💡
Teach Yourself How to Learn
Author
Saundra Yancy McGuire
Date Finished
Oct 25, 2020
Fiction?
Non-Fiction
Genres
Study
Notes Status
Notes Finished
Rating
Lifechanging
🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
 The first step to effective learn in School.
 Life-changing for those who are failing in Courses
 Easy to follow through with.
🎨 Impressions
I walked into this Book with an open mind and was thoroughly impressed by how
easy and simple it was. I realized that learning is much simpler, easier, and faster
than modern Education institutions lead me to believe. I believe this should be the
first thing struggling students should read before doing tutoring or dropping out
of a class.
How I Discovered It
Teach Yourself How to Learn
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I looked up 'How to Learn' on Amazon and this book was towards the top of the
list.
Who Should Read It?
Any aspiring student who is finding themselves struggling to retain and
understand material in classes. Anyone who is considering dropping out of school
due to difficulty in classes.
☘ How this Book Changed Me
💡
How my life / behaviour / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of
reading the book.
It made me reevaluate my own learning processes and see how I can improve
them based on factual, proven methods. It has completely changed how I
look at learning, motivation, and how to engage with my study material.
Previously I only every studied before the test and frequently did allnighters
as I had in high-school to ace classes. Now I understand the significant of
proper learning strategies and am studying 10 or more hours a week.
My life has improved in every way because of this book. I feel a fresh passion
in me to learn and now I actually see real-time progress from studying. I am
more productive and much more motivated to sit and spend time studying or
reviewing material than I was in the past.
It gave me hope and confidence that I could achieve what I desire most: being
a doctor.
✍ My Top 3 Quotes
There is no right or wrong way to become a better learner. The
best way to find out what works for you is to dive right in and
Teach Yourself How to Learn
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see which strategies you enjoy the most.
McGuire, Saundra Yancy. Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to
Ace Any Course at Any Level (pp. 124125. Stylus Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Keep in mind that if a strategy does not work for one class, that
doesn’t mean it won’t work for another. You will learn over time
which tools and strategies work best with which types of
classes.
McGuire, Saundra Yancy. Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to
Ace Any Course at Any Level (p. 125. Stylus Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Self-talk constantly occupies our minds. If the majority of those
thoughts are negative and self-destructive, they can negatively
impact our learning efforts Hirsch, 2001. Conversely, if our
self-talk is compassionate and encouraging, it can make
learning easier.
McGuire, Saundra Yancy. Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to
Ace Any Course at Any Level (p. 106. Stylus Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Before you start, consider Metacognition and Bloom's Taxonomy
Metacognition is the process of thinking about one's own thinking. Often when
we do bad on a test or class, we never once consider if it has something to do
with how we think. We assume we are either stupid, the class was too hard and
the professor didn't teach it well, or that we need to work harder. I know
personally that I never considered my learning strategies and habits may be a
problem even after failing or withdrawing from at least 10 classes in college. I
always thought I needed to work harder doing the SAME thing. After reading the
first few pages of this book, I realized I need to examine how I learned and why
was it not working for my classes. This became extremely easy after reading
about Bloom's Taxonomy in this book and applying it to my life.
Teach Yourself How to Learn
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Bloom's Taxonomy is a pyramid
detailing the levels of Learning
starting first with Remembering, then
Understanding, then Applying, and
etc.. I immediately saw that I never
once rose higher than the second level
,which is Understanding, in my
classes; this lead to ultimately my
failure or withdrawal of my Upperlevel classes since they required that I
be at the Analyzing or Evaluating level
of Learning and I only had a superficial
grasp of the material.
So ask yourself these Questions:
"What level of Bloom's Taxonomy do I need to be in order to do well in this
course?"
"What level am I currently at?"
Once you have an answer to these questions you can effective use the Learning
Strategies below to accomplish whatever level of Learning you need in order to
succeed in your course.
📒 Learning Strategies
 Implement the study cycle and schedule three to four intense study
sessions per day (Preview material → Attend Classes → Review material →
Study → Assess your progress. An intense study session can be however
long you want but it should at least be 30 minutes.)
 Actively prepare to read by first previewing the material. Read through the
headers of the material. If you see a header that says "Photosynthesis", then
you know what a vast majority of what you will read will pertain too. This
allows your to slowly organize the details of the section into the big picture
"Photosynthesis".)
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 Read actively by developing questions before you start to read. This works
best in conjunction with Rule 3. Ex: If you see a Header that says "Strong
Acids", develop a question like "What is a strong acid?" or "What makes an
acid strong?")
 Paraphrase information in each paragraph before you move onto the next
one. This will help you to actively memorize/summarize the contents of
everything you read.)
 Actively read and learn by using flashcards, concept maps, mind maps, and
other tools. Use what ever helps you understand the material)
 Read the textbook. Your teacher has already mastered the area in which
they are teaching. So they will understand their notes better than you. You
may need supplemental material in a textbook to understand the notes)
 Always attend every class.
 Take good class notes by hand. This one is debatable. I believe if you take
notes faster by computer and it enables you to process what the teacher is
saying better, than do it. Also, if it saves you time and energy, use a
computer.)
 Preview and review for every class. It is absolutely empowering to walk in a
class and already know what is happening or has happened in the past. This
will let you truly engage with the material as your professor teaches.)
 Do homework assignments without examples or textbook information.
This will utilize a method of studying called Active Recall. It requires more
energy but will result in a better outcome of learning)
 Prepare as if you have to teach the information you are learning. This is one
of the most helpful things in this book. Memorizing the information for a test
does not result in learning. However, if you treat everything as if you have to
teach a classroom of people, you will take it more seriously.)
 Study with a partner or study group, and go to each session prepared. This
is really only helpful if the group as a whole stays on track and does not try
to "Split" the material. In other words, if the group says "I'll study this while
you study that..." then it will result in everyone learning only their assigned
parts instead of the whole thing.)
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 Create practice exams to evaluate your mastery of the material. This can
be helpful but I find it less time consuming to have a list of questions that you
develop and answer. This is about the same as creating a practice exam and
you can use Spaced repetition to gauge your progress in the class)
 Start homework the day that it is assigned and do a little of it each day. If
you procrastinate, you automatically put yourself in the "Get it done" mindset
instead of "Let's Learn and Evaluate my Progress" mindset. The "Get it done"
mindset will not help for an exam)
 Adopt a growth mindset about intelligence. Intelligence is not fixed! You are
not stupid if you fail a test. If you can remember a like nine word Starbucks
order or everything that happened in a movie, how can you be unintelligent?
Rather you are already smart and you will keep growing in intelligence with
every GOOD habit you make towards learning.)
 Monitor your self-talk and stay positive. This is surprisingly well-known but
not used much. Everyone admires positive people but rarely try to be positive
when they take a test. If it helps, grab your favorite food or drink before an
exam and relax. Tell yourself, I'll do well. And if you studied and used these
strategies effectively, you will)
 Attribute results to actions, not ability. Intelligence and success is not based
on ability but action. If you use effective learning strategies and work at least
30 minutes a day, you will always do well in class)
 Get adequate rest, nutrition, and exercise. The brain is part of the body,
feeding it a Snicker's bar and getting 2 hours of rest will not help it.)
 Keep a semester calendar. I used to think this was pointless but after doing
it for 2 months, I found myself always on-top of assignments and never
"surprised" when I had one due.)
 Keep a weekly calendar. Time-management is so important and it is
impossible to properly do if you do not know your weekly schedule)
 Commit to studying 2025 hours per week. I believe this is situational. You
can do well in any class and any subject without spending this amount of time
but it is based on what strategy is most effective for you and the state of
your mind when you study. If you are calm and relaxed, you can accomplish 8
Teach Yourself How to Learn
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hours of stressed studying in just 2 hours. Your brain will retain information
and comprehend it better if you are relaxed. So you don't have to study this
long per week if you find that these methods are most effective for you.
However, I have noticed myself enjoying studying and will do it for at least 1
to 2 hours a day, 710 hours a week.)
 Protect your free time. If you want to spend your free time in underwear,
with a beer, watching the Office for the 6th time, then do it. Do not feel
pressured to do anything if you have already sit aside time for studying and
other important activities.)
 Prioritize according to needs and wants. If you are struggling in Chemistry
but doing well in English, prioritize your time towards Chemistry. The same
goes for chores and other essential tasks.)
 Organize test information by preparing charts, outlines, or a study guide. I
find it easier to do this with your questions. If you organize your questions
according to your notes and which material came first, then you can
accomplish all of this. Remember time-management is key and if you can
save time yet still study effectively that is best.)
 Determine the types of questions that upcoming tests will feature such as
essay, short answer, multiple choice, T/F, etc.. If you just write questions
about the material from the start, you can mostly accomplish this. There is a
different method for preparing for essays. For essays, it would be most
effective to ask students who previously took the class, or even the teacher
for past tests in order to have an idea on how the essays questions are
structured. From there, you would create your own essay questions following
that example format/structure.)
 Write down formulas or other information you may need before you begin
an exam. This rarely is allowed in classes but if a class allows open-notes or
a cheat sheet, then this method is effective.)
 Read test directions very carefully, listen for additional directions, and ask
for clarification. Take your time. Stay relaxed, and do not speed read a
question. Make sure you understand what is being asked before you start
answering. This will save you time and effort.)
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 Survey the exam before starting and budget your time. Flip through the
exam and see what questions will take the longest to answer and do those
questions last.)
 Begin with the easiest test questions and work your way up to the harder
ones. This is meant to be applied with Strategy 17 and 29. You want to
budget your time but also make sure that you are building your confidence
with each question you answer. If you are not positive and confident during
your exam, you will find that it is impossible to remember key details.)
 Expect memory blocks and recognize that the information will come back to
you if you move on to other questions. Sometimes our brain needs a bit of
time to answer something, so it is best to move onto other immediately
answerable questions. I cannot tell you how many times I have done this or
literally just put my head down in an exam to close my eyes and just nap.
After I wake up, my brain has usually figured out the answer.)
 Perform deep breathing to relax, and use positive self-talk to reduce test
anxiety. This is much easier if you have done yoga regularly in the past. If
you feel anxious, breath deeply. Calm yourself. It is just a test. Not the end of
a world or your life.)
 Analyze all returned tests and quizzes, and develop a plan for
improvement. Metacognition is important. It is thinking about how your
think. If you find that flashcards is not as helpful as writing questions or
mapping out a concept, then stop using flashcards for that Course. This is
perhaps the most crucial thing you can do.)
 Use the campus learning center for group study, tutoring, and other helpful
information. I have personally never used these resources due to either
arrogance, shame, or learned helplessness. However, after seeing how
valuable the information and strategies in this book are I am more inclined to
trust these resources.)
 Visit your professors' office hours on a regular basis. I have only done this
a few times but I understand its importance. Most professors are great
people and love when students are eager to learn. Visiting your professor
during those hours can foster a teacher-student relationship that is best for
your learning potential.)
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