Come along and learn to TART!

Have you ever wondered why do college professors make us read so much? Is it because they have nothing better to do than to make us read so many pages? Or is it because they actually want us to learn something? Obviously you know the answer to this question. If not then it’s the latter.

Now, that you know this information, why must we learn? You might be thinking: to pass the class, duh! However I like to think that the more you learn, the wiser and smart you get. And who doesn’t like to be a smart cookie? Or who doesn’t at least like to be prepared for class?

I hate feeling unprepared for class.

This strategy helps me be ready to take on my classes especially PSC 121, where we have to read a lot.

Sometimes I don’t have time to read the chapter completely for Polisci so this helps me feel better if I didn’t read the chapter or wasn’t able to finish.

TART is what I use!

Terms

Attend

Read

Test

1. First, I checked what my professor would be talking about in class: Federalism, The Political View. For that, I would have to read chapter 7 of the textbook Choices.

2. Following the instructions of TART on the book “It’s All About Choices” by Marlene Blumin, my professor, (page 133) I wrote down all the terms and definitions that are in blue from chapter 7 of the Polisci textbook. I tried to write them down in my own words, which helps to see if you understand the term or not.

3. After that I read the chapter summary in order to be more informed on what the professor would be lecturing us on.

4. I attended the lecture.

5. During the lecture I was listening carefully to what the professor would say about those words written in my notebook.

6. At the same time, I was taking notes on what my Polisci professor was saying.

7. At the end of the day I read my notes prior to reading the chapter fully. Having lecture notes actually help establish a reading purpose.

8. Then, I read the chapter to clarify what I have in my notebook.

9. After I was done with all these steps, I created questions from the material discussed. I answered them with my notes and from what I was able to remember.

In terms of LAME (remember l.am.e. guys??)

Learner	Action	Materials	Evaluation
I’m a kinesthetic and visual learner. The action of writing things down helps me learn and the looking for terms in blue as well.	What I just explained through a procedure above is what I did to read with a purpose.	For this class we have to read a lot because we have quizzes every Wednesday so this helps me to pay attention in class but also it helps me to study for the weekly quizzes.	In class I paid more attention to what the professor was saying rather than copying down what he posts up on the board. This is better because sometimes I’m paying more attention to what is on the board rather than to the professor. However, I haven’t greatly improved on my quizzes, which I have to fix.

Hope you try out this strategy!

Here are the pictures of what I did!