Blog #7: The Habits of College Studying and Note Taking

In college concentrating on certain topics can be very overwhelming. As Chapter 12 and Chapter 15 stated, studying note taking and concentrating on studies has many strategies to make them successful. In my case I have difficulty in note taking strategies and learning how to concentrate while studying. Personally I could get distracted constantly by simple things while trying to get work done. If someone around me is talking about something that interests me I could get sidetracked. However, after reading Chapter 12 I took advantage of the strategies to help me concentrate while studying.

Despite my troubles on concentrating while studying, I do have note taking habits to help me concentrate successful. When doing homework and projects I make sure that I have no loud noises what so ever present. Usually I have background music to sooth and calm me down to not make me rush through my work. Otherwise most of the time I do my work anywhere as long as its not in my bedroom or any room alike. My bedroom has many entertainment for example video game consoles, TV,a dvd player and artwork supplies since I enjoy painting and sketching. I also make sure no where near the kitchen because I love to cook and I'll just end up whipping up a meal. However, despite the locations to study If a room is too quite I could get nervous.

I also have strategies to note taking even though I experience difficulty with taking notes. Since I'm used to the note taking strategies of High School, taking notes while the professor talks is something new to me. Therefore, when the professor mentions valuable information I tend to write it out unorganized on my notebook. Now I know the disadvantages in just writing wildly on my notebook after I read Chapter 15 and now I would take the tips given to help improve my note taking skills. From now on I would practice note taking strategies and tips both from the book and from jerz.setonhill.edu. The particular changes I need to drastically make is to make sure I split my paper in two separate columns to accommodate my notes and make them more readable as noted in the picture below. As for improving my studying environment I need to make sure I sit on a chair straight up with my eyes pealed at the paper and/or computer.