Study Tips: How to get the most from StudyMinder
The StudyMinder Homework System can help you develop your study skills, get organized and improve your grades.
Use these study strategies to design your own personal study program. And then follow it every day.
Keep your assignment notes together
Make one section of your school notebook for new assignments. Label it "Assignments". While in class, write down new assignments and upcoming tests in the Assignments section of your notebook.
When you come home from school, you won't have to search through all of your class notes to find new assignments. They will all be listed together in the same place. This prevents you from forgetting about tests or misplacing assignments.
Enter new homework assignments first
Use StudyMinder as your homework organizer. Before you do anything else, enter your new homework assignments into StudyMinder. Good study skills won't help you if you forget about assignments! Once new assignments are entered, you'll see exactly how much studying you have to do, and you can plan your time to get it all done.
Make accurate study time estimates
With StudyMinder, you estimate how much time it will take you to complete each assignment and prepare for each test. Then StudyMinder shows you the total time you'll need to study to complete all of your assignments. The better your estimates, the better you can plan your time.
If you are not sure, it's better to estimate too high than too low. That way you'll give yourself plenty of time, just in case you need it. And you'll probably get done sooner than you thought.
Schedule time to study
You can use StudyMinder's Events Mode to schedule your study time. StudyMinder will let you know if you have not scheduled enough time to finish all of your assignments. You can also make use of the recurring events feature and schedule your study time for the same time every day. That will help you establish a study routine and build good study habits.
Update the status when you're done with an assignment. This will help you see your progress in completing the day's homework.
Keep an eye on big assignments
In Homework Mode, StudyMinder shows you the total time required to finish each day's assignments. But if you only look at tomorrow, you may forget about big assignments coming up. Check Today's Reminders. It will recommend how much time you should study today. This amount takes into consideration all upcoming assignments.
Each assignment in StudyMnder has a Notes section you can use to add reminders and comments. For big assignments, enter notes about what you have completed so far. And remember to add your Study Sessions even when the entire assignment is not done.
Enter your grades
StudyMinder lets you enter the grades you receive for each test and assignment. When you get an assignment back, add your grade to StudyMinder. You can see your current grade average in the GPA menu.
By going back and reviewing your grades, you'll be able to see where you need to concentrate your homework efforts.
Be honest with yourself
StudyMinder is your personal tool to stay organized and do your best. Use it as a homework diary. The more accurate the information you give StudyMinder, the more it will help you.- Make sure to add all your assignments
- Give your best estimate for each assignment's completion time
- Enter the true amount of time you study for each assignment
- Add your grades for each assignment
You'll soon have a lot of information about which classes are the most difficult, where you need to focus your efforts and how much time you really need to study to get the best grades.
Get help when you need it
Don't guess if you are not sure about something. Ask your teachers, parents and classmates if you can't figure something out. There are also lots of Internet sites where you might be able to find the answers.
Do your hardest assignments first
StudyMinder lets you set the difficulty of each assignment when you enter it. Take a look at your assignment list and get the hardest assignments done first.
There are many reasons to do the hardest first.
- You are less tired.
- If you need help, you still have time to ask your parents, call a friend or do research on the Internet.
- Best of all, you can look forward to having the easier, and more fun assignments to work on later.
