Pathways to Academic Success Final - the Finishing Touches of Pathways

The finishing touches of Pathways

Throughout the course of the semester I have learned many things; from muscle reading to reading with children under foot. With my degree from Kaplan I plan to pursue business administration. Pathways to academic success have given me great insight into both verbal and non verbal communication, how to manage conflict, as well as how to become a better public speaker. This was a very powerful class and I want to share with you a few of the key elements I have learned through the course of the semester.

Muscle reading is a simple and easy way to learn what you are reading. It teaches you how to lower your distraction level and gives you a nine step process with tips on what to do before after and during your reading assignment. It really helps boring long reading sessions to grasp your attention so you can absorb all of the material. To successfully muscle read you must preview, outline, question, read, underline, answer, recite, review, and review again.

To start off you are going to want to preview your reading materials before you complete the reading. By browsing over the material beforehand you can find things you want to learn more about. Also preview the entire assignment so you do not have to focus on every single word. It is a way to get you prepared when an assignment looks to big to handle. After previewing you are going to want to outline the material and take time to create a rough sketch of notes. Skim through the chapter writing down major headings and key words that need to be defined. Creating this outline will set up a foundation for a note taking platform that will allow you to add notes as you read. Once you have previewed and outlined your assignment, you should go through and create questions that resulted from going over your reading. Also this will create a self test to help you stay focused on what you're reading by answering questions as you go.

Additionally, you can begin to reading. Before you start, take some time to look over your notes and questions. It is best to read for about an hour then stop and take a break. Take some time to relax and then refocus. There are also several techniques to enhance your reading such as creating mental pictures, reading out loud to yourself and turn your material into real imagery. The questions you created before can now be used and tested. Creating a self test will help you understand how well you know the material. Now that you know the material you can go back and underline the important material. One should write in their book, it is better to use pencils and highlighters versus using a pen. You should typically underline or highlight around ten percent of the reading. Draw attention to only the extremely important material. You can also use symbols to draw your attention to important terms and information. Now you are fully prepared to answer you test questions and any other questions that came up while completing the first five steps. Try your best without looking at the material and then go back and recite what you know.

A good way to get this process started is by looking at everything you have marked and drawn attention to. Now you can close your text and notes and start talking to yourself to see what you can remember. You should now review what you have read. It is best to review what you have read sooner than later. It helps you learn what you recited wrong. If you wait too long you may not remember everything that you are supposed to. The sooner reviewing is done, the better it will help you shift what you remember to your long term memory, making it easier to study for exams or finals. The final step in the learning process is to review again. Even it is just once a week for five minutes going over what you remembered and what is in your notes will help you keep that information fresh in your mind for a much longer period of time. You can use tools to help you review again such as flash cards or read the chapters again in your book skimming through what is important and what isn't. It may seem like a difficult lengthy process at first but once you understand it, life and studying will be much easier for most people. Keep in mind this will not eliminate distractions all together especially if you have young children under foot.

Studying in general is a difficult process; it makes it even harder when you have children that you must attend to. A few strategies that have proven to help parents¬¬ study effectively are making your child come first, give your child his own sacred place, allow them to watch educational programs while you study. Also, ask for help from friends, family, and peers, and make games allowing your child to study with you.

If you make your child your first priority, give them your undying attention for a brief period of time and then let them know you need quiet time. The child will benefit more from short breaks of full attention versus long periods of time of only partial attention. If your child successfully allows you this time they should be rewarded. If your child is young it would be more practical to study while they are napping because young children do not always understand the importance of what you are doing.

Another great idea is to give your child his or her own sacred place to play when you study. You should try and reserve this space for study time only. Create this space thinking about your child's needs. Make sure it is 100% baby proof and enable the space so there is no risk of them getting hurt. If your home is not set up to do so you could also reserve special toys to use while you are trying to study. A new toy that is only used during study time will keep your child entertained much longer. If all else fails, turn on the television.

You are able to use the television to assist you babysit; do not make this a regular thing besides study time. When you are in control of the TV put your child's favorite show on. If you are concerned about your child TV time find an educational age appropriate show. This will keep there brains alert but focused, and it is like having there own study time. A good tip would be to let you child use headphones to plug into the TV if you were able to that way you can still have your peace and quite while the little one is entertained. If your children are too young to sit still, you can always ask a friend or family member for help.

It takes a village to raise a child. You need support for other just as they need support from you. Often this is a good time for the barter system to kick in. If you have friends or classmates needing study time and a babysitter you could take turns watching the children. If not just ask your spouse, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers for help. More often then not they would be more then happy to watch the