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How to do well in a class taught by a crappy teacher

We’ve all been there at some point, and it especially sucks if you’re interested in the subject. Sorry this is long but I really hope it helps!

These are some things that bad teachers have in common, in my experience.

Qualities of a crappy teacher

relies entirely on videos to teach lessons

rarely, if ever, gives notes

doesn’t give reviews for tests either or any clues as to what is actually on the test

if they do give notes, they are disorganized, scrappy, and ultimately meaningless

doesn’t give straight answers when asked questions / answers questions with questions that don’t even make sense

loses your homework/essays all the time

they are genuinely surprised when their students actually do well

tells students not to study a certain thing because it won’t be on the test. Then it’s on the test and you’re screwed.

when showing how to do a problem, they only do the easiest examples ever. Honestly. You would be blessed to get a problem that easy on the actual assignment, where there are now super complicated problems that you have no idea how to do!

the homework assignments they give don’t help you understand the lesson better, it’s just a bunch of busy work.

they hand out a sheet, no explanation whatsoever, and say “alright. go do this” what? Go do what? Rip out my hair? I don’t even know what stoichiometry is and now I have 55 minutes to do it. Fabulous.

if someone does something wrong, the teacher just makes them do it over again and again, without helping the student understand or explaining anything

they hand back your tests five decades after you actually took it. What was the test even on? Same deal with homework and worksheets

They often have a condescending behavior towards students and make students feel stupid when they get something wrong or ask questions

Now that you’ve verified that you indeed have a crappy teacher, here are some tips to actually do well in their class. Impossible? Nope. But it will take more effort to get a good grade in this class and understand the material because you are now both the teacher and the student. (Sorry I talk about Khan Academy a lot, but at the same time, not that sorry because it’s a life saver).

Teach yourself lesson by lesson. If they won’t, you will. Make sure that you are learning the right material, so that you can ace your quizzes/ tests. Yes, it takes time, but it will be worth it once you can finally understand the class, I promise. You can teach yourself by relying on other sources to learn the material, such as the textbook you already have for the class, Khan Academy, and other online resources and study aids.

Don’t rely only on their notes, study materials, or worksheets to study off of or understand the material. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them, you should definitely pay attention to them, as it might give you a clue as to what is on the test. However, you should probably invest some time into making your own notes and study materials outside of class, whether the material is from your class textbook or online resources. 

Khan Academy!!! (It’s completely free and amazing) I honestly can not stress how many times Khan Academy has saved my life and my grades, especially in math and science subjects. If there’s a lesson (or, let’s be honest, an entire class) that you’re having difficulty understanding, just go to KA and find the lesson and they will have videos that take you through it step-by-step. Also, you can pause and rewind the videos if you need to understand something better (unlike crappy teachers) and they do plenty of examples (unlike crappy teachers). I swear I’m not sponsored by them or anything, it’s just a life saver! You can take classes on there in your free time too. For example, I couldn’t fit a personal finance class into my school schedule, so I’m taking it on KA.

Use online sites and resources to help you understand the material. Quizlet is an app for creating sets of flashcards. In my opinion, they are way more helpful than notecards, because they have games using the terms you put in and different methods of studying the material (by spelling, term, definition, etc). Duolingo is great for learning languages and maintaining your vocabulary in a language you are taking in school. You can use SparkNotes to better understand literature and poetry (they also have great studying/ test prep materials). Shmoop is another great resource for poetry. Khan Academy has lessons on math, science, art, music, history, and economics. The Purdue OWL is a life saver when it comes to writing essays; it has everything you need to know about grammar, writing techniques, format (especially MLA format), and mechanics. Basically, it has all the info your crappy teacher failed to give you. 

STUDY. Good teachers go over the material enough to ensure that their students understand the material and they make sure the students are familiar with it. They will also usually go over the same materials in different ways, so that students with different learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) can benefit. Crappy teachers? Not so much. Therefore, the material is not ingrained in your mind, so you need to work harder than in other classes to familiarize yourself with the material and make sure you understand it enough to recall the information and be tested on it.

Practice what you’ve learned. Try to find practice quizzes and tests online on the subject and material you are learning. Sometimes there will be mini quizzes at the end of chapters in class textbook. Also, some of the online resources above have quizzes on the specific material.

Talk/ study with other people who are taking the same course or people you know who have taken the class in the past. If your friend is taking the same class as you but they have a different teacher, study with them and ask them for help and notes. If you know someone who has taken the class a previous semester or year, as them for help with the material and advice on tests and passing the class with a decent grade. You can also study with other people in your class, because it is likely that they are in the same position as you and you can all help each other out.

Good luck in your class and thanks for reading, I hope this helps somehow!

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How to Create a Study Space

Set a designated space for your studying, productivity, and supplies (or any other study essentials)

Before you create your study space, you of course will need to find a place to center your productive studying! If you can, choose an area with a lot of space (for your needs and stuff), less distractions, good lighting, a good vibe of positivity and productivity, etc.

Decorate and organize your newly founded study space!

This is purely optional, but I just find that when I have an uncluttered and tidy space I just get my work done faster with minimal distractions from the background, which comes from my belongings (if that makes sense). I would also recommend decorating your study space because it will add your own personal flair to the space, while boosting good and positive energy (which will be studying more likeable and fun!). I would maybe try to over do it! Some minimal decorating should do that job as it doesn’t add extra and unnecessary distractions while boosting your confidence and willpower!

Good lighting is key!!!

I’m going to say that lighting makes a big difference in how you will function in your awesome new space! Good lighting boosts productivity and keeps you motivated in a way (sort of if you can related). I just can’t do my work in the dark because it justs makes things harder to see, gives me eye strain, and it for some reasons makes me want to get on my phone and procrastinate (which is a major no no). I’d recommend investing in a quality desk lamp, and if you can studying in a room with good natural light (from a window or something of that nature). I personally prefer warmer colored light bulbs, but choose the color temp that you find will keep you on the road to your destination and goals.

Get a desk with a comfy chair (or alternatives–suggestions mentioned below)

Please for the sake of your back and all things good, invest in a quality chair and table desk if you can. I personally, used to study on the loffa. However, this lead to my back and neck hurting a lot due to lack of support and having to bend down all the time. A table will give you a place to do your work on, and the chair will give your body the support it needs. Try to get a comfy one because uncomfy chairs will just make you feel not so well. There are so many options out there, but I know that some of us just do have the resources to get a fancy Ikea desk or what ever. So if you can’t please don’t stress about this! It is totally OPTIONAL! An alternative would be to make a DIY Desk or even going to the local public library or cafe (find a quiet cafe to study in though. But just in case bring some earbuds/headphones to block out excess noise)!

Eliminate all tempting distractions (phones, social media, etc.)

This is pretty self explanatory, but unless you really need to use your phone or another electronic device for homework it would just be best to put it away. It will help to keep you on track, promote the distraction free environment, and also it can prevent the spiral of procrastination to take effect. If you really do need your laptop for say, maybe try installing a website blocker to keep you off of Tumblr or other things that provoke the positive space. I know that sometimes we can have siblings that can be annoying sometimes too (I know this is true, but we still love them lol). If this is the case maybe ask them to leave politely or just pop on some earbuds are get moving. These aren’t all the distractions in the world, but I know that you can find a positive solution to your problem! Just know that you’re not alone!

Try to keep it down to one (if it’s best)

I know that sometimes we have to share things, even if we don’t want to. But, if possible, try to keep one space to yourself. Having your own space can give you a boosting sense of ownership and belonging. I don’t know if it’s just me, but when I used to share a space my stuff went missing, people took things, etc. If you can, do this. But, sometimes studying with others can actually even be more beneficial (for some people)! Just pursue the option that will benefit you more overall in the long run.

*If you have anymore tips that you would have added to this list, please send them to me here! If you would like to request a particular posts, please send me a message here and I can see what I can do!

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Spring blossom and swallow by 张辛稼 Zhang Xinjia

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Hey guys, apologies for the long hiatus, college apps have got me in a bind.  Here are some terms related to our busy class schedules and lives as students!  I incorporated a lot of vocab and tried to include example sentences not provided by the infographic, so I hope you can enjoy and learn something!~

Class Subjects 数学 [shù xué] Math 生物 [shēng wù] Biology 化学 [huà xué] Chemistry 物理 [wù lí] Physics 地理 [dì lí] Geography 历史 [lì shí] History 英文 [yīng wén] English 中文 [zhōng wén] Chinese 外语 [waì yǔ] Foreign Language 音乐 [yīn yuè] Music 艺术 [yì shù] Art(s)

*To denote a class, simply add 课 (kè) to the end For example:

数学 + 课 = 数学课 (Mathematics class)

*Since many of us take multiple classes a day, here’s a useful sentence to try!

我每天上(insert #classes here)门课。 I take (insert #classes here) classes every day.

Education Levels 学校 [xué xiào] school 小学 [xiǎo xué] elementary school 中学 [zhōng xué] middle school 高中 [gāo zhōng] high school 大学 [dà xué] university/college 学生 [xué shēng] student

大学 + 学生 = 大学生(college/university student)

Example sentence: 我是一个大学生。 I am a college/university student.

College/University related vocab 学位 [xué wèi] degree 专业 [zhuān yè] major 副学士 [fù xué shì] Associates 学士 [xué shì] Bachelors 硕士 [shuò shì] Masters 博士 [bó shì] Doctorate/PhD

*to denote degree for the associate, bachelor, masters, and PhD, simply as 学位 to the end

Some Basic School Utensils 笔 [bǐ] pen 铅笔 [qiān bǐ] pencil 自动铅笔 [zì dòng qiān bí] mechanical pencil 毛笔 [mǎo bí] brush 纸 [zhǐ] paper 笔记本 [bǐ jì bén] notebook 橡皮 [xiàng pí] eraser

好好学习 天天进步！~

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日子 . 我們的生活 就像牆上這本 風景已經不再新鮮了 . 朋友們在夜晚到來 我會盡力做出一桌的菜 每道菜都不會忘記放鹽 不用喝酒 你的話就說滔滔不絕 大家興高采烈 雞的腳指頭啃得煞白 . 黎明時分 朋友們盤旋而去 燈光下 窗簾上的向日葵 依然豔麗而瘋狂 成堆的煙灰和美麗的魚骨 卡住了我們的喉嚨 我們相互不看一眼 就爬上床去

劉霞 Liu Xia, (wife of activist Liu Xiaobo) in the collection Empty Chairs (a bilingual edition I’d highly recommend. annotate it here) translation by Ming Di & Jennifer Stern:

Days

Our life, like the calendar  on the wall, presents a stale picture.

Friends come at night and I cook enough dishes to cover the table—  remembering to put salt in each. You get chatty without even drinking wine. Everyone is happy and eats chicken feet until the bones are sucked white 

At dawn, our friends are suddenly gone like a breeze. The sunflowers on the window curtain are crazily bright against the light. Cigarette ashes and beautiful fish bones are jammed down our throats. Without looking at each other  we climb into bed.

(via tiantianxuexi)

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三叠字 Triplets 你见过它们吗？ Have you ever seen them before?

PS. 森 品 鑫 are too easy, doesn’t count!

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yes!

The most fascinating part to me about studyblr isn’t the unique stories and backgrounds each of you have, though that has always been important and amazing. It’s the futures each of you look forward to: the doctors, the translators, the writers, the teachers – and notice I don’t say “aspiring.” You all are here because you aspire, but when you combine that ambition with discipline, your work pays off. You aren’t just on a never-ending path of studying, you are on a path to a goal that opens up many more paths. In even so little as 5 years I could be talking to a medblr that is conducting their first surgeries, saving their first lives. In 10, the high school freshmen interested in social work could be keeping kids off of the streets or teaching their favorite subjects to kids just like them. And the greatest part is, because of the people that you are, it won’t just be a could, a what if. It is a will be. I am not only excited for the work you will do, I am excited for the person you are and will be. I am proud of you.

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Since I consider myself a big sis to all of you, I have made a small list of academic and misc. tips to make college/university not suck as bad.

Academic

If you get distracted in large lecture halls, sit in the front row. I discovered in large classes that I was sometimes more focused on the girl in front of me being on facebook, than I was on the actual lecture. Sitting in the front is always a good idea. It is honestly the easiest tip I have for you.

RECORD YOUR LECTURES! How ever you decide to take notes, you can also record your lectures. I use notability to take notes and to record my lectures with. When reviewing before an exam, recordings are a lifesaver. Also just reviewing after class, it deff helps to clear up anything that was slightly unclear in your notes.

Dress comfy for class. Literally no one care what you wear to class. Don’t feel like you haaaave to look cute, I understand wanting to look good to feel good for yourself but sometimes nike shorts are gonna be your best option.

Book group study rooms in the library. If your libraries on campus are anything like mine, they’re always packed. BUUUUUT it is very likely that your library has a way to reserve library rooms, thus guaranteeing you a silent study place on campus. Book ahead for finals week!!

GOOGLE DOCS. Once you make a good study group, condense all of your notes together on a google doc shared between you all. Google docs and slides  are also amazing for group projects and presentations. Become familiar with both, they are your new best friends.

Misc.

Starbucks has a loyalty program, get on it. I worked as a barista and literally the gold card program starbucks has will safe you a ton. There are literally 10 Starbucks on my campus, you will become familiar with yours. Download the app and start collecting points now! Also a pro-tip, skip the lattes and frappuccinos. Drip coffee is the best option for you, it is cheaper, better for you, and has the most caffeine besides the iced coffee. Also, once you’re a loyalty member at starbucks, refills on all coffee and tea is FREE. 

Keep snacks in your bag, it’s not rocket science. You get hungry, eat. The more protein, the better. 

Easy way to talk to someone in class. Pull out a pack of gum. Has not changed from high school. Having “class friends” is needed. They’re great for getting notes from if you miss class and for getting together to study with!

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useful thank you!

Hey love your blog :) I've been trawling through tumblr trying to find mandarin langblrs lol I've been learning mandarin for about 2 years now (but I'd class myself as an advanced beginner tbh) do you have any recommendations for any books or apps or websites or anything where you can read stories/any texts in mandarin? preferably at a beginner (but not too easy) level? thanks a bunch! Aliyah :)

I don’t have many beginner resources sadly, but i do have a few suggestions for things you should definitely check out and maybe save for later:

Du Chinese: This is an app that has a bunch of short readings that range from easy to difficult. The readings are organized by HSK level so you can pick what level you want to read at. While reading, you can click on words you don’t know and the definition will appear on the top of the screen. Also, if you hold down on the word, a couple bubbles will pop up above the word and one of them gives you the option to save the word to a vocab list that you can review. Reading the stories is free when they come out but, after a week or two, you have to pay to view each story. It would be nice to have free access to all the stories, but you still have access to the vocab so that’s a plus.

漫画人 Manhuaren is an app i’ve talked about on my blog before. It’s an app where you can read manga translated into Mandarin for free. It’s a Chinese app, so everything is in Mandarin. Also, I was unable to find it in my phone’s app store, so I had to go to the app’s website on my phone and download it from there. It’s a resource intended for native speakers so the manga might be difficult to get through but if you’re interested in this it’s definitely something you should check out.

短美文 Duanmeiwen and 短文学 Duanwenxue are two websites where native speakers post short pieces of writing. The content ranges from poems to short essays about almost any topic imaginable. These are also made by and for native speakers of Mandarin so the website is in Mandarin and the content will be slightly more difficult to understand, but there’s definitely some interesting stuff on here. (A really simple piece I recommend is 你知道我喜欢你吗. I made a vocab list here if you’re interested)

成语故事大全 Chengyu Gushi Daquan is a website that has the stories behind a bunch of 成语 chengyu (set expressions that are typically four characters long that refer to a story or historical event; they’re like idioms but a little different).

Chinese Reading Practice: this website has short stories and poems with English translations and relevant notes. It was created to help people learning Mandarin so it’s a little different than the other resources. Everything is divided by level of difficulty. It also has a scrollover dictionary feature, so you can see the definition of words when you scroll your cursor over them. 

童话故事 tonghuagushi: this has a bunch of fairy tales. I haven’t really explored this site much but it looks promising.

Another suggestion I have is to find some Chinese or Taiwanese musicians, actors, models, etc., that you like and follow them on social media. They’ll usually make really short posts and they sometimes use slang or more colloquial expressions that you might not learn when using a textbook.

Like I said, I don’t have many beginner resources for reading so I’m sorry if this isn’t helpful right now. If anyone else has some other suggestions though that would be great!

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I am definitely not a langblr but I learned basic French and I am currently learning Korean starting with Hangul. There are a lot of things to be reminded whenever you are trying to learn a new language especially if you are new to the experience (like me lol).

1️⃣ It will take YEARS

Yes, believe me when I say that you will struggle. Those programs that claim that they will help you become fluent in a certain language in 3 months or less, they are probably over exaggerating. There is more in learning a language than just writing it and making sure you have proper spelling and it was translated correctly. You also need to understand it and be able to pronounce it properly with confidence. It’s just like learning your mother language, you were not able to be fluent in you mother language in just months or in just a year.

2️⃣ Starting with the characters is a must

If you are learning a language that requires you to use different characters, learn those characters first before the ‘translating game’. In learning Korean, you first need to learn Hangul, just like when you first learned English, you started with the Alphabet. After learning the characters, you can start forming words, and that is where the ‘translating game’ starts.

3️⃣ The struggle is real when learning the ‘accent’

This is the part where most struggle (including me lol). I struggled at pronouncing words in French mainly because I was not made to speak French (like how my the pitch of my voice gets higher whenever I speak English and drops down when I speak Filipino). It really does take time and many give up at this stage but since WE ARE STUDYBLRS, WE DON’T GIVE UP LIKE THAT.

4️⃣ The pressure is real when you try to use it IRL

I tried using French MANY times in real life when I have the opportunity to but then I just fail and make an embarrassment of myself and just go back to speaking Filipino or English and at the end, I will regret that I missed that opportunity. It will be hard to get yourself to confidently speak your new language especially if you don’t speak it enough (which is the reason for no. 3). But it is very important to have confidence in speaking it because if I hadn’t pushed myself to speak in front of many people in an unfamiliar language, then I wouldn’t be able to write and speak in English.

5️⃣ There will be times when you will lose motivation

For some people this is the first stage in giving up, but in terms of learning a language, this is completely normal. Yes you need to practice everyday in order to succeed but there will be days when you do not feel like it or it does not interest you anymore. Always remember to give yourself a rest because learning something out of your comfort zone can be tiring too. But there will also be days when you will wake up and feel motivated as if nothing can stand in your way and use that to your advantage and make up for lost time.

Idek if these actually help as I am not an expert and it no way can be labeled as a langblr or such but if it did, please like and reblog and follow my studygram (chrissiestudies) and tell me what other posts interest you because I am on summer vacation so I now have more time on Tumblr as opposed to before. 💕💕

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When I was in school, one of my art teachers used to say “this world needs more creators. There’s more than enough destroyers in the world today.”

Just a reminder, if you create anything–art, writing, food, machines, ideas, equations, knits, tools, gardens–the world needs you.

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tb to before kokobop dropped and i was a functioning human being

ig: studylustre

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Writing is a skill that many people struggle with, and when it comes to academic essays, many people are so anxious about writing that they don’t even know where to start. Many find it easier to begin when they have a clear idea of what they should and should not be doing, so I’ve compiled some tips to hopefully alleviate your essay-induced anxieties.

1. Hooks—you don’t need one. In fact, I would argue that you shouldn’t have one. They’re a juvenile method of starting a paper and, in many cases, they involve broad generalizations that aren’t even true. “Since the beginning of literature, people have been interested in how evil characters are portrayed in novels.” Have they, really? When exactly is the so-called “beginning” of literature? What is your proof that a largely illiterate society cared about the way in which characters were depicted when people like Defoe and Behn were penning some of the first English-language novels? One could argue that most people now don’t even care about how characters are depicted in novels. Get my point? It’s juvenile, sounds lazy, and you can skip all of this by just getting to the damn point by opting to begin your essay rather than constructing a flowery hook.

2. Your thesis. In most cases, your thesis should make an argument of your own, and it should be an argument that you can prove with evidence. You could have a spectacular sounding thesis that is saturated with sophisticated claims and language, but it doesn’t matter how good your thesis sounds if you don’t have textual evidence to back it up. Further, you need to make sure that your thesis answers the question the prompt is asking—if the prompt asks you to use Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality to access the actions of Frankenstein’s creature, you better make sure that you directly and clearly relate those two texts in your thesis statement. When constructing your thesis statement, make sure that you are addressing the prompt fully, and ensure that you have adequate evidence to back up your claims. You don’t want to get too far into an essay only to realize that you don’t have enough evidence for your argument.

3. Creating a voice in your writing. Have a strong, confident voice. Sound sure of yourself. Don’t say things such as, “This might prove why this character does this.” Make a confident argument—explain in a clear and confident manner the way in which your evidence supports your thesis argument. This is easy to do once you learn how to integrate appropriate quotes into your essays.

4. Using quotes. Quotes are necessary for most forms of essay writing; without them, your argument is weak. Provide context when introducing a quote—don’t simply throw a quote at your reader with no context or explanation. Use shorter quotes when possible, and integrate them into your sentences. Try not to let a quote stand alone as its own sentence. Here’s an example of successfully integrating appropriate quotes into your writing:

“However, Caliban openly attempted to rape Miranda, and when Prospero mentions this, Caliban enthusiastically states that if Prospero hadn’t stopped him, he would have “peopled else this isle with Calibans” (1.2.420-421). Prior to this attempted rape, Prospero and Caliban apparently shared a reciprocal relationship, wherein Prospero taught Caliban English and, in return, Caliban “showed [him] all the qualities o’ th’ isle” (1.2.403).”

As you can see above, quotes are used to provide succinct evidence for what you’re talking about. They show that you have read and possess a clear understanding of the text, and they provide textual evidence that strengthens your argument.

5. The structure of your essay. Your essay does not need to be a cookie-cutter five paragraph monstrosity that has been drilled into your brain since 8th grade; you can switch it up as you see necessary. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have paragraphs of varying lengths, multiple paragraphs discussing the same argument, or even to bring up previously stated topics and arguments in order to further explore what you’re talking about. Don’t feel obligated to constrain yourself to formulaic writing when frankly, it often isn’t the best way to write a paper. Make your argument in the most natural way possible, and if that required seven body paragraphs, then so be it. 

6. Editing your essays. I advise reading your essay out loud when editing. In your initial read-through, check for grammatical mistakes and typos. These mistakes will be obvious if you read your paper aloud. After ensuring that your paper is free from technical errors, reread it again to check how one idea transitions to the next. Does your essay have clear and natural transitions from topic to topic, or are there abrupt shifts that need to be worked out? Finally, make sure your paper adequately proves the overall argument you’re attempting to make. Is your argument the driving force in your paper, or do you make unnecessary digressions? These are all important things to consider before turning in your final essay. 

Remember, writing essays is something that, with practice, can become quite easy. Don’t treat writing an essay as some kind of foreign, impossible task; all writing an essay really involves is making an argument and attempting to prove your argument with evidence. If you can do this, then writing becomes substantially easier. Good luck!

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