Dana Melone, AP Psychology, AP World, and AP Research teacher, decided to hold a Study Skills talk in the black box on Oct. 23, 2017 during SMART Time. She decided to give this talk to anyone who could attend because it applies to all students and not just the small range she sees every day.

“I am most excited to show students that studying can be efficient in a short period of time. Many students are spending hours doing the wrong things,” Melone said.

The best techniques for Melone are removing her distractions, such as the t.v. or her phone, so s

“ I can usually tell if they crammed by how well they retain the information later. Some students can cram and remember it a day later, but if you ask them to give you that information a month later, it is gone,” Melone said.

Melone said a sign of cramming is when they student can tell you what the textbook said and not in their own words or not being able to understand it outside of the text.

“Motivation is hard. I struggle with it in my graduate studies as well. That is the reason I pick a specific place and time and put it on my calendar. I don’t let myself do anything else during that time,” said Melone.

Melone’s advice was to pick a place that is distraction free and put it in your calendar or set a reminder and do not allow yourself to do anything else during your set study time. Deep processing is application to self and making long term connections and shallow processing is using flashcards or memorizing the material. If you use deep processing you will see progress and it will help motivate you to continue to study efficiently.

Jason Kline tweeted a poll if there should be another seminar on study skills by Melone and there is a demand for another seminar.  A lot of students were not able to attend, because of assigned tutorials and the mandatory senior meeting in the auditorium. Melone said she would be willing to give the talk again or individually talk to students who are interested in learning about studying effectively.

Although a lot couldn’t go, the turn out was large. The black box was filled and students even sat on the floor to hear Melone’s talk.

“What I was doing wrong while studying is using my phone and rewriting things instead of looking over them,” Rylee Ervin, jr., said.

Ervin learned that she needs to study without distractions and how to study in less time.

“I learned it’s not the time you study, it’s how you study. Now I need to focus on things I don’t already know. There was a lot of people there and I think she did a good job teaching students how to study effectively,” Josh White, So., said.