Desiree

- Anonymous

Prepping for the school week ahead. ✨ I’m still very much stuck on writing the Results section of my thesis so I grabbed some coffee, arranged my desk, and updated my calendar* first.

“Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.” — William Arthur Ward

Hey guys, how was your day?🤓 Mine was okay, I managed to study a little bit and I’ve also done my Weekly Study Schedule (printable from @emmastudies) because I am now on holidays but still have exams at the end of April and beginning of May! After my exams I’ll have 3months and a half of holidays! I AM SO READY FOR THAT TBH!

So here is a little picture of my desk area from today!📚🙌🏻 I’ve also read an article saying that drinking water helps boost one’s mental performance: STUDY! To sum up, it basically helps your brain to work faster! (Now you can picture me drinking 900L of water before my finals hahahaha)😂😂😂

Side note: I ordered “Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela”, I’ll have to wait around 2 weeks before getting it because I bought a used one from Amazon for only 3€ (I’m obsessed with used books with pages discoloration, notes and highlighting inside)🙌🏻

nerdybun’s back to school printable set!

prepare your new school year with these printables that will aid you in your studies! this printable set includes —

daily planner

weekly planner

assignment planner

project planner

essay outline

grade tracker

download links and examples under the cut

– download daily planner

– download weekly planner

– download assignment planner

– download project planner

– download essay outline

– download grade tracker

sorry for the late post, loves! are you guys in school already? I procrastinated a little making these examples :T and was just finding a style I can stick to for more coherent looking posts in the future. I really hope you like them!

I’m back with more printables! 

This time, it’s printables to help you organise your classes/schedule, your assignments, revision and meals. For daily/weekly/monthly printables see my previous posts here and here. 

“Class information”/schedule printable: a simple table where you can fill in your semester, starting/ending date, finals date, classes you’re taking as well as what time/in which room/which professor. Below that, a table to fill in what textbook is suggested for each class. 

Find it here.

“Class information” for one specific class: a printable you can keep at the front of your binder/notebook filled in with all the basic information for that class. Including room/professor, assessment methods, materials and study methods. 

Find it here. 

“Assignment planner”: to help you keep all of your assignment information in one page. Includes spaces for the title, type, class, due date, worth, outline, sources and milestones. 

Find it here.

“Revision planner”: a weekly and hourly plan of your revision.

Find it here.

“Meal planner”: a weekly view with spaces for your breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as a shopping list and notes section.

Find it here.

I hope you guys enjoy/use these! If you do, please let me know by tagging me. 

See me letter the headers in this video! 

You can change the color of the banners in Photoshop - these are editable PDFs. 

Yes, even if you’re taking the maximum credit load. Because if I can do it, you can do it too. Note: My credit load also included a handful of honors courses. 

Side-note: I’m going to be a junior (how??) and an RA (!!!) in the fall. Life moves fast. College moves faster. Anyways, 

Here are my top tips: 

1. LOOK AT THE SYLLABUS AND WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. This is step number one, and it’s not up for debate. If you do this, there’ll be no surprises, and if there are: point it out to the professor (a simple, ??? this wasn’t on the syllabus ??, usually works). Also, you have to check and see what constitutes as an A in that class. Sometimes it’s a 90, sometimes it’s not. (a 96 was an A- in one of my classes last semester. I’m so serious.)

2. Get a calendar. Not a planner. One of those giant calendars with puppies or something on it and write down everything you have to do for the month. Put it above your desk. This helps A LOT because you can see everything you have coming up for the next few weeks, instead of jus playing it day-by-day. 

3. It is OK to use ratemyprofessor. Sometimes it can be really helpful, but pay attention to the more in depth reviews that talk about what the homework, tests, quizzes and projects are like (instead of “her lectures are boring :///) 

4. Sit in the front of your class. You’ll be more likely to pay attention and less likely to scroll through instagram. (by the way, mine is @parissdb :) It also grabs your professors attention, so even if you’re shy, they’ll at least know your face.

5. Do that extra credit. A lot of professors offer it in the beginning of the semester, and hardly anyone does it because no one’s thinking past tomorrow. It may be what saves you in the long run. 

6. Figure out your best method of note-taking. For me, it’s good ol pen and paper. It helps me remember everything. Some people prefer typing it out. This is beneficial bc it makes it easier for you to find exactly what you’re looking for. (Thank you, command + F)

7. Put your effort into the percentages. If an assignment is worth 1% of your grade, do it well, but don’t exhaust yourself. It’s 1%!!!! If it comes down to it, spend more time studying for that exam that’s worth 30% than the group project worth 20. 

8. Please. Stop studying what you already know. We’re all guilty of it. It makes you feel better knowing you have chapters 1-3 down, even if you don’t know 4-7. The key to studying is to learn what you don’t know. 

9. Learn how to study. (Yes, it’s actually a skill that has to be learned.) I’m the biggest procrastinator I know, especially when it comes to studying. But I’ve found that studying 2 days before an exam usually does the trick for me. I create a master study guide during day 1 and study it all on day 2. Depending on what time the exam is, I may review on the morning of day 3. 

10. SAVE SOME TIME FOR FUN ffs. Seriously. You don’t have to study 24/7, and I don’t know about y’all but my attention span was not built for that.

I might add more to this later, or make another post because I could give these tips for ever and ever. But hopefully this helps someone out there. 

― How to write an essay as an undergraduate history student

These are general guidelines to help undergraduate students write better essays. *Note that every assignment is different. You should take the time to closely read the instructions and meet with your Professor if necessary. I hope you will find these useful and good luck writing your papers!

B E F O R E   Y  O U   S T A R T

Make sure that you have closely read the instructions as presented by your Professor. There are many different types of historical essays (argumentative essays, historiographical reviews and so on). It is imperative that your style is adapted to the type of essay you are required to write.

Gather all your information. Some Professors want students to write essays using only class material, others expect them to do more research.  If the latter, make sure to gather all (most) of your information beforehand. If you are a university student, you  have access to a library and many academic journals. Use this access and make sure to ask librarians for help when needed.

Take careful notes as you are reading in preparation for your essay. If your Professor provided a specific question, make sure to read critically for information that is susceptible to help you answer this question. If your Professor has not assigned a question, you should still read carefully and try to find the different ways in which historians address certain issues. 

Some students prefer not to plan essays, others do. I suggest planning as it may be the best way to map out your ideas and begin forming an argument. It is impossible to cover all the facets of a problem in one essay, therefore, planning your essay may be the easiest way to make sure your work covers important aspects of a given issue. Planning will also help ensure that all your arguments remain connected and support a central claim.

Find a few (preferably history) essays that you find well-written and pay special attention to their structure. While you should be careful never to be so inspired as to be tempted to copy (this is a very serious academic offence) the goal of this exercise is to find more academic vocabulary and see how it is used by actual scholars. 

W H E N    W R I T I N G 

If your Professor gave you a question to answer in advance, make sure you answer this question and this question only. While you should always supply your arguments with pertinent examples, these should be succinct and focus on the main contention debated in your essay.

Make sure your essay has a thesis statement (yes, even when you are asked to answer a question). Your Professor should know from the very beginning of your essay what you will be arguing and what position you will take. All subsequent paragraphs until your conclusion should serve to better make the case for your thesis.

Try to follow the “classical” essay model, that is: introduction, body and conclusion. 

Began each paragraph with a topic sentence announcing the focus of the next few lines. Conclude the paragraph by rephrasing the main idea and possibly by trying to make a connection with the next body of text.

Always bring evidence to support your arguments. This evidence may come from the work of other historians are from a passage of a primary document. Whatever the case may be, make sure that your arguments are solidly built and “defended”.

Introductions and conclusions are (usually) not optional. Your introduction should help the reader understand what the text will argue and how it will proceed to do so, while your conclusion finishes the text by summarising key points and perhaps even making a suggestion for future studies. (An additional tip may be to write a simple introduction at the beginning and then rewriting it when the essay is finished. Once you are satisfied with your introduction, you may copy and paste it as your conclusion making necessary adjustments and avoiding copying the exact sentence structure. The point here is to use your introduction as a guide to write your conclusion.)

Be precise, you are writing a history paper, dates and names matter. 

Be clear and concise but make sure that all your points are well-developed. 

G E N E R A L   T I P S 

Locate your argument in historiography. As a historian in training, it is important that you show your Professor that you understand there are debates regarding specific interpretations. It is also important that you demonstrate that your line of argumentation is supported by the work of experienced researchers. Even if your essay primarily focuses on primary document analysis, surely some have analysed this text or object before, make sure to mention these scholars and their contributions to the debate.

Citations should be used wisely. As said before, it is important to ground your argument in the work of other historians. In this sense, citations are immensely useful. That being said, depending on the length of your paper, too many citations may suggest laziness as you have made little efforts paraphrasing. A few carefully selected and well-integrated quotes in your paper should do the trick.

ig: maryberrystudy

Close up of my Travel Log to Georgia 🍑

{08.01.17} 14/100 days of productivity!! i revisited past notes on the structure and functions of the cell surface membrane today!!

[ 23rd december 2016 ] hi, nice to meet this wonderful tumblr community, i’m yan’s cousin, and i’m posting in her place today to share my amateur econs notes!! 🌿🌿 she’d been pestering me to join the community since forever and after just two days of scrolling through her feed i’m hooked :* this is me dabbling with different colours and doodles (full creds to @studywithinspo who is my current fave and inspiration ily) & because this was done on a whim, i have no markers at all, save for a bunch of colour pencils, a single mildliner, and a whole lot of tenacity if this gets positive feedback, i might officially join the studyblr fam!! *cheers*

Organisation

how to set up a bullet journal

setting up a digital bullet journal

mossery co planner review

planner brand recommendations

bullet journal spread ideas

bullet journal decoration hacks

whats in my bag

my favourite stationery

back to school basic supplies

how to improve your handwriting

balancing study and work

2017 monthly planner printables

2018 monthly planner printables

Productivity

productivity and time management applications

how to remove distractions

types of procrastination and how to deal with them

google chrome new tab options for improved productivity

10 small ways to improve your productivity

applications to block websites

no distraction writing applications

100 days of productivity challenge 

how to focus in class

how to stick to a schedule

how to stay alert

how to build self-discipline

how to organise for exams

Motivation

what to do when you’ve tried everything

how to gain back motivation

motivational monday printables

how to stop avoiding studying

what to do when you feel exhausted before studying

how I stay motivated

tips on maintaining motivation

how to start a studyblr

how to set up a studygram

dealing with competitive people

how to bounce back from ‘failure’

Studying

applications for students

how to take effective class or lecture notes

how to take notes from a textbook

studying printable pack 

my note-taking method

my notebook system

how to write faster

how I organise my binders

good habits to implement

how to study (my method)

how to organise a colour code

how to memorise information effectively

how to memorise quotes

how to use flashcards

how I reduce waffle and narration in essays

tips for essay writing

how to find out where you’re going wrong

how I prepare to study

different ways to study

how to annotate a book/novel/etc

how to get ahead in school

studying as a visual learner

how to practice and present a speech

mindmapping apps and extensions

how to deal with online classes

how to study a language

apps to write without distraction

Self Care

how to improve your sleep schedule

how to study when sick

over-coming self doubt

dealing with stress

how to balance studying and anxiety

how to balance studying and depression

apps that help with depression

ways to reward your productivity

my favourite tv shows

ways to use empty notebooks

how to be more sociable

Printables

weekly study schedule

note-taking printables (dotted, grid, lined, cornell method)

exam revision printable pack (revision checklist, formulas + definitions sheet, essay + project planner, weekly schedule)

week at a glance

organic chemistry printable

100 days of productivity tracker

literary techniques 

purpe pre calc notes! 💜✨