Story-time With Herminia Chow

Story-time With Herminia Chow is now officially a title of one of my posts because I think it sounds cool. Even though it probably doesn’t. In all honesty, I have no idea what else to call what I’m about to say.

Today, my history teacher quizzed us.

He told the class beforehand to read the first two chapters in our textbook. I’d be lying if I said I did the readings properly.

Two students had led a seminar and some of the information they presented was, lo and behold, on the quiz. I didn’t participate at all. Plus I know I zoned out a few times as well.

There were also similar questions to a worksheet he assigned the day he wasn’t here. I actually completed this worksheet. But my wonderful brain decides to get these questions and only these questions wrong. Questions I should have known the answers to.

I somehow still managed to get the highest mark. So did everyone else not attempt the readings, not listen to the seminar, and not bother with the worksheet?

For once, my guessing game was strong. Everything I guessed, I got right.

By the way, I wrote a follow-up article on test-taking. The post was published yesterday: Keep Calm and Get Straight A’s: What to Do Before, During and After Every Test.

The irony is not lost on me here.

And you wonder why I don’t study. Or rather why I despise it with a passion.

A Call For Help (Learning All 50 States In The United States)

This Canadian writer is attempting to learn all 50 states of America and their exact locations in a mere few days. It’s actually for a class, although, this geography test might be beneficial for my personal reference for future novels.

I am so proud to be Canadian as we only have 10 provinces and 3 territories to know. At least now I can sympathize with all the American (past, present, and prospective) students in the world.

So this is my call for help: do you have any ideas or mnemonics as to how to memorize them all?

I wonder if anybody can spell and locate all 50 states correctly (without cheating, of course)? I’m sure some of you out there do! Much respect to all those who have mastered the names and places of the states for fun or out of force.

The map below is for everybody’s reference and also to refresh everyone’s memory of the states in the United States. If you click on the image, the map enlarges and the quality is much better.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. I’ll be back tomorrow updating you on my progress and a lighthearted post on writers.

13 Effective Study Techniques I Use

With exams right around the corner (for most semester-ed high school students), I’m surprised I managed to dig up an old post (that was first created 5 months ago in August).

I realized this stuff is much more relevant now than during the summer. Even if this doesn’t pertain to you at the moment (full-year guys and gals), it might sometime in the future.

1. I divide my study time into small sections spaced over the course of a week (if possible).
2. I ensure I have all the necessary notes before beginning study sessions.
3. I balance my time as equally as possible with all my courses.
4. I use the resources I have to my advantage.
5. I determine what topics/concepts/ideas are most likely going to be covered on the exam or test.
6. I make full use of study questions, study guides, or previous exams/tests/quizzes if available.
7. I try to predict possible questions or problems I will be tested on and attempt to answer them accordingly.
8. I review and relearn, not redo.
9. I study actively by asking critical-thinking questions.
10. I choose not to obsess over organizational activities or trivial details.
11. I apportion my studying time, as well as my exam writing time, according to how much each component of the test is worth.
12. I memorize what I need to memorize, understand what I need to understand, and explain what I need to explain.
13. I stimulate the real thing before taking the exam or test.