Exams and tests are always a part of high school, and along with that — studying. Whether it be the SAT, the ACT, or a simple Algebra II test, students have tests they always are studying for.
Personally, studying has always been on my mind, but never actually happening. I always procrastinate studying but I end up studying quickly right before the test, which never was effective.
For example, my AP Government test was on a Thursday and Friday, and I decided to study that prior Monday after school. By Wednesday night, I had realized that no studying had taken place and I was completely lost. With only one night left to get as much information in my brain as possible I decided to use the “Scribble Method” I had seen on tik tok.
The “Scribble Method” is a way for students to focus on the material they are studying by eliminating distractions. It can fill the gaps between the thought waves to prevent distractions. A constant process that keeps you on track if you will. It really helped me out that that late night before my tests and made it easier to focus and get the material learned.
Doodling and scribbling on the side of a sheet of paper can act as a form of fidgeting, according to Harvard Health Publishing. A report about medical students, who tend to learn large requirements of information in smaller windows of time shows that a limited amount of doodling proves useful. In the article, it says, “A simple 30-minute doodle helps them remember information, fills in gaps in their thinking, and provides a much-needed reprieve from the loads of information they must wade through.”
Back to studying for AP Gov – as I was reading over the material I was scribbling and doodling little shapes and shading them in on my notes. I also did read the material out loud to myself to better re-enforce the subject and information. After doodling and scribbling on the side of my notes while I studied them that night, I didn’t realize that it would have helped me so much.
One way to improve studying class materials is having the right preparations in store to know what to study, according to the University of Pittsburgh.
A few preparations include previewing anything the teacher has introduced before the lesson, writing down questions and inquiries about the specific topic to further research after the lesson, and making comments in class to create a more in-depth discussion.
I was expecting a lower grade, following the pattern of other low test grades, but I got a pretty good score. I went from a normal 60 to a 80 out of 100. I was pretty impressed and happy.
Studying has always been a challenge of mine but by taking more challenging classes, such as AP classes, studying has been extremely helpful and the doodling has surprisingly helped me out significantly with my exams and tests.
I’ve always doodled on my school work, and never thought much of it. Now I see that doodling helped me study my materials when I was working.
I’ve never been artistic in my life, but the small little doodles on my papers have been helpful after all, which proves to be a way for me to study better and get better scores on my tests. I never was a fan of studying but one thing students need to understand that studying needs to take place a few weeks out into order to have enough time to quickly recall the information.
This scribbling method of studying has changed my academic life completely and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a easy and simple way to improve their studying habits without having to do too much work. It is really beneficial and will definitely be my go-to study method.
