How to Prepare for Class
Being prepared for class makes you more relaxed, pleases the instructor and generally ensures good overall class performance.
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Things You'll Need
- Academic Counselings
- College Textbooks
- Dictionaries
- Thesauri
- No. 2 Pencils
- Calendars
- Colored Pens
- Folders
- Highlighter Pens
- Personal Organizers
- Spiral Notebooks
- Staplers
- Colored pens
Instructions
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1
Buy your course books immediately after your first class meeting and take them to every class. Buying them before that is risky, since some classes are canceled for lack of attendance or the reading list is changed.
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Review your class syllabus carefully, marking assignments and due dates in highlighter or colored pen. Jot down any extra assignments your instructor gives during class. Transfer this information onto a large home calendar.
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Purchase all of the items you'll need for science or computer lab assignments well ahead of time.
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Skim tables of contents to see how long each reading assignment is. Plan accordingly.
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Take enough paper and writing implements for quizzes and essay exams even if your instructor has not announced any.
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Make sure you finish all of the assigned reading for that day before showing up to class. An assignment written next to a date on the syllabus means to finish the reading by that day, not to start it.
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Look up any words you don't understand as you read. Asking your instructor for a definition during class will not always get a favorable response.
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Mark your text with your own comments, questions, underlinings and arrows. Prepare to ask one intelligent question as well as answer one.
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Buy and keep ready at home your own dictionary, stapler, paper, writing materials and folders.
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Tips & Warnings
Always be on time.
Exchange phone numbers with another classmate in case you must miss class and you need to get notes, assignments or handouts.
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Comments
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jukia
Jul 12, 2008
I find it especially helpful to at least outline or write down main points the reading before class. This way (especially in lectures where the professor is basically going over the reading) you can follow along and if you get lost spacing off (which is my habit, *my excuse ADD*) you know what you missed and need to recap later. It works even better if you write up the key points from the reading before hand, then when the lecture occurs all you need to do is star key points or fill in anything that you missed or the teacher adds, rather than writing everything down at that time the teacher says it. -
jukia
Jul 12, 2008
I find it especially helpful to at least outline or write down main points the reading before class. This way (especially in lectures where the professor is basically going over the reading) you can follow along and if you get lost spacing off (which is my habit, *my excuse ADD*) you know what you missed and need to recap later. It works even better if you write up the key points from the reading before hand, then when the lecture occurs all you need to do is star key points or fill in anything that you missed or the teacher adds, rather than writing everything down at that time the teacher says it.
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jukia
Jul 12, 2008
I find it especially helpful to at least outline or write down main points the reading before class. This way (especially in lectures where the professor is basically going over the reading) you can follow along and if you get lost spacing off (which is my habit, *my excuse ADD*) you know what you missed and need to recap later. It works even better if you write up the key points from the reading before hand, then when the lecture occurs all you need to do is star key points or fill in anything that you missed or the teacher adds, rather than writing everything down at that time the teacher says it.
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jukia
Jul 12, 2008
I find it especially helpful to at least outline or write down main points the reading before class. This way (especially in lectures where the professor is basically going over the reading) you can follow along and if you get lost spacing off (which is my habit, *my excuse ADD*) you know what you missed and need to recap later. It works even better if you write up the key points from the reading before hand, then when the lecture occurs all you need to do is star key points or fill in anything that you missed or the teacher adds, rather than writing everything down at that time the teacher says it.
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jukia
Jul 12, 2008
I always found it extremely helpful, especially in lecture classes, to at least skim the reading and take a few short notes. Often times instructors are going over the assignment and sometimes they even go in order of the book. If your instructor does this and you accidentally get lost or space off (which is a tendency for me *my excuse is ADD*) you know what you will need to go back and review. One instructor that I had did this and I only had to add a thing here or there and star key points, rather than miss things because you cannot write fast enough.
