Reading

Let's be honest. No one ever looks forward to a reading assignment, especially if it comes from an old, dense text book. Lucky for me I happen to have text books of this sort for almost all of my classes. I was hoping that since it was Spring Break, my teachers wouldn't assign homework but boy was I wrong. In two classes, HTW 318 and PSY 205, I was assigned reading homework over the break. At first I was worried that I wouldn't get it done because I usually procrastinate readings and sometimes end up not even doing them. But thankfully I found a reading strategy that worked for me. TART! Tart is great for a number of reasons...

1. By reading the termsand definitions of the chapter before you actually read it, you can become familiar withthe material and know what to expect and what is important
2. Creating abbreviations for these terms makes note taking much more quick and easy
3. Doing the two steps above prepares you for class so you know which information your professor says is important, and which isn't. (I know this saved me a lot of time because I usually try to write down every single thing my professor says instead of what is actually necessary)
4. Creating test questions is a great way to review what you've learned as well as prepare yourself for the upcoming test of quiz

Here's how I did TART in PSY 205 HTW 318

1. I was very lucky in that I found a list at the beginning of both of my classes chapter's of key terms and definitions
2. Under the title "terms" I wrote these key terms and definitions followed by an arrow that led to an abbreviation I created for each word
3. Since it was Spring Break and we didn't have classes, I then looked back at past lectures searching for the terms and definitions I had written down from the various chapters
4. While doing this,if I was ever confused or had a question, I would go back to that text book to consult, as well as clarify any information I needed
5. Lastly, I created test questions (about 15 or more for each class) followed by the answers to them

TART really worked for me in both of my classes, but I think it worked better in HTW 318. I found that the terms and definitions in this class were a lot easier to create abbreviations for, and that my teacher really did stick to the book in terms of

important things to know for each chapter.

I would recommend TART for visual and kinesthetic learns like me because not only is it hands on (you have to list the terms and write test questions) but it is also visual because once you create your terms and test questions than you have them right in front of you. It always helps me to be able to see the information I'm learning and TART really supports my needs as a learner. TART works, it really does. It makes you familiar with information before the class so instead of getting to lecture and tuning out your professor, you know exactly what to listen for. It keeps you involved! Please try this strategy if you haven't, it won't let you down!