By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. From middle school through graduate school, being tested on what we read basically is school. Read a book, and then take a test: repeat forever. Therefore, knowing how to study for a test on a book is the key to doing …
9 Reasons You Have Bad Grades
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Bad grades don’t just come out of nowhere for no good reason. Sure, you might fail a test once in a while because of extenuating circumstances, but chronically poor grades are a symptom of something bigger. In other words, chronically bad …
What to do when you’re confused in class
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You’re sitting in class, paying attention (or not), and all of a sudden you have no idea what the teacher is saying. Or you’re doing your homework at home, and it hits you that you’re totally confused about the material. It …
Tips for cleaning school and office supplies
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Think about how many times a day we touch our phones, pencils, and keyboards. Think about how many times a day we put our backpacks or work bags on the classroom or office floor and then put those bags on our …
Student tips: 2 tools and 2 skills every student needs
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. The internet is full of student tips that claim you can cut your study time in half, get an A on your essay without trying, and hack your way through school via some secret portal that no one knows about. This …
7 strategies for studying vocabulary
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. You will need to learn and study vocabulary words no matter what grade you’re in or what class you take. Sure, you will probably have more vocab quizzes in English or Spanish class, but you will also need strategies for studying …
How to study using spaced repetition (and why you should)
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Spaced repetition is a study method that involves reviewing material repeatedly over various intervals of time. It is easily one of the best study methods known, especially when used in combination with active recall. Most students study using the opposite principles …
How to use active recall to study
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Active recall is one of the most effective study methods there is. If you’re a student of any age, or even if you’re an adult taking professional development courses, you need to know how to use active recall to study. What …
How to write a summary of a text: 6 tips for summarizing
By Katie Azevedo, M.Ed. Knowing how to write a summary of a text is one of the most important skills for school and work. It’s even important outside of school, like in everyday conversations with people (Hey, what was that movie about? How’s that book …
Memorization vs. understanding: The ultimate study secret
By Katie Azevedo. M.Ed. When it comes to studying, there is a major difference between memorization and understanding. I’m going to explain the differences and when to use each method, but let’s start with this simple but important distinction: Memorization is temporary and limited to …