Throughout first semester, I have learned a lot about my old study habits and its flaws. Personally, I never had a problem with my study habits until this year when I discovered just reading over my notes over and over again wasn't going to cut it. Not only in Humanities, but also in my AP Psychology class, my old study habits has inhibited me to earn the grades I desired. I have been able to improve my study habits to learn more efficiently.
As Mr. Allen said today, you can't just "look it over" and expect to earn a good grade. Especially with the connect the dots assignments, I learned that the process of connecting the terms helps you understand the material on a whole new level. This process pushes you to genuinely understand the material, rather than just recognizing the terms. Thinking beyond the definition of the term or who the philosophers were enabled me to really dive into the material.
With my old study habits, I would only have been able to recite the definition of a term or what a philosopher was mainly known for. After practicing the connecting the dots assignments, I am able to fully explain the terms into deeper levels. I am able to compare and contrast two different philosophies and philosophers and dive into a full out philosophical conversation. I have gotten to really engage in the book after connecting the dots because it helped draw myself into the book to learn more and more.
However, in order to engage in the book, I had to take on Mr. Allen's optional assignment of annotating, especially the more efficient technique. In previous years, all I did for annotations were underline random sentences I assumed were significant; this was of no assistance.
Progressively, I learned how to annotate in a way that would best benefit me when it comes to remembering the information for future tests. I began to draw circles, boxes, arrows, and more. These symbols and margin notes eventually became an outline of the major events or information I needed to know. Although I may not be able to remember everything I annotated, the annotations enable me to find what I am looking for with great ease.This new skill of annotating has really enabled a more efficient way of processing the ocean of facts about philosophy rather than an unorganized, meaningless array of lines.
Overall, the process of analyzing Sophie's World with these two assignments has become a more manageable task. Not only was I able to understand the book more, I was able to set a stable foundation of skills for my future, such as college. These skills will continue to assist me beyond the class of Humanities.
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