Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens

would actively recall key information. I tested myself after each new section by working on test problems. When I didn’t understand something from the book at first, I would look for videos on the internet—being careful not to get distracted. If that didn’t work, I would ask one of my students.

A general rule is, if you’re stuck for more than a minute or two on a test, move on!

Practice active recall. Test yourself. Have someone else test you. Teach your mom or dad or friend about an idea you find difficult. Try to do this without notes. This is one of the best ways to strengthen your brain-links and will also make you realize where you have gaps in your knowledge. Remember what you learned in the first chapter—go on pict

recall the details well. There’s also less time to connect your new idea to other ideas.

Coming up with a creative metaphor is one of the best ways to learn a new concept or share an important idea. That’s

Teach the information to someone else. Make your mom or dad or friend sit down and listen to you explain long-term and working memory. Refer to notes at first if you need to. Then try without. Practicing recall is one of the best ways of putting information into your brain. And explaining to someone else is one of the best ways of practicing recall

If you’re distracted, your working memory isn’t able to do its job very well.8 Your octopus has fewer arms to hold on to things.

When you’ve already gone through the test once (if you have time), try to trick your mind into looking at the test again with fresh eyes. Blink and look away to try to take yourself briefly into diffuse mode. Check the problems in a different order from the way you did them. If possible, ask yourself, “Does this answer make sense?”

need to lay some basic trails on the focused pinball table.