Carmine

Do you want to excel in your course? Be the best you can be? How much do you want it? Think how great it could feel to be on top of your subject, understanding and enjoying everything you have to learn, acing your tests and assignments. As Sean Connery says in The Untouchables, What are you prepared to do?! Do you go to class wanting to get as much as you can from it, or do you see it as a necessary evil to be endured as part of your course? Do you sit passively waiting for the class to finish or do you treat it as a job, and work hard to do the best you can? Your attitude will be determine to a large extent how well you succeed in your course, more than any other factor. But luckily your attitude is under your control; you can choose how its going to be! So, decide to make the most of it, and you will! And, if thats what you want to do, than heres a few pointers about how to go about making the most of your time in class or lectures:

1. Treat it like a job. You are there for a reason; to learn as much as you can, and reach your potential in your chosen subject, excel even! Its your job to do a good job!
2. Be proactive, not passive. Be aware of what you need to learn, and make sure you are learning it. Be conscious of what you understand in class, jot down notes about things you are not clear about and make it your task that day to find out more about them, either by asking questions or doing some further reading. Take responsibility for your own progress, instead of waiting for the teacher to tell you how you are doing.

   Look over your material for that day before the class, if you know what its going to be. See how much you can understand by yourself. Notice the things you have difficulty with. Then, when your teacher or lecturer comes to that part of the text, your mind will focus as soon as you hear it, your attention and concentration will be heightened, and you will absorb the new knowledge much faster. You will also have more time to concentrate on the difficult parts, because it wont be all completely new to you.

   Revise the material then, within a day and make revision notes.

3. Learn to ask questions. Learn how to ask questions. Dont be afraid, there are probably more students in your class who need the same clarification. Just make sure they are specific. Instead of I dont understand, for example, specify as closely as you can where you find yourself getting lost. The very act of composing an intelligent question in your mind will help you find the answer yourself seven times out of ten! The lecturer or teacher will always appreciate the fact that you are thinking for yourself and the class will benefit from the interaction and the discussion which may follow.
4. Pay attention to the obvious things: be punctual; sit in a good seat where you can concentrate, be part of the class and be away from people who are not focussed; keep up with the reading and homework and dont let things slide even if you do, dont give up, get right back into it as soon as you can. Ask for help if you need to get back on track. Your teacher will appreciate your honesty, especially if you come up with a plan to catch up say, an extra chapter a night for a week.
5. Learn how to take good class notes. (See below)
6. Concentrate on the positives. All walks of life have tedious parts. Dont moan, try and get through boring parts by setting yourself a challenge to finish them in a record time. Remember this very important point: you get back what you put in. If you work at your subject honestly, it will be interesting, if you dont, it will be boring.

So you decide. Hows it going to be? Learning can be a wonderful interesting and exciting experience its up to you.

If you would like to know more, download a free mini ebook on study at www.yourstudymentor.com to get you started.