Audrey Wang: GPA 4.2 The straight A student shares the essence of arts and sciences learning
Zhengzhou girl Audrey Wang wears her hair long and dyed in a beautiful gradient color, which sets off her cool temperament and strong aura. This aura comes from the inside out, not only the outer confidence, but also the inner introspection.
In 11th grade, she has a GPA of 4.2, and her academic ability is outstanding. There is a saying that only when you put your best foot forward can you look effortless, and Audrey is one of those girls who puts her best foot forward and is as dashing as she is talented.
1. Time management: are you using the to do list correctly?
In fact, Audrey is more down-to-earth than people think, especially when it comes to her studies.
When asked about the most crucial factor for her to achieve good results, she didn’t list all kinds of fancy learning methods at the first time, but laughed nervously and said, “It’s waking up early and going to bed late, I get up early every day, wake up at 6:00am, and go to bed in the wee hours of the morning.” I don’t know if you have vaguely felt the domestic college entrance examination “Hengshui spirit” or Harvard 4:00 a.m. library of all sorts of legends.
In addition to the spirit of hard work, you also need a set of efficient learning methods that suit you. In fact, no one is lazy or stupid, but if you want to stand out among so many excellent students in SMOA, you need to work hard and efficiently. When it comes to efficiency, there are actually two time periods: during class and after class.
The efficiency in class comes from Audrey’s strong self-drive and SMOA’s high-density teaching style.
“It’s impossible to doze off in class, not to mention dozing off, you can’t even desert for a second.” Audrey said, “Because it’s taught in English, if you’re not paying attention, you may not be in the right state, so you have to keep up with the teacher’s rhythm. Moreover, the density of information output in SMOA’s classes is very high, and there is a lot of content in a class, which is very logical and compact. It’s easy to lose track if you get distracted. People don’t dare to be distracted.”
Not only listening to the lesson, but group discussion and teacher-student interaction in class are all key to improving learning efficiency in class. For the same amount of time, if you listen to the class efficiently, you will naturally learn better.
As for time management after class, Audrey’s two core approaches are: make a good plan and control the phone.
To do lists are no stranger to us, and for Audrey, they are one of the most important ways to manage time well. “American high school is very different from domestic education, which requires students to have a high level of independent learning ability, so we need to list out what we want to do every week as well as every day, make a to do list, and make it clear that each matter and the time to complete the matter. This is not only organized, but also much more efficient. With a clear goal and a clear plan, execution will naturally improve. But there is also a skill, to do list should be combined with their own actual ability, cannot list too many things, or cannot be completed will cause ‘ pseudo-planning ‘ phenomenon, there will be no practical effect.” Audrey said.
The second point, control the cell phone or other electronic products is actually very easy to understand, but it is indeed a big hindrance in time management.
“First of all, don’t take out your electronics if you can go to bed early in the evening when it’s early enough to finish your homework. Electronics are more addictive and once you pick them up at least half an hour has passed. I have also downloaded some software that can help students manage their cell phone usage, such as Forest and Tomato Timer, which you can try to use. Forest is more interesting, it is a combination of game and time management, if you don’t turn off your cell phone within the set time, the tree will die. If you don’t want the tree to die, put down your phone earlier.” Audrey said.
2. Humanities studies: do you know how to read a lot and think critically?
In American High School, there is a big difference in learning methods between humanities and science subjects. Audrey shares her learning experience separately between humanities and science subjects.
She believes that in humanities subjects, reading a lot and critical thinking skills are the most important skills, or the most important learning methods.
Critical Thinking Skills
“The most common assignment in humanities disciplines in American high school is to write a paper, how to write a good paper? It requires a lot of reading and critical thinking skills. For example, in history, it’s not that you can get good grades just by memorizing the books. Rather, it requires a lot of out-of-class extension and horizontal and vertical comparisons of historical time. Think about the connections between a particular historical event or several historical events, and even think about what lessons a particular historical event has for contemporary society.” Audrey said.
Read a lot
In SMOA, for humanities subjects such as History, English, and Literature, teachers usually assign reading assignments or video material viewing assignments. After completing these materials, a related paper is written. Audrey said, “It’s probably at least three or four hours of reading per week, and I usually take a block of time to focus on my reading to avoid being interrupted and reentering the class in an inefficient manner. Skipping is also a very important skill to help you read a lot of material quickly. I will mark things as I read, such as character’s dialog with a lot of important information to focus on, and landscape descriptions and such to skip.”
Expression
Regarding writing a paper, Audrey mentioned two tips, the first is to read the material and have your own opinion, and the second is to write the paper to someone who knows nothing about the matter. “If you have a point of view that someone who knows nothing about the matter can read and agree with, it’s considered a success. This is an important presentation skill in the humanities.” Audrey said.
3. Science studies: Youtube works better than doing tons of practice problems
The study methods for science subjects are quite different from those for humanities subjects. Audrey shares the study methods from three aspects: before class, during class and after class.
Before Class: Academic Vocabulary
For international students, vocabulary is a big weakness, and academic vocabulary is the biggest weakness of all. If the academic vocabulary is not solid, it will cause slow reaction, inability to keep up, and inability to understand in class. Therefore, Audrey in every calculus, biology and other science subjects before class, will be pre-study, especially academic vocabulary, memorization, so that the class will not be because of the words do not know and do not understand the content.
During class: listen to the examples
Audrey believes that science subjects, the most important thing in class is to explain the example problems, will be a thorough understanding of the example problems will be able to memorize the knowledge and learn to apply. “I don’t like to do tons of practice problems, because if you do more, you still don’t understand. It’s better to listen to it once in class and then apply it in homework. In the examples, the teacher will parse the knowledge points clearly, and the steps actually teach us to apply them, and it’s not difficult to learn and then apply them by example.”
After class: YouTube
This point sounds a bit unbelievable, for this video software, how does it become after-school learning? This is Audrey’s trick, how to consolidate knowledge without doing tons of practice problems? Audrey’s approach is to review the teacher’s examples and apply them in after-school homework, and once there is ambiguity, search YouTube, which has a lot of relevant explanations that can help with understanding. “In fact, this is one of the methods of independent learning that our teacher taught us, identifying problems and solving them is more important than doing tons of practice problems on them.” Audrey said.
In addition to this, the science classes offered by SMOA have a weekly Q&A session for students to check and make up for any points that have not been mastered during the week. This can help students who don’t usually review and fill in the gaps to develop good habits.
4. How to make learning a fun experience
Speaking of review, Audrey is very thankful for the bi-weekly learning reports from her Learning Coach, Ms. Mia. Learning coaches are a very important position at SMOA, and they help students with daily communication, academic support, technical support, and other issues. “One time I couldn’t log into the class software and was anxious about being late, so when I found Ms. Mia, she quickly helped me out.” Audrey said, “Not only that, but she also usually assists us in dealing with big and small problems. And every two weeks, she will also help us organize a set of study reports, which include homework grades, classroom performance, teacher feedback, etc. for each subject, which is equivalent to doing a biweekly review for us, so that I can make targeted adjustments to my study plan in the following week to make my study more efficient and enjoyable.”
Of course, at SMOA, the foreign teachers are the main players in making learning enjoyable, Audrey said, “I’ve never seen any SMOA foreign teacher with a stern face in class, they are all very humorous and friendly, and the class time is very enjoyable, which makes me feel like I’m home.”
Audrey’s impression is that elementary and middle schools in China often encounter teachers in a bad mood, but she has never seen it at SMOA. “I’m sure they have moody moments afterward, but their professionalism and sense of responsibility to their students is so strong that they try to hide their moods and return a relaxed, happy learning atmosphere to their students. Such a classroom we feel that learning is never a painful thing, but a pleasure.”
Clarity of purpose, clarity of thought, and execution were key factors in Audrey’s rapid progress, and SMOA’s excellent teachers and programs provided a gas pedal for her progress. Her goal is Columbia University, and she is confident that she will reap the rewards of the 2021 college season.