How to Be a Good Listener in Class

Being a good student means being a good listener. Whether you’re a young student or entering college, it’s important to learn to pay attention in class and take good notes that will help you succeed. 【小题1】.

Be prepared for class

When it’s time to go to class, make sure you’ve got everything that you need ready to go, so you won’t have to miss anything because you’re struggling to catch up. 【小题2】. In general, you need to make sure you have, for each class: notebooks, pencils already sharpened or pens that work well, books needed for class, assignments that are due and specialty stuff for a particular class.

Look at the teacher

【小题3】. When your teacher is talking, your eyes should be to the front. Don’t look out of the window, or at the kids next to you, or at the phone you’re trying to hide under your desk. Look at your teacher and what is being presented.

【小题4】

Concentrate on understanding the broad concepts, and don’t try to catch every single word. Listen for key words and concepts that your teacher mentions, and pay attention to what’s written on the board. Anything that the teacher takes the time to write down on the board is extremely important. Also, anything that is repeated multiple times is very important.

Take good notes

Have a different notebook for each class, and have some pencils or pens ready to go when you want to take notes. 【小题5】. It’s not necessary to have a total record of everything your teacher says. As long as you try to keep up and write down important ideas, taking notes is a good way of paying attention in class.

As an engineer, I have designed electronic control systems for more than 30 years, and I had expected to do so until I retired (退休). My wife, Krisztina Valter, is a scientist. One year, she went to a scientific activity with me. Most knowledge of biology went over my head, but one speaker attracted my attention. Jochen Zeil, a professor who studies animal behaviour, presented a model of how insects could work out a way to go to a target despite having small brains.

At lunchtime, my wife introduced us. Zeil and I had a very enjoyable discussion about his idea and biology. When we parted, I joked that if he wanted another PhD student, he could count me in. About a month later he e-mailed me: “Haven’t heard from you. Have you enrolled (登记入学) yet?”And that’s how, at the age of 53, I became a part-time doctoral student in biology.

My background in biology had been out of date for many years, so I needed to learn the basics fast. It was not easy, but I got a lot of help from other laboratory members and my wife. The more I learnt, the more I realized how little I knew. Every paper caused the need to read more. It was tiring, and at times disappointing, but brought a lot of fun. You read, think, and suddenly things fall into place.

Now, at the age of 61, this period is nearly at an end. New knowledge enriches (充实) you, regardless of how old you are. My advice is that if you have the opportunity to enter a new field, take it.

As a parent, you want your kids to do their best in school. You already know plenty of sleep, healthy food and some school supplies are necessary. However, what else do children need to be successful without a professional homework helper? 【小题1】

Keep it ordered.

【小题2】 Hence, have your kids keep ahead of their homework with an organized system. For example, they could use a scheduling application like Asana or Trello to manage projects with arranged dates, or they might stick to an old-fashioned pen and a paper planner. See what works best for them and go from there.

Break projects down.

Many children get stressed out when they have big assignments due. 【小题3】 Often people get frightened by the difficulty of tasks without understanding that the large task is actually just made up of smaller ones. Another solution is to use a project proposal to help keep them on track with homework and projects.

Avoid delaying tasks.

One mistake students usually make is postponing unpleasant work and deliberately looking for distraction. Teach your children that the workload isn’t going to get smaller if they wait longer. 【小题4】

【小题5】

There are a growing number of online references and homework resources. Not only will your children be better prepared for class the next day, but they’ll also learn a valuable lesson about how to research and find information online. From them you can also find ideas for educational activities that you can do with your children.