How To Review

You hear a lot from your teachers about reviewing for tests. You have a test tomorrow, you should review tonight! They say. And you say, yeah, yeah, I will. And then you don't. Because you're not really sure HOW to review. What does review include? What are you actually supposed to be DOING?

Well, there is no easy answer to this. What works best for you may not work for Osmery. What works for Osmery may not work for Kadeem. Everyone has their own style. You may have to try out some options before you find something that makes sense. I will tell you how I review, and then I will show you some other options.

Step 1) You have notes, right? Your teachers are always telling you to take notes. If you don't have notes, you are SOL on this section, so skip it. So you get your notes, and make sure they're complete as possible. If you missed a day, call a classmate and see if you can copy theirs for that day. If your notes are mixed in with notes from another class, separate them out. Get them all in one pile, and make sure they're chronological.

Step 2) Get a highlighter. Start at the earliest notes you have, and begin highlighting. You should highlight no more than 20% of your notes on any given page, so choose wisely. This means you have to read your notes and decide WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INFO. Often this includes section titles, important dates, names, and formulas. If you're really struggling with a concept, you may wish to highlight an example.
When you're done highlighting a page, a few things should stand out-- the parts you've highlighted. This is how you boil down a mess of notes into a few short, essential points. These essential points you should begin to commit to memory.

Step 3) (Optional) Transfer your highlights onto a fresh sheet of paper. This is your review sheet. Ideally everything you've highlighted should fit onto one 8x11 sheet. If they don't, you have either highlighted too much material, or you're trying to review too much material at once. For big tests that cover a whole year's curriculum, you may need to make more than one review sheet, and you will probably have to spend more than one day reviewing.

Stay tuned for more review techniques.

-Ms Webster