Soli Deo Gloria!

                                        Short Program (Music: James Bond Medley)

                             Free Skating  (Music: Concerto in F by George Gershwin)

This is the product of finally cleaning my room.  I have sadly discovered that I have not invested as much into my soul as into my body.  I have one bookshelf worth of books on exercise, health, and nutrition, while I have less than two shelves worth of books on Christianity.  I also seem to have quite a collection of personal development/leadership books.  The rest are mostly textbooks from college courses and old classics I bought at a used book store in high school.

http://www.hopeingod.org/Beliefs.aspx:

The Mind and the Heart
We are convinced that truth really matters and that right belief is essential for sustained, persevering right living and affections. And we want to keep these two in proper order. Right belief is not our ultimate goal. Rather, we aim deeper; we aim for the heart. We want to help you in your quest for joy. In Pastor John Piper’s words, “From a biblical standpoint studying and thinking and knowing are never ends in themselves; they always stand in the service of feeling and willing and doing. The mind is the servant of the heart. Knowledge exists for the sake of love. And all theology worth its salt produces doxology.”

Some Generalizations about Study Habits and Improving Study Habits

1.   You cannot be said to have learned something until you can explain it to someone else in speech or in writing.  You must not assume that you have learned something merely because you have heard it or heave read it.

2.   Effective students, that is, the ones who get the most from their time spent studying, do not wait until they get to class to find out whether or not they have learned their lessons and assignments; they question themselves after studying.  If they can’t explain to themselves what they have learned, how can they explain it to the instructor in class or on a test?

3.   Many students are in a constant state of anxiety and frustration about doing their homework because they allow everything else to take priority over it.  Going to class and doing homework can be viewed as a job for now and perhaps for the next several years.  Your home assignments should be as regular, and your time for them as well-budgeted, as your class time in school.

4.   About notebooks: you make them and they are for your use, no one else’s.  You are writing notes to yourself which you expect to be of value weeks, even months, from the day you took them.  Therefore–pen is better than pencil.  Date your notes; if you miss some, you’ll know what you missed and will be able to get them from someone else.  Take notes while you are doing your reading assignment at home.  Also, the closer you can come to writing a complete sentence in your notes the better.  One word or a phrase in your notes may make sense while you’re listening to the lecture, but may have no meaning much later when you need the informaiton.

5.   Frequent review of your notes makes studying them for an exam later much easier.  It’s sometimes surprising to see how much you covered in a short time in some subjects.  Don’t expect to remember everything at once–even though you are expected to remember almost everything in a final exam!

6.   When you study, have everything you need before you settle down.  Clear your desk of everything but what you need for study.  Have a quiet place–or as quiet as you can get it.  Music or television can be distracting.  They may soothe you, but they can also slow you down and break up your ability to concentrate.  Concentration is hard enough to maintain under ideal circumstances; don’t make it harder.

7.   Don’t get too comfortable.  Your brain will think it’s time to retire.  Keep the room cool; make sure you’re getting fresh air to feed the brain the oxygen it needs to work.

8.   If you can’t concentrate for very long, give yourself a short–perhaps five minutes–break periodically.  Get away from the work entirely for a while–not too long.  Remember–if you are tired of doing one thing you don’t have to go to bed to rest; just do something else.  It isn’t that your body is tired; it’s that the muscles you’ve been using to perform one activity are tired.  So, change to another activiity.  Your mind operates the same way.  If you’re tired of doing math, you don’t have to go to sleep; just switch to another form of mental activity.  Do your English or history.  However, if you are exhausted, don’t do anything.  You’ll do more harm than good.  Restand start fresh.

9.   Your study habits and techniques are your own.  What works for one person may not be any good for someone else.  But you must develop habits of study.  Your homework and school work cannot be accomplished in a haphazard way if you are to have the best results.  As time goes on, you will be studying with less and less help from teachers.  The habits you develop now will be the habits you will use in the future.  These habits will determine whether you are mature enough and efficient enough to meet the challenge of independent study.