CE-Learning

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 September 2011 16:26 Tuesday, 20 September 2011 16:06

 
Worst Case Scenario: Cramming
by Katrina Del Rosario

While no educator in his right mind would ever write anything on cramming tips, and no decent student should rely on cramming to get by, cramming is itself a reality that all of us had to go through at some point in school. We do it when we get so flustered with conflicting schedules and whatever bizarre or surreal situations we can find ourselves inadvertently smacked right in the middle of. We all have our excuses but the end is always the same—cramming is the last line of defense against the steadily looming possibility of failing. We are warned against cramming for many reasons: the most basic is that it is unhealthy and stressful but the more important one is that it would not allow for long-term learning, hence, making all the “studying” useless in the post-school world (a.ka. real world). We do not want this. Or do you?

Passed out nightly? No, thanks!

“Tired” by Noushin

Don’t Panic 

Panic is probably what always gets you into deciding to cram in the first place. Do yourself a favor and aggravate it no further. Panic is the body’s way of alerting you to the urgency of a situation. Panicking all throughout that situation, however, is counter-effective; instead of doing something to right the situation, you end up just torturing yourself. Staying calm in the face of an entire grading period’s workload, notes, and handouts readies you mentally and physically for the daunting task ahead. Keeping your cool also helps you concentrate more on the essential stuff and pulls you away from shakily scanning over several unimportant items.

Give in to the Munchies

And stay away from junk food and sugars! Potato chips and cookies (and all junk food) give you a short lived sugar rush that leaves you crashing headfirst into your readings in a lethargic daze.

You are what you eat.

“Couch Potato” by iamattyc  

Keep your energy levels high and maintain it. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking water (trips to the bathroom are also appreciated: it stretches your legs and relieves all that physical strain from sitting down).

Clockwise from top left: “a healthy snack” by Joanne Canen, “Banana” By Fayez Al-Fawaz, and “A Healthy Snack” by fromky

Snack on healthy food like bananas; it is a high energy food that raises your blood sugar levels without pulling you down afterwards. Munch on an apple; its skin contains healthy caffeine that will keep you alert without the jittery feel that you get by drowning yourself in coffee, besides, the chewing keeps you physically active enough to prevent sleep. Can’t bother with big fruits? Chomp on nuts. For sure you've been told more than a few times that peanuts make you smarter, haven't you?

I don’t know about peanuts being smart but they sure are delicious!

“Planters Mr Peanut-Gentleman Nut 1957” by Brecht Bug

   Q: “But I live in a dorm! We don’t have saucy produce like fruit and nuts.”

   A: “Mints are the way to go. Chew on a mint gum! It clears your nasal passageways,
         thereby allowing more oxygen to come into your system and improve blood circulation
         to your brain, which of course, you definitely need for such information overload.”

Priotitize

Since you’re so pressed for time, you will not have time to read over all of your notes. You will have to streamline into key definitions and points and rely on summaries. Your immediate goal has become to get as much points as possible to stay away from a failing grade. And here's how you do it:

Go over your notes. Yes, taking notes is important; you should do it more often. Why? Class notes contain mostly topics that the teacher thinks is most important. As you go through your notes, look for the important definitions, concepts, or equations. If you have trouble memorizing, try to write them down on a separate piece of paper (or on a slip of index card, so as to eliminate the panicky fumbling and unfolding of notes when you go through them a last time). Read them aloud or write them down six to seven times (or as many times as you deem needed) to help you remember.

Summarize. Since you don’t have time to meticulously read and thoroughly understand every single one of your lessons, then you have to settle for scanning your textbook or reference materials, paying close attention to key ideas and pertinent details you missed during class discussions. When you do, write these down in a concise manner on your notebook or index cards. Read the summaries of every lesson. This should give you a brief overview of the lesson without having to go through the time-consuming act of reading the whole text (and possibly falling asleep along the way).

 
Review and Repeat

Repetition is one key for retention; there is learning from doing things again and again. But since you aren’t entitled to a gratuitous amount of time to repeat enough to learn enough, it’ll be hard to integrate much repetition into your last-minute studying (hope this teaches you a lesson, buddy). Focus on things that are easy to remember, or use your own techniques to remember things. Popular techniques include memorizing to a tune, memorizing along with music, making up acronyms, and the strangely mixed up associating game. (Example: The Humerus bone is the bone of the upper arm… Humerus. Humerus. Hehe. Humorous! That’s right, it’s right by the armpit which is a tickle spot; and when you get tickled, you laugh, and when you laugh that’s Humerus! Get it?)

You’re forgiven for your bad puns just this once.

“Funny Bone” by Glass By Girlfriday

References/Works Cited:
Al-Fawaz, Fayed. “Banana.” Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 28 June 2010. Web. 19 September 2011.
Bug, Brecht. “Planters Mr Peanut-Gentleman Nut 1957.” Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 20 August 2010. Web. 19 September 2011.
Canen, Joanne. “a healthy snack.” Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 25 November 2007. Web. 19 September 2011.
Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 18 December 2009. Web. 19 September 2011.
Glass By Girlfriday. “Funny Bone.” Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 13 February 2010. Web. 19 September 2011.
“How to Cram.” www.ehow.com. Demand Media, Inc., 2009. Web. 19 September 2011.
“How to Cram for a Test.” www.wikihow.com. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., n.d. Web. 19 September 2011.
iamattyc. “Couch Potato.” Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 6 July 2011. Web. 19 September 2011.
Noushin. “Tired.” Photograph. www.flickr.com. Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd., 11 October 2009. Web. 19 September 2011.