LOOK:
BIONINJA. It’s as cool as it sounds. BioNinja is a compilation of biology resources (specifically for IB) including outlines, videos, and powerpoints. Awesome. My favorite part, however, are the quick reference sheets! They are perfect for reviewing.
To get to the reference sheets, click “Additional Resources” (as seen above)
And then click the “Biology Quick Reference Guides” (or click here)
and it will open a complete list of EVERYTHING YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW FOR THE BIOLOGY TEST. (HL and SL!) How cool is this?????
Each topic is linked to a one page reference sheet!
I’M OFFICIALLY OBSESSED WITH THESE. I’m currently rewriting them all to study for next year! If you don’t want to rewrite them, it would also be awesome to have them printed out in your binder or folder to study from!
“Studyblr Alternatives” (masterpost)
Jenny Bick Bookbinding
Jet Pens
kikki.K
Muji
Ohh Deer
Tokyo Pen Shop
Yes Style
30/30
Any.do
Evernote
Flashcards*
FocusNow
iTunes U
myHomework Student Planner
Pomodoro
Math(s):
Algebra
Math Help
Purple Math
Wolfram Alpha
Languages:
Bonjour (French)
Buongiorno (Italian)
Duolingo
Hola (Spanish)
Lang-8
Language.ws
Learn German
Learning Hindi
Learn Japanese
Learn Korean
Learnlangs
Learn Latin
Learn Russian
Learn Vietnamese
Let’s Talk Thai
Lingopolo (Dutch)
Linguee (translator)
Madinah (Arabic)
Oneness (Portuguese)
Word Reference
General:
Brightstorm
Khan Academy
Memrise
Spark Notes
Easy Lunch Recipes
Salad in a Jar
Vegan Lunch Ideas
Vegetarian Lunch Ideas
Healthy School Lunch Ideas
Cheap and Healthy Lunch Ideas
Masterpost 1 by studyign
Masterpost 2 by chemistrynerd2020
How to Take Notes
Note-taking methods
How To Study
Breathing Exercise to Calm Panic Attacks
9 Ways to Reduce Anxiety Now
Coping with Test Anxiety
100 Teen Movies
IMDb Top 250
Disney Movie List
Disney Music
Before You Start Studying
Can’t Start Studying?
Get Motivated
How to Prepare for a New Semester
Know How to Manage Your Time
Organise Your Study Space
Set a Background Noise //Coffitivity//Rainy Mood//Study Playlist//
Schedule Your Study Time
Studying Essentials
Stop Procrastinating
3 Essential Tips
5 Effective Tips
Annotations
Back To School Tips
Cornell Note-Taking System
Dealing with an Overloded Schedule
Efficient Studying
Essay Writing Tips
General Study Tips
Getting the Most of A Lecture
Guide to Bullet Journals
How to Highlight
How to Improve Your Grades
How to Study A Foreign Language
Illustrating Your Notes
Learn To Study
Organise Your Notes
Note Taking Masterpost
Printables
Revision Steps
School Resources
Scientifically Proven Study Tips
Studying for an Exam
Study Methods
Study Tools
Studying With Anxiety
Studying With A Bad Memory
Taking Notes from A Textbook
Textbook Annotations
Tips For Success
Typing Your Notes
Ways To Study
What to Avoid
When You Don’t Understand Something
Writing an Essay
not up to buying stabilo or staedtler? restricted access to resources? this post might help!
credit to studyception and ray over at fistudy for helping out with this post, because figuring out brands, stores, and prices in america is easier when you have a friend in america to talk to.
** note: i’m an upper class teenager, and i’m not an authority on what is/isn’t cheap. i also haven’t tried all of the things on here.
supplies
walmart has cheap five-star notebooks that are $1-2
at target 1-subject 5-star notebooks are $1.97, 3-subject is $3.87, 5-subject $5/6
also, five-star folders there are ~$2
do not use moleskines, especially if you can’t find them cheap, and i can’t say moleskines are often cheap. they are not worth their price.
a spiral or composition notebook works fine – compositions have sturdier spines, but spirals’ pages are easier to turn or tear out if they’re not perforated, so keep that in mind.
mead composition notebooks at target are $0.50
papermate flair pens can be found at costco, among other places. they’re $12 for a pack of 14 and are quite pretty. also, they’re better quality than stabilo — more ink, bleeds less.
dollar tree. you won’t find anything fancy there, but you don’t need fancy. use dollar tree.
don’t worry about brand names as long as it’s quality. yes, muji is expensive.
don’t buy those sets of 20 colored pens. if you’re into color coding, you need, what, 4-7 colors? three different shades of red isn’t necessary.
or if you don’t want a bunch of colors at all, go with blue and black and maybe a highlighter.
if looking for basic pens with black ink, do not bother with anything fancy just get one of those packs of 10 gel pens that are for like $2 or something (they better have these in the usa)
paperback books are cheaper. just make sure to treat them well.
free sat/ap prep materials here
english class: for finding novels (need that book for english?), tuebl has free epubs, you just need to know how to search it (there’s no viruses, though!). if you can’t read epubs because of the format, then download the epub and convert it to pdf (or another format). if you need a hard copy, book depository can be cheap but isn’t free.
if you need a laptop or tablet cheap, like <$100 cheap, pls try reading this post!!
for color coding, walmart and staples sell sets of four colored pens for $2-3 each
like the kipling 100 case? this is similar and $9 to kipling’s $40
advice
if you have a job or too many activities and get home late, squeeze in studying when you can – breaks between classes, at lunch, whatever you’ve got. if you’ve got a free period, use it. a’s before baes.
also, sometimes overworking yourself is your only option, especially if you’re short on time. do your best to prevent it — remember to eat something, don’t procrastinate, don’t get distracted.
want to use the pomodoro technique for studying, but you don’t have a computer or phone? use any clock you have and mark down the times on a piece of paper
if you want to minimize the amount of supplies: pens. highlighters. paper + cheap notebooks. i don’t recommend much else
workspaces
to be a studyblr, you do not need a pretty workspace (or even have one, use the floor, dinner table, couch, whatever), but if you want one, here’s some cheaper ways of keeping your workspace looking nice!
don’t clutter — put your paper in stacks, and if you have drawers/cabinets, use them
but if you don’t have too many papers put them in folders or binders
if you have boxes small enough to do so but large enough to hold your clutter, put the extra papers + stuff you don’t need often but may need later in the boxes and shove them under the desk.
containers help, esp. for pens, but they cost money. try using cups — the tiny, flimsy disposable ones will tip over for sure, but you can put smaller things like tape or erasers in there. bigger, more stable ones for pens.
want decorations? try making paper flowers [x x x x x] or glitter jars [x x x x x]. put up drawings if you’ve got the space.
buy washi tape if you can use up money on something pointlessly pretty, michael’s has so many varieties, and they’re $1-2 each. target also has some with thicker rolls, but it’s more expensive + less variety. costco has some as well! i’m recommending it for decorating. as far as its function as tape, you can use it as a label, but don’t try to actually hold anything together with it.
don’t like the look of those pen containers? add a strip of washi tape around the brim. put it on boring notebook covers. loop it through some paper clips and use that as bookmarks. you can try this [x] for inspiration, but it’s buzzfeed and i don’t recommend you try to washi tape your car or use it as wallpaper. some other suggestions: [x x x x x x]
(hint: yes, we use filters. photo editing is a thing.)
highlight your notes omg if you want to spend hours rewriting them to look pretty, that’s awesome, but highlighters will work
software
sometimes it’s easier to do things online than wasting paper or notebooks on it! means less stuff to carry around with you, too.
however, not everyone owns a macbook (or even has their own computer), so i tried to post sites that can be accessed across all computers and aren’t mac-only.
here, some websites — wolframalpha and mathway, and you can google some math things!
sparknotes will probably save you at some point
check your writing for things like cliches, passive voice, adverbs, etc, or just for grammar with:
prowritingaid editminion hemingwayapp autocrit spellcheckplus
search engines: ipl, orion’s arm (for science), ecoasia (save trees!), library of congress (about the usa), sweet search
also, if you don’t want to buy a planner/sticky notes/whatever that involves to-do lists, try todoist - available on the web, ios, android, chrome, firefox, windows, and os x / or wunderlist - available on windows, mac, android, iphone, ipad, windows phone, chromebook. i’m fond of both!
create citations with bibme or easybib
need somewhere quiet to study and don’t have much of a workspace? find uncrowded places in your area with avoidhumans
microsoft word costs so much money. use libre office. it’s free and basically the same thing. or try openoffice.
if you need to use public computers (there are probably some at your library or something): get a gmail account and use google chrome. when you’re using it, log into the account. bookmark all the things you need. as long as you log into that account when you get on a computer, those bookmarks will be with you, as well as your browser data/settings.
speaking of syncing across computers, evernote is cool for notetaking & google drive is your friend
other posts
internet resources
if you don’t have much money and you’re getting your first apartment
free online courses
sat help [because expensive prep books/classes, ew]
find cheaper or free textbooks/classics online [2] / but maybe read this post first [warning, all bold]
“i’m so poor because i buy too many books”
cheap online colleges
100 recipes for the starving student / similar: [x x x]
feel free to add onto this post x
(Credit to reddit user ryans01).
No zero days. ‘What’s a zero day? A zero day is when you don’t do a single fucking thing towards whatever dream or goal or want or whatever that you got going on. No more zeros. I’m not saying you gotta bust an essay out everyday, that’s not the point. The point I’m trying to make is that you have to make yourself, promise yourself, that the new SYSTEM you live in is a NON-ZERO system. Didn’t do anything all fucking day and it’s 11:58 PM? Write one sentence. One pushup. Read one page of that chapter. One. Because one is non zero.’
Be grateful to the three yous. ‘There’s the past you, the present you, and the future you. If you wanna love someone and have someone love you back, you gotta learn to love yourself, and the 3 you’s are the key. Be GRATEFUL to the past you for the positive things you’ve done. And do favours for the future you like you would for your best bro.’
Forgive yourself. ‘Maybe you got all the know-how, money, ability, strength and talent to do whatever is you wanna do. But lets say you still didn’t do it. Now you’re giving yourself shit for not doing what you need to, to be who you want to. Heads up champion, being disappointed in yourself causes you to be less productive. Tried your best to have a nonzero day yesterday and it failed? So what. I forgive you, previous self. I forgive you. But today? Today is a nonzero masterpiece to the best of my ability for future self. This one’s for you, future homes. Forgiveness man, use it. I forgive you. Say it out loud.’
Exercise and books. ‘Pretty standard advice but when you exercise daily you actually get smarter. When you exercise you get high from endorphins (thanks body). When you exercise you clear your mind. When you exercise you are doing your future self a huge favour. Exercise is a leg on a three legged stool. Feel me? As for books, almost every fucking thing we’ve all ever thought of, or felt, or gone through, or wanted, or wanted to know how to do, or whatever, has been figured out by someone else. Get some books.’
If you’ve ever taken a biology/anatomy/psych class, you’ve probably have some diagrams to memorize. I recently had an exam on brain structure in my bio psych class and I found that this method really helped me remember the diagrams and it didn’t take too long either!! Here’s what I did:
1. Print/Copy your diagrams. Should be pretty straight forward. It doesn’t have to be in color (chances are your exam isn’t either!). I’d recommend printing 2 copies
2. White out the labels. Go through and put a small sticky note or use some white out! I’d only do this one copy so you have the second one as a reference.
3. Number the parts you whited-out. This way you only have to use one copy instead of printing out multiple copies! Copy the numbers on the second copy you printed (this is now your key!)
4. Fill it out. Practice filling out the diagram on a separate piece of paper. I like to first copy the labels, and then try it from memory the second time around.
5. Correct your labels. Go through with a contrasting color and check your work! re-write correct answers next to anything you got wrong. I like using a bright/different color because it helps me remember the label!
6. Practice!! Nothing’s going to help you more than practicing your diagram. I would go over the diagram at least 5 times (or more if you haven’t gotten them all down yet). Try practicing the diagrams or filling in the numbers in random orders.
For reference, here’s how I usually do it!:
Good luck to everyone, and happy memorizing :)
I wanted to help you create explosive productivity so you get big things done (and make your life matter). Here are 21 tips to get you to your best productivity.
#1. Check email in the afternoon so you protect the peak energy hours of your mornings for your best work.
#2. Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action.
#3. Remember that big, brave goals release energy. So set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for 5 minutes.
#4. Mess creates stress (I learned this from tennis icon Andre Agassi who said he wouldn’t let anyone touch his tennis bag because if it got disorganized, he’d get distracted). So clean out the clutter in your office to get more done.
#5. Sell your TV. You’re just watching other people get successful versus doing the things that will get you to your dreams.
#6. Say goodbye to the energy vampires in your life (the negative souls who steal your enthusiasm).
#7. Run routines. When I studied the creative lives of massively productive people like Stephen King, John Grisham and Thomas Edison, I discovered they follow strict daily routines. (i.e., when they would get up, when they would start work, when they would exercise and when they would relax). Peak productivity’s not about luck. It’s about devotion.
#8. Get up at 5 am. Win the battle of the bed. Put mind over mattress. This habit alone will strengthen your willpower so it serves you more dutifully in the key areas of your life.
#9. Don’t do so many meetings. (I’ve trained the employees of our FORTUNE 500 clients on exactly how to do this – including having the few meetings they now do standing up – and it’s created breakthrough results for them).
#10. Don’t say yes to every request. Most of us have a deep need to be liked. That translates into us saying yes to everything – which is the end of your elite productivity.
#11. Outsource everything you can’t be BIW (Best in the World) at. Focus only on activities within what I call “Your Picasso Zone”.
#12. Stop multi-tasking. New research confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!). Be one of the rare-air few who develops the mental and physical discipline to have a mono-maniacal focus on one thing for many hours. (It’s all about practice).
#13. Get fit like Madonna. Getting to your absolute best physical condition will create explosive energy, renew your focus and multiply your creativity.
#14. Workout 2X a day. This is just one of the little-known productivity tactics that I’ll walk you through in my new online training program YOUR PRODUCTIVITY UNLEASHED (details at the end of this post) but here’s the key: exercise is one of the greatest productivity tools in the world. So do 20 minutes first thing in the morning and then another workout around 6 or 7 pm to set you up for wow in the evening.
#15. Drink more water. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll have far less energy. And get less done.
#16. Work in 90 minute blocks with 10 minute intervals to recover and refuel (another game-changing move I personally use to do my best work).
#17. Write a Stop Doing List. Every productive person obsessively sets To Do Lists. But those who play at world-class also record what they commit to stop doing. Steve Jobs said that what made Apple Apple was not so much what they chose to build but all the projects they chose to ignore. #18. Use your commute time. If you’re commuting 30 minutes each way every day – get this: at the end of a year, you’ve spent 6 weeks of 8 hour days in your car. I encourage you to use that time to listen to fantastic books on audio + excellent podcasts and valuable learning programs. Remember, the fastest way to double your income is to triple your rate of learning.
#19. Be a contrarian. Why buy your groceries at the time the store is busiest? Why go to movies on the most popular nights? Why hit the gym when the gym’s completely full? Do things at off-peak hours and you’ll save so many of them.
#20. Get things right the first time. Most people are wildly distracted these days. And so they make mistakes. To unleash your productivity, become one of the special performers who have the mindset of doing what it takes to get it flawless first. This saves you days of having to fix problems.
#21. Get lost. Don’t be so available to everyone. I often spend hours at a time in the cafeteria of a university close to our headquarters. I turn off my devices and think, create, plan and write. Zero interruptions. Pure focus. Massive results. I truly hope these 21 productivity tips have been valuable to you. And that I’ve been of service. Your productivity is your life made visible. Please protect it. Stay productive.
See more at: http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/#sthash.8b8nnYDA.dpuf
I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)
stereotypical delightful classical music:
battalia a 10 in d major (biber)
brandenburg concerto no. 5
brandenburg concerto no. 3
symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)
if you need to chill:
rondo alla turca
fur elise
anitra’s dance
in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)
if you need to sleep:
moonlight sonata
swan lake
corral nocturne
if you need to wake up:
morning mood
summer (from the four seasons)
buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)
if you are feeling very proud:
pomp and circumstance
symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)
1812 overture
symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)
american (dvořák)
if you feel really excited:
hoedown (copland)
bacchanale
spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)
la gazza ladra
death and the maiden (schubert)
if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:
dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)
winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)
symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)
symphony no. 5 (beethoven)
totentanz (liszt)
quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)
young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)
if you want to cry for a really long time:
fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)
adagio for strings (barber)
violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)
aase’s death
andante festivo
if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:
an american in paris (gershwin)
if you want chills:
danse macabre
russian easter overture
if you want to study:
eine kleine nachtmusik
bolero (ravel)
serenade for strings (elgar)
scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)
pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)
if you really want to dance:
capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)
blue danube
le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)
radetzky march
if you want to start bouncing in your chair:
hopak (mussorgsky)
les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)
if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:
hungarian dance no. 1
hungarian dance no. 5
if you want to hear suspense within music:
firebird
in the hall of the mountain king
ride of the valkyries
night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)
if you want a jazzy/classical feel:
rhapsody in blue
if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:
introduction and rondo capriccioso
unfinished symphony (schubert)
symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)
canon in d (pachelbel)
if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:
st. paul’s suite
concerto for two violins (vivaldi)
l’arlésienne suite
pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:
symphony no. 40 (mozart)
cello suite no. 1 (bach)
polovtsian dances
enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)
perpetuum mobile
pieces that just sound really cool:
scherzo tarantelle
dance of the goblins
caprice no. 24 (paganini)
new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology)
if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):
concerto for two violins (bach)
concerto for two violins (vivaldi)
violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)
violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)
cello concerto in c (haydn)
piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)
harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)
and if you really just hate classical music in general:
4′33″ (cage)
a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!
also, thank you to viola-ology and iwillsavemyworld for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!
Comes in the 5 colours pictured above (peach, pink, lilac, blue, mint). There are two versions. One with times put out, perfect for a schedule and to-do combo. The other one is without time and works well for long to-do lists.
All of them comes with dues, goals, to-do, important tasks, notes and a food section!
Download from Google drive for free (PDF files):
Day with times (12h clock)
Day with times (24h clock)
Day without times
I have weekly pastel printables too which you can find here.
If you use them, tag me in the picture so I can see.
Cat Purring
Thunderstorm (Close)
Thunderstorm (Far Away)
Ocean
Weightless
Wind Chimes
Tibetan Bowls
Nature (Images of River)
Space Ambient
Ambient Electronic
Human Heartbeat
“Native American” Style Flute/Drum (Images of Fire)
Rainforest
Celestial White Noise
Music to Help Combat Night Terror
Winter Wind (Images of Trees and Snow + Cheesy Shakespeare Quote)
Autumn Wind
Howling Wind
Rain on Tin Roof
Rain on Tent
Traffic (Distant)
Traffic in the Rain (Close)
Fan
Distant Train
Relaxing Trance/Electro
Chillstep (Relaxing Dubstep) (Vocals Used)
Relaxing “Chinese” Inspired Meditation
Soft Piano
Sad Violin and Piano
Instrumental
Stormy Ocean
The end product of the other night’s organization. =)