Study Well Learn Well Workshops, with Darryl Smith

The “Study Well Learn Well” series included 2 workshops hosted at the Sea Vista library during the school holidays. Students from the Sea Vista community were invited to register. There was no fee for the sessions conducted between 11:00 and 13:00 each day; all materials and a light snack were provided.

For the “Improving Concentration” and “Building Memory,” eight female students were registered.

In the Improving Concentration workshop, we covered the following: “What is concentration?” – “How can you improve it”? – “What takes you away from focusing and what can you do about it”?

Two key points  were “A wandering mind (daydreaming) and focusing (paying full attention) cannot live together – you have to choose?”  “Social Media is a major challenge that MUST be well managed”!

In the session on Building Memory, we covered the 3 R’s required to strengthen memory, that is: (1) Registering Information – taking it in, (2) Retaining Information – keeping it in and (3) Retrieving information – getting it out!

“The importance of a positive attitude and creating an interest in what is being learnt is crucial”.

 

BUILDING MEMORY

“If you think you can or if you think you can’t – you are right”!

Both sessions were rated “very helpful” by 6 students and “helpful” by 2 students.

Some comments from the grade 11 and 12 students.

“To stay positive even when I make mistakes and keep believing in myself”.

“Repetition and testing myself will help me to be more confident.”

“I need to plan – to know what I want to study in each session and stick to my plan”.

“Being disciplined is very important for study success.”

 Hard at work!              

                                                             

We did it!                                                      

Spending time with these enthusiastic and committed students was an absolute pleasure.  Having a quiet place to study at home seems to be a challenge for all of them.   They mostly arrive home late in the afternoon, so their time to work in the Sea Vista Library is limited. The students literally “begged” to have the library open on a Saturday morning to have a quiet place to study and access the Internet.

In conclusion, the students committed to supporting each other where possible and rising above the obstacles they encounter in order to be successful – We can do it!

The article was submitted by Darryl Smith, a Study Well Learn Well Mentor and Sea Vista School Leavers Project team member.