#externalize

This earthly experience,life in this physical realm,is the externalization ofone’s internal state. The awakened life,the truth of the spiritual realm,is the internal resurrectiontransforming externalities. You are in the world, not of it,lost and found, hide and seek;life, like a game, my friendengage to be complete. -akw- ___©2026 Angel K WillBlog Photo by Chait Goli from Pexels

Your emotional state dictates how motivated you are to study

Positive emotional state .. hyper focused, easy to retain material

Negative emotional state .. easily distracted and hard to retain, let alone connect information together.

Read ahead

Write your own notes

Create a book with from your own notes

Create questions to ask the instructor

Update your notes during the lecture

Externalize examples, where possible.

Create visual examples

Use a 3 ring binder to build your book

Use loose leaf paper to update book pages as needed.

If you are savy enough, transcribe your notes into a computer and print them.

Use an electronic tablet to write your notes into.

... I use a MobiScribe ... It has the longest battery life available, and uses a paper white screen, that is also back lit.

Using pen and paper involves more brain cells in the memorization process than does recording and listening.

Send your notes to the instructor or a TA or Tutor for review

Print QR codes for important websites so that you can link to them via phone quickly.

Locate websites that explain various topics you need.

Do the home work assignments.

Many sites are now providing the steps to complete the assignments so that you don't have to rely on the instructors notes.

Math .. check slader dot com

Relate the material to existing knowledge you have as best as possible.

Reorganize the material so that it makes sense to you.

... As I'm a computer programmer first, I try to reorient math into programs, and build graphs using HTML and JavaScript ...

Identify the holes in your knowledge by doing the homework before the lecture.

Work through problems pre and post lecture.

Create a quiz for yourself to test your knowledge of the material just before a test.

Teach the topic to others, if you can, even if it's through a youTube channel.

Instructors show ... Technique, Strategy, Theory and Process ... but only test on 1 of these 4. Identify which of these and study for those types of tests.

Technique .. is a method by which to solve a specific problem

Strategy .. is a method by which you figure out which technique you should use to solve a problem.

Theory ... used a lot in math based subjects ... requires the student to derive technique or processes by invoking logic to move through a series of steps to get from one technique to another.

Process ... is the steps needed to complete a task.

... ex of process .. bake a cake

.. ex of technique .. how to sift the flower to insure a light and fluffy cake

... ex of strategy ... different types of flower you can use to bake a cake, or other ingredients

... ex of theory .. what makes cakes light and fluffy

What ever time the instructor thinks you need to complete the home work assignments, triple it. Esp, if it's a topic you can't readily relate to existing knowledge.

Play the right music while you're studying

Play the same music while taking a test

If your instructor allows for notes during tests, curate you notes specifically to solve the problems on your pre test quiz

Use Prep Quizzes to determine how much time you need to complete problems.

Use friends and reminders to prompt you to study

Join a study group

Doodle

Study while walking or cleaning or doing something physical, if needed

Keep snacks and sweets near by to feed your brain sugar  and caffeen

Take rewarding breaks, like eating chocolate after studying through a difficult problem.

Use a white board in an empty room to explaining your subject to an invisible audience out loud, writing major concepts on the board in different colors.

Experiment with WHERE you study

If you haven’t seen Study Tips for People with ADHD, please review this.  In this post, I’m focusing on what to do 1 to 2 days before a test or quiz, to help you prepare.

Determine what type of test you will be taking:

Practical

Terminology

Essay

Strategy

Process Oriented

True / False

Multiple Choice

Group

Individual

Lab

Other

All Of the Above

Will the test be: 

Open Notes

Open Book

Both or 

Closed

If your instructor has a website with all their previous tests on it, get that URL and QR Code in your book and go check out the tests. If they don’t, find an instructor who has posted their tests in a public forum and review them.

Meditate!!! (Don’t skip this step.  You need to be CALM!!!)

Get your Troll Dolls and Caffeinated Sugary Sweet Beverage Chilled and in copious quantities.

Put on some transcendental music to listen to, that will both energize you up and keep you focused.

Do your homework. This will help you identify everything you don’t know about what the test covers. And, it will help you track how much time it will take for you to answer a question.  This is important, since most tests are structured for a fixed time. Thus, you can guess as to what questions or types of questions the instructor may ask.

When you find something you don’t know, create a new entry in your book for just that topic. (This is very helpful if you have open notes testing.)

If you think that the instructor is going to ask a specific set of questions based on time, then include those problems in your book.

If this is a closed book test, review questions from your text that the instructor didn’t assign, as a prep quiz.

If you find that you are having problems remembering how to complete a series of steps to answer a question, turn the steps into a story.  And, if necessary draw the story out. The more you engage your different parts of your brain to remember the process, the easier it will be to recall.

Pack our bag the night before with your 

head phones

music

study notes

pens, pencils, erasers

clean paper

Test Error Check List

The easiest way to pass a test is for it not to be a test, but instead to be a demonstration of what you know stone cold.

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References:

Hoje é 17 de fevereiro de 2021, um dia meio nublado, uma tarde longa, quase infinita. Já pensei em fazer várias coisas, já fiz várias outras. Estou bloqueada criativamente e me permiti parar, tentar desligar a mente, e distrair um pouco. Quando me pego pensando em várias versões de mim, e penso em escrever sobre isso. Mas vou além, lembro dos meus registros em tantos lugares. Agendas, blogs, últimas páginas de cadernos, folhas avulsas... palavras e expressões por toda parte. Minha mente quase nunca está desligada. Até mesmo quando durmo são sonhos tão mirabolantes e fantásticos. 

Mas não adianta pensar e pensar e pensar. É preciso saber o que pensar, e transformar isso em algo. Se escrevo nesse momento, é para externalizar. Se externalizo, é para esvaziar. Deixar ir, permitir um novo espaço, materializar, colocar para fora. E é isso. Que haja espaço para as coisas sairem de nós e se transformarem em coisas bonitas, que saia de nós e se torne vida, força, um trabalho, uma poesia, uma realização, uma ajuda, uma missão.

O tumblr já foi um espaço para que eu me esvaziasse muitas vezes. Na maioria através de imagens de terceiros, textos de terceiros. Há tanta fala que nos representa e nos leva para tantos lugares.