the correct ones.</p>
<p>It could mean studying with another person, discussing different points from your notes, and testing each other on various concepts. </p>
<p>If the instructor has made old tests available – preferably with the answers – it could mean answering the questions and then comparing your answers with the ones that are given. Just reading through the questions and answers is nowhere near as helpful as trying to answer the questions yourself. </p>
<p>I think you get the idea.</p>
<p>Hint # 1
Take notes in class. Then that night, organize and rewrite those notes. This serves several functions:
-in the process you identify areas that are missing or don’t make sense.You will either remember the missing pieces because you were there earlier that day, you will check the book or some other resource to fill the gap, or you will make a point of attending office hours that week to make sure you understand
-the exercise will help you to learn and retain the information
-your notes will make much more sense when it is time to review for a test.</p>
<p>Hint #2
Make an outline of your assigned reading or texts if they are anything but a piece of literature. This really is not as bad as it may sound.
-Once again, the process helps you to understand and organize the information; you are learning it at the same time
-when the time comes to prep for your final, you will have a nice summary to review instead of 400 pages of text.</p>
<p>Hint #3
Most people have similar IQ, the person that spends more time studying is going to be the one doing better.</p>
<p>My father used to tell us - “You are no smarter or dumber than another person, what’s going to make you stand out is your hard work.” I tell my kids that now. It means doing everything poetgirl mentioned above.</p>
<p>Another tip from a friend’s college student. Do your homework immediately when you get back from your classes. Do not procrastinate that either. She found that if she did her homework that day…the first time she was back in the dorm or able to go to the library, she had PLENTY of time to enjoy college. When she procrastinated, she found that her weekends and evenings were filled with doing homework. Plus if she needed extra time on the weekends to review, she didn’t have it because she was doing the work for the first time.</p>
<p>So…do the work ASAP after the class ends.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice so far. But I also have some weird problems that just keep me from being productive and have been my problem my entire life. I accept the possibility I am just dumb and lazy though</p>
<p>I have a lot of weird psychological quirks that keep me from preforming well in school.</p>
<p>I can’t learn anything I don’t have an interest in. I simply can not. I can’t muster the willpower to do it.</p>
<p>I have terrible concentration as I said and it often takes me multiple hours to do simple homework assignments that should take a few minutes</p>
<p>I often don’t even do work. Or hand it in. Sometimes I will have the work completely done, and I just won’t hand it in. I could, I know I can, but I don’t. I don’t know why.</p>
<p>I’m not very smart and sometimes some very rudimentary ideas go whizzing over my head. Often things that lay the ground work for the rest of the material being covered.</p>
<p>I get overwhelmed. I feel like I’m drowning in work. I feel like I’ll never be able to complete it or do it well so I might as well not even try.</p>
<p>I often just zone out and remain unproductive for spans of days. I don’t know why.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Are you in college? It doesn’t sound like college is right for you. College isn’t just about learning things in your major (that you like), but expanding your mind and learning other things.</p>
<p>You may be better suited for learning a trade or something that is more focused only on learning the job.</p>
<p>You may be right. Or maybe not. I do enjoy learning, just not the way it’s expected of in schools. But I feel I have to go to school to be able to do the things I want later.</p>
<p>I think there’s just some rudimentary block in my head I just have to knock out of place and get over so I can get on with my life and be productive.</p>
<p>do you have a counselor or access to one? I mean a behavioral or mental health professional. It may be a good idea to get to the root of some of your issues and start making some progress there before you take on a tougher academic burden.</p>
<p>Beyond that, though, the suggestions above are about techniques and frameworks that will help whether you love the subject matter or not. The trick is to Just Do It. Really not a trick at all. Some of it is simply doing the steps in the right order at the right time–all of the time.</p>
<p>
iamsounsure, Get tested for learning disabilities. Go to your college resource center. DD’s LD did not show until college when the level of work became more than her coping techniques could handle. It is not that unusual. You deserve to give yourself the answer to that question and if that is the issue, learn the techniques that can help you overcome the issues. DD has found just a few accommodations have made a huge difference.</p>
<p>excellent point, singersmom. You read iamsounsure’s last post much more carefully than I did.</p>
<p>Have you ever been tested for LDs or ADHD? It might be worth looking into. </p>
<p>What sort of learner are you? Some can learn by listening, some better by reading. I can’t remember anything from a lecture unless I write it down, but my younger son remembers best by folding origami. </p>
<p>There are some helpful suggestions here: [Taking</a> Lecture and Class Notes](<a href=“http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/notes.html]Taking”>http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/notes.html)</p>
<p>Google Cal Newport. Cal is an author and blogger that is obsessed (in a good way) with the topic of college success. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>1) Go to class.
2) Actually pay attention and take notes in class. This means you should not be sleeping, reading the newspaper, doing crossword puzzles, doodling, playing around with your phone/laptop, etc.
3) Visit a tutorial center for help with developing note taking/study skills.
4) Do your homework.
5) Study every day. This does mean every day, and not the day before the exam, or even the week before. If you study a little bit every day from the first day of class, you will remember things better and will not be in a panic days before the test.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posters about seeking insight and guidance from a professional psychologist. Could be LD. Could be ADD. Could be depression. Or none of the above of course. But no point in trying to work with a barrier or difference in learning that you are in the dark about. Knowledge is power.</p>