Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Some students overcome this hurdle by forming learning teams.
A learning team is a group of learners who help each other learn.
It is like a discussion group, but it is not just for revising.
They work together all year to learn. When do these groups meet? When they have free time at school or after lessons finish. In these groups, they share textbooks and help each other to learn. They take turns to take the textbook and read a unit. Then you can tell each other what is in it.
They can also ask each other questions to make sure they understand. Asking questions is very important.
Teachers tell students to ask questions before they read any text. This helps students to think about what they are trying to learn. You can ask questions about all sorts of things. Then you can find answers by reading or asking older learners or teachers.
Teachers like learners who ask questions in class as this shows that they are trying to understand what they are learning.
There is no point in letting the lesson proceed if you have not understood the concepts being learnt.
Teachers enjoy learners who are more active in class than the docile ones who absorb everything from the teacher even if they have not understood it well.
You must all work hard and help each other. Learning goes well when there is an exchange of ideas. There should be co-operation in class. Learners should empathise with others.
These study groups work well in uniting students. They learn to assist each other rather than laugh at them in case one makes a mistake.
In groups, you look at each other’s work and help make it better. Think about how to use your time well. You can start a learning team with some friends.
Between four and six is a good number. Learn how to choose friends. Choose progressive friends who will help you learn.
Do not find yourself in a group of lazy people who are not interested in learning or studying. When it comes to the use of time, make something like a pie chart to think about your time as you sometimes waste it.
From that pie chart, you can determine whether you waste or use your time well and your friends can assist you organise your time.
In drawing your pie chart, you might overlook some things like setting aside time to relax and find yourself tied right through the day. Remember, in that busy schedule you still need to have time to relax at school and talk with friends at home.
This is absolutely true since you cannot work all the time. When you work all the time, you become tired and bored.
You cannot think. That is right. It is better to work hard for a short time and then have a break. You will learn more that way.
One way to remember words is to try an experiment with a number of words in a box for one minute only. After this, you ask yourself, which words you remember?
Look at the words in the box and your list. Answer the following questions: Did you remember the first word?
Did you remember the last word? Did you remember a particular word, probably a word different from the rest, written in a local language?
Did you write the furniture words together like these examples (bed, table, chair, desk, sofa)? Did you write red and green together? What does this tell us?
Many people are said to have done this experiment, it tells us some interesting facts about how we remember.
Most people remember the first and last words. Most people remember words that are different, in this case, they remember the vernacular word because it is not an English word.
Most people write words that are related in meaning together, for example, they remember table, chair, desk, sofa and bed as a group; also red and green.
They might also remember and write hill with mountain and animal with dog. How can this help us?
We remember the first and last things. Study and revise for lots of short periods – then there will be more firsts and lasts. We remember different, interesting and surprising things-
Read information that interests you and make notes of surprising and interesting things. We remember things in groups. Write down vocabulary in groups of related words.
Make notes that show how facts and ideas are related.
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