Physics

it’s about a 4-step process if i have the time

i just skim and copy down vocab (not the ones i already know) and write the headings of each section in my notes

i read for comprehension and write down main topics but with no notes underneath them

now i look at my notes and try to fill in every topic as much as i can without looking at the textbook. i also go over the vocab now and star the ones i don’t really understand

i go back to the book for the third time. here’s when i find out anything i missed in the main topics and add extra notes to my starred vocab. i write any extra notes from this step in another color so i know what to study more

obviously i don’t always have time to do this whole thing. so if i’ve got limited time i read through one (1) time and take notes as i go. this is how i decide whether or not it’s important enough to write down

it’s new vocab

i had to read the passage a few times to understand

it makes sense, but i think i’ll forget it by the next day

it makes other notes easier to understand

one of my favorite ways to take notes, especially for math and science is by using the example problems and writing step-by-step instructions for them on the side. for example:

Studying, done right, can be the most rewarding of all activites. It is stimulating, but relaxing. You’re focused, but wandering your mind.  Your mind is abuzz, but your body breathes slow. You’re alone, but in the company of millenia of thinking. You pick something up, take it apart and you make it your own. You’re literally assembling your future thoughts. You’re in control of how you will see the world.

You’re growing, but you’re raising yourself.

The physicist knows static electricity is making the waterline climb slightly up against the wall of the glass, so it’s probably less than half full.

The guy in the hoody nodded. “You heard me.”

“Bro, that stuff’s deadly. Like, don’t people get seriously hooked on that?” I whispered.

The hooded man was silent. “Take it or leave it. One time offer.”

I looked at the needle hanging out of my arm. Meth didn’t seem good enough any more. I needed something more. I needed Meth…to the power of 2. Meth squared.

“Okay, hit me. What you got?”

The shady figure leaned close to me. “We’ll start nice and slow.” He slid a sheet of equations across the desk. “Find x for these bad boys.” 

My heart fluttered. I hadn’t felt like this for a long time. It wasn’t till I got to the last equation that I felt the euphoria of pure math. A quadratic equation. Two possible values for x. I felt an aura of ethereal happiness. My happiness was cut short by a huge explosion.

“There’s been a math lab explosion!” Someone screamed.