Grades Grow Tutors

One of the best ways to get the most out of your classes (and get a little homework help) is to study in groups. The greatest thing about studying in groups is that it’s not only effective, but fun!

Studying with your friends- or a tutor- can be a lot more interesting and enjoyable than merely going over notes and re-reading chapters on your own. What I’d like to do today is explore some ways you can make learning in groups even more fun. Here are some ideas:

Game Show Time!
Earlier this week, I talked briefly about how to turn your study group into a full-blown game show for added fun and maybe even a little competition. Here are some ways to do that. First, split up into teams. It doesn’t really matter whether you have two teams, three teams…you can even have a little one-on-one standoff if you only have one study partner. Then, each team contributes a few questions from the relevant course that they will be asking other teams when it’s their turn. Split the questions into categories, such as “easy”, “medium” and “difficult”, with harder questions counting for more points. Then, take turns, with each team getting a chance to answer questions from the other teams’ question bank! Decide how many rounds to play and remember, the highest score wins!

Flash Cards with a Twist
Just about every student has used flash cards at some point. They may seem to be for kids, but they can be very helpful, especially with subjects like foreign languages, history (dates and names lend themselves well to flash cards), or even math, with all the formulas that need to be remembered for tests. How do we take flash cards and make them more fun? Easy…design a board game! Take a piece of paper and draw out a map with many squares (how many is up to you), and write things on some squares, like “move back 1 square” or “skip a turn” on random squares. Then, take a normal die, and take turns rolling it. After you roll the die, have your partner show you a flash card. If you answer the flash card correctly, you move the number of spaces on the die! See? It’s simple, yet will make the same dull flash cards into a totally new experience!

Tutors Just Want to Have Fun!
Okay, maybe the famous Cyndi Lauper song doesn’t go exactly that way, but the point remains the same: you can have fun while studying with a tutor, too. In fact, many tutors and tutoring services are skilled in approaching subjects in new and interesting ways, so that students can digest new information easier than they normally do. If you have a big test coming up, have your tutor challenge you to answer questions correctly, and see if you can continue increasing your score! Also, tutors may have fun acronyms or other learning strategies to learn important terms, formulas, or other information that has to be remembered.

As always, learning is what you make of it. If you approach learning with an open mind and a positive attitude, you’re much more likely to enjoy yourself! Remember this the next time you study with a group of friends, your online tutor, or even by yourself, and studying will take on a whole new life!