Five Best Blogging Platforms

It's not difficult to argue that blogging has done more to spread knowledge and ideas than any other publishing innovation since the printing press. Here's a look at the most popular blogging platforms to help you get your ideas out there.

Photo by Kevin Purdy.

Printer and photocopier salesmen of the late 20th century frequently peddled their wares with the pitch that a personal printing device could turn anyone—schools, neighborhood associations, churches, individuals with a message to get out—into small time publishers. The revolution they hinted at didn't come about on their watch, however. The personal printer simply didn't have the volume and the reach that a later innovation, the internet—and more specifically, blogging—would have. Blogs give anyone an inexpensive platform to promote their ideas to a potential audience of the entire world, not just a county in Idaho or a street corner in Manhattan.

Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite blogging platform. We tallied the votes, and now we're back to highlight the five most popular blogging platforms for your perusal.

Blogger (Web-Based, Free)


Blogger is a popular and free blogging service owned by Google. Blogger's big draw is ease of use and nearly instant setup. You can go from blog-less to publishing your first post in under 15 minutes thanks to its extremely easy setup process. Blogger supports drag-and-drop template editing, dynamic updating, geo-tagging for location-based blogging, and easy publication from editing tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Windows Live Writer. Blogger supports up to 100 users, so if you grow your blog beyond single editorship you can expand without any hassle.


Tumblr (Web-Based, Free)


While Blogger is an easy way to set up a full-fledged blog, Tumblr is an interesting fusion between a full-fledged blog and a Twitter feed. Known as short-form or micro blogging, the style of blogging on a Tumblr blog is focused on short and frequent posts that are normally longer (or more focused on media like images or video) than Twitter updates but not as involved and formal as a regular blog post. It's a style that appeals to a lot of people and the ease of setup coupled with the informality of Tumblr is a winning combination for people who aren't looking to commit to a blog as an involved and time-consuming project. If this is the first time you've come across the concept of micro blogging, make sure to check out Tumblr's About Us which provides an interesting picture of micro blogging.


WordPress (Web-Based, Free)


WordPress is a popular open source blogging platform along the lines of the venerable Swiss Army knife. As a WordPress user, you have the option of setting up a WordPress blog on your own server (for free) or creating a WordPress-hosted blog at WordPress.com. Thanks to an absolutely enormous community of followers and developers, WordPress has themes, plug-ins, and gadgets of all stripes. It isn't as simple to set up and configure as some of the other entries in this week's Hive, but once you get it up and running you're rewarded with a nearly limitless array of options, configurations, and plug-ins. Finding a customization tool or trick for WordPress is almost never more effort than a cursory Google search. WordPress is a scalable solution that allows you to do everything from maintain a single blog with a single user to an entire stable of blogs with multiple users all overseen by a primary administrator.


SquareSpace (Web-Based, From $8 per month)


SquareSpace is a commercial blogging platform with packages ranging from $8-50 per month. One of the nice things about their pricing schedule is that it's based almost entirely on volume and not on the idea that the lower tier members don't deserve all the cool toys the premium members get. Aside from a few features, mostly focused on volume and big site management, the user experience from the smallest users to the biggest power users is consistent. SquareSpace's strongest focus is on making good blog design easy for design/coding newbies. They've built their system around a modular design so building a brand new blog is as easy as snapping the pieces you want together.


Posterous (Web-Based, Free)


Posterous aims to be an absolutely no-fuss and zero-stress way to blog. You don't need to sign up, you don't need to know any code, you don't need to know how to do anything but send an email to set up your own Posterous blog and start sharing your ideas and media. Simply email post@posterous.com from any email account and Posterous will create a YourName.Posterous.com blog for you. They're quick to point out that they aren't a short-form or micro blogging service because there isn't anything short or micro about your Posterous blog. You can write posts and long as you want, attaching photos and media files. (You can use the site's rich text editor to create or edit posts, but its by-email updating is what its best known for.) The only micro part about Posterous is the amount of time you'll spend setting it up. While email-based blogging might not be for everyone, it's impressive how much you can do through the Posterous system with a single email. Check out their FAQ file to see how you can do everything from multimedia posts to tagging your entries right from your email subject line.


Now that you've had a chance to look over the five most popular blogging platforms as voted… it's time to cast a vote for your favorite:

Which Blogging Platform Is Best? (Poll Closed)

Blogger 16.6% (1,629 votes)

Tumblr 13.1% (1,286 votes)

WordPress 55.4% (5,429 votes)

SquareSpace 3.3% (325 votes)

Posterous 8.3% (814 votes)

Other 3.3% (319 votes)

Total Votes: 9,802

Have a favorite blogging platform that wasn't highlighted here? A tip or trick for setting up a blogging platform that was? Let's hear all about it in the comments. If you have a great idea for the next Hive Five shoot as an email at tips@lifehacker.com and we'll do our best to give you idea the limelight it deserves.


Blogger is a popular and free blogging service owned by Google. Blogger's big draw is ease of use and nearly instant setup. You can go from blog-less to publishing your first post in under 15 minutes thanks to its extremely easy setup process. Blogger supports drag-and-drop template editing, dynamic updating, geo-tagging for location-based blogging, and easy publication from editing tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Windows Live Writer. Blogger supports up to 100 users, so if you grow your blog beyond single editorship you can expand without any hassle.


Tumblr (Web-Based, Free)


While Blogger is an easy way to set up a full-fledged blog, Tumblr is an interesting fusion between a full-fledged blog and a Twitter feed. Known as short-form or micro blogging, the style of blogging on a Tumblr blog is focused on short and frequent posts that are normally longer (or more focused on media like images or video) than Twitter updates but not as involved and formal as a regular blog post. It's a style that appeals to a lot of people and the ease of setup coupled with the informality of Tumblr is a winning combination for people who aren't looking to commit to a blog as an involved and time-consuming project. If this is the first time you've come across the concept of micro blogging, make sure to check out Tumblr's About Us which provides an interesting picture of micro blogging.


WordPress (Web-Based, Free)


WordPress is a popular open source blogging platform along the lines of the venerable Swiss Army knife. As a WordPress user, you have the option of setting up a WordPress blog on your own server (for free) or creating a WordPress-hosted blog at WordPress.com. Thanks to an absolutely enormous community of followers and developers, WordPress has themes, plug-ins, and gadgets of all stripes. It isn't as simple to set up and configure as some of the other entries in this week's Hive, but once you get it up and running you're rewarded with a nearly limitless array of options, configurations, and plug-ins. Finding a customization tool or trick for WordPress is almost never more effort than a cursory Google search. WordPress is a scalable solution that allows you to do everything from maintain a single blog with a single user to an entire stable of blogs with multiple users all overseen by a primary administrator.


SquareSpace (Web-Based, From $8 per month)


SquareSpace is a commercial blogging platform with packages ranging from $8-50 per month. One of the nice things about their pricing schedule is that it's based almost entirely on volume and not on the idea that the lower tier members don't deserve all the cool toys the premium members get. Aside from a few features, mostly focused on volume and big site management, the user experience from the smallest users to the biggest power users is consistent. SquareSpace's strongest focus is on making good blog design easy for design/coding newbies. They've built their system around a modular design so building a brand new blog is as easy as snapping the pieces you want together.


Posterous (Web-Based, Free)


Posterous aims to be an absolutely no-fuss and zero-stress way to blog. You don't need to sign up, you don't need to know any code, you don't need to know how to do anything but send an email to set up your own Posterous blog and start sharing your ideas and media. Simply email post@posterous.com from any email account and Posterous will create a YourName.Posterous.com blog for you. They're quick to point out that they aren't a short-form or micro blogging service because there isn't anything short or micro about your Posterous blog. You can write posts and long as you want, attaching photos and media files. (You can use the site's rich text editor to create or edit posts, but its by-email updating is what its best known for.) The only micro part about Posterous is the amount of time you'll spend setting it up. While email-based blogging might not be for everyone, it's impressive how much you can do through the Posterous system with a single email. Check out their FAQ file to see how you can do everything from multimedia posts to tagging your entries right from your email subject line.


Now that you've had a chance to look over the five most popular blogging platforms as voted… it's time to cast a vote for your favorite:

Which Blogging Platform Is Best? (Poll Closed)

Blogger 16.6% (1,629 votes)

Tumblr 13.1% (1,286 votes)

WordPress 55.4% (5,429 votes)

SquareSpace 3.3% (325 votes)

Posterous 8.3% (814 votes)

Other 3.3% (319 votes)

Total Votes: 9,802

Have a favorite blogging platform that wasn't highlighted here? A tip or trick for setting up a blogging platform that was? Let's hear all about it in the comments. If you have a great idea for the next Hive Five shoot as an email at tips@lifehacker.com and we'll do our best to give you idea the limelight it deserves.

5 STEPS GUIDE TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING

Blogging is so popular now-a-days due to its flexibility and ease of use; it also has a lot of SEO advantages for big corporate Websites. Another great benefit of blogging is that it is one of the easy steps to make money online.

You don’t need to venture into some unethical marketing practices before making money blogging and this post will be talking about 5 great steps you can take to start making money blogging.

Blogger tips to make money:

1. Choose a Niche:

This is the first and most important step to take if you are trying to make money blogging, it is very important not to just jump into a niche because many other people are in it but you should take your time to think about the niche you want to go into. It is also very important to make sure you have passion for your niche, for example, if you are someone who loves watching football then you can start a blog in the football niche. Another great thing to do is to make sure you choose a highly profitable niche and that can be discovered if you effectively research your niche before venturing into it.

2. Target Some Top Keywords and Chose a Keyword Rich Domain Name:

One great way to get high quality targeted free traffic to your blog on autopilot is by focusing on SEO.
When trying to begin blogging it is very important to research your keywords effectively to know how much traffic and competitors they have before you start. After you have the right and highly profitable keyword you want to target you can now choose a keyword rich domain name. For example, if I want to target the keyword “guitar bass” I can now go for the domain name “guitarbass.com”. It is very important to choose keyword rich domain names because this will make it easier for you to rank well in the search engines.

Read: 3 Free online Keyword research tool

3. Write Valuable Blog Posts:

Your content is the foundation of your blog so it is very important not to take it with levity. It is very important to write valuable and high quality content because this will also help you gain more readers and backlinks thereby leading to more long-term traffic.
When writing it is also very important to update your blog regularly and not just be writing review posts now and then because this will discourage your readers and will affect how you get traffic.

4. Build Some Backlinks and Do some SEO:

After you have done the above 3 steps the next step is to begin to work on getting more backlinks to your blog. There are many ways by which you can get backlinks to your blog and some of the tops ways is by commenting on dofollow blogs, by guest posting, by doing forum posting, by doing article marketing and by submitting your blog to top directories.
It is also very important to optimize your blog for search engines by doing some SEO for your blog. You can optimize your blog for search engines by optimizing the on page SEO which includes making sure you include your keywords in your blog post and in your blog title.

5. Monetize our Blog With Affiliate Marketing:

All the above steps are not making you any money yet, right? Not to worry, this is the main step!
After you have chosen the right domain name and you have done some SEO for your blog, the next step is to start monetizing your blog with affiliate marketing, there are many affiliate marketing sites to start with but some of the top ones are clickbank.com, cj.com , shareasale.com and paydotcom.com
After registering with the affiliate networks of your choice and you have chosen the right product to promote you can then keep on building backlinks and doing some SEO for your blog and you will be surprised to see how easy it is to make money online.

GUIDE TO MAKE OPPOSITE SEX ATTRACT

Attracting the opposite sex is all in the attitude. When you are confident, witty, and charming, attracting the opposite sex is easy. There are ways to do this so that you truly feel and are all these things to the opposite sex, even if you think you are not. Here are some tips for attracting the opposite sex that will get you much attention and lots of dates when you may have had trouble in the past.



Be confident in who you are and you'll be more attractive to the opposite sex.

Hold yourself in a confident manner so that others know you feel good about yourself. Even if you don't always feel confident, fake it. Confidence comes from believing in yourself and that you can do almost anything possible. Know how good looking you are, how smart you are, how great of a person you are and project this to the opposite sex. Confidence is sexy and sexy makes the opposite sex notice you. Smile with confidence. Talk with confidence. Do most everything with confidence. The more you practice having confidence, the more you will actually find confidence and attract the opposite sex easily.



Try being witty by laughing at yourself and showing the opposite sex that you are not too serious.

Joke about yourself to the opposite sex and make fun of your flaws. Attractive people are those that can have fun at their own expense and do not take themselves too seriously. How attractive is a person who gets angry at everything and can never take a joke? Being witty comes from thinking quick and finding funny things to say, but if you mess up, make a joke about your goofiness and see how fast people laugh with you. You don't have to be a comedian to be witty. Just relax and have fun with yourself in front of the opposite sex and you'll see a quick attraction come to light.





Be charming by showing respect and kindness to the opposite sex. Chivalry is not dead if you are a woman and a man who is seeking the attraction of a lady should always be respectful and kind to her. Also, a woman who wants to attract a man should also be kind. Men don't want to attract a girl who is trashy, rude, or treats others ignorantly. Men want a girl who is sweet and acts like a lady. A lady is charming, so too is a man who is generous and has manners. Being charming in these ways can attract the opposite sex fairly easily. Anyone who is treated with kindness will usually respond in a positive way and be attracted to the opposite sex who behaves well.



Use little flirty gestures to attract the opposite sex.

 Harmless, sweet flirting can make you very attractive to the opposite sex. Throw a smile in his direction or tilt your head in a flirty way. A man can smile as well to create an attraction to himself. When you flirt in such a way that it gives attention to the opposite sex your interested in, it's noticed and often reciprocated. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see the response you get when you flirt with someone of the opposite sex. Not only will you be more attractive, but you'll also be more interesting making you more appealing to get to know better. So find anyway you can to be gently flirty (don't overdo it) and see how fast you can attract someone of the opposite sex.



Respect yourself to be more attractive to the opposite sex.

 People only want to seriously date those that they respect. This is pretty much a given. If you do not respect yourself, you will not be very attractive to the opposite sex. A woman who does not respect herself will not get very much respect from a man. In turn, a man who does not respect himself will definitely turn off a woman. Respecting yourself means acting tastefully and having manners most expected from society. Do not act trashy, rude, or vulgar in front of the opposite sex if you want to attract him or her. Instead, treat yourself well and show others that you are to be treated with respect also. Respecting yourself can make you very attractive to the opposite sex.

GUIDE TO MAKE A GOOD DATING

while dating there are a lot things that should be keep in mind.so below are mentioned few tips regarding dating.

Dating can be a tough pill to swallow, especially after many disappointing dinners, meetings, and conversations that just don't go anywhere. It always seems like the same old thing...you meet someone, talk or text for a little while, go out on a few dates (if it gets that far), then find either one or both of you just aren't feeling the chemistry, and it's over...just as quickly as it started. It can be challenging to keep this vicious cycle up and many of us choose to give up on dating altogether after enough failed meetings with the opposite sex. But, like anything else worth it in life...you have to stay determined and keep plugging away at it. Giving up on dating will only give you exactly what you don't want...a life of solitude and loneliness. Unless of course that's how you choose your life to be. But, chances are, if you have been reading this lens...not looking to be alone forever. While dating advice is not alway fool proof, there are some things you can do to attract love and happiness to you. You just have to be willing to put in the effort.

Here's a list of things to try for attracting positive dating and love experiences into your life...



Smile Often


                 
People are automatically drawn to others who are happy. Happiness makes us a joy to be around. Who wants to be in the company of someone who is always miserable and depressed? Smile a lot and you will attract the same type of person to you. Even if you are in the mood to smile, find something to be happy about (a good memory, something you want to do, the weekend...etc). Not only will you be more attractive to the opposite sex, but you'll also feel good about yourself, which is important when looking for love.



Be Positive



Don't carry the attitude that all "men" or "women" are the same. Try to be positive and open to the next person that comes into your life. Assuming that all people are the same is not only unfair to new people you meet, but also hurts you. When you carry a negativity about the opposite sex, you put a wall up and may shield you from heartache, but also keeps good people out. I guarantee you'll miss your opportunity for love if you shut down and have a negative attitude about anyone of the opposite sex.



Know You're Amazing



Realize how great you are! Right now...do it! Make a list of all your positive attributes, both physical and internal. Do you have a pretty smile, great legs, or an awesome sense of style? Are you intelligent, witty, kind-hearted? Everyone has amazing features that make them who they are and make them attractive to others of the opposite sex. Focus on these amazing qualities and build them up in your head. After all, others are looking at you in this wonderful way if you just pay attention.



Be Confident



Now that you know you have amazing features and traits...show them to the world. Flirt every chance you get, make cute conversation, walk with confidence into a room. Show others just how truly awesome you really are. Having confidence in yourself is very sexy to the opposite sex. When you feel good about yourself, others see it and this confidence attracts them to you. Confidence is like sticky paper to flies. People can't help but be drawn to it and sucked it. Try flaunting your stuff and see. You'll be pleasantly surprised.



Know What You Want



Realize what you want in the opposite sex before going on anymore dates. Don't just date to date. While the experience of dating is great, dating all the wrong people is not. It will only leave you feeling disappointed if you go out with people of the opposite sex that don't rate high on your love and relationship scale. Make a list of the qualities you want in a person so that you understand fully what it is you are looking for. Be sure you have a clear picture of what truly makes you happy.



Never Settle



Now that you have an idea of what makes you happy, don't settle for less! Only date people who deserve your love and offer the qualities you're looking for in a mate. Don't waste your time dating people that don't interest you completely. Even better, date only those people that excite you, make you want to be around them, and even share a connection with you. Yes, you might be left with less dates than usual, but remember, you are weaning out the wrong ones with good purpose...to find amazing love and happiness!


GUIDE TO MAKE A GOOD DAY.

Some days can be one problem after another; on others, everything seems to be going out way. While there are steps we can take to troubleshoot a bad day while it’s happening (see “Having a Bad Day? Here’s Why” and “How to Stop Having a Bad Day“), we can also help encourage good days. In my last article (“How to Have a Good Day: The Night Before“), I offered some steps we can take at night to help make the next day as good as it can be. Today’s article continues the topic with steps we can take in the morning.

▪ Set aside some time to think. It’s often inconvenient to try to make time in the morning, especially when it means getting up earlier, but doing so is powerful. When we don’t have time to think about what’s going on, we generally act on habit, so that bad habits–like being late, eating poorly, or avoiding stressful responsibilities–can often start a day off on the wrong foot. Our brains have developed to take cues from the world around us and interpret them to predict the future, so that a few bad habits first thing in the morning can set the stage for a downward spiral. By contrast, starting off with a few good choices provides encouragement, happiness, and self-confidence.

▪ Remind yourself of your goals. Whenever we want to move forward with a goal, it’s worthwhile to keep that goal in mind as often as possible. If you’ve ever had the experience of making a strong resolution, keeping it for a little while, then forgetting for a few days or weeks when something else came up, you probably remember coming back to it later to feel completely derailed. Reminding ourselves clearly and explicitly of a current goal first thing in the morning helps keep our focus and mental efforts on that goal.

▪ Remind yourself of immediate payoffs. Although major goals are by definition long-term, a good goal usually has short-term payoffs as well. Examples include things like feeling physically better when not eating junk food or finding things that are needed while organizing, but progress on any goal also can have the effect of increasing self-confidence, relieving stress, and generating a sense of accomplishment. Reminding ourselves of these immediate payoffs provides a reason to care about our goals even when the long-term results don’t feel important, as sometimes happens when we’re wrapped up or emotionally involved with other things.

▪ Be willing to let go. Sometimes the first step in increasing happiness is being willing to surrender things we’re upset about–to stop focusing on upsetting incidents or self-defeating thoughts. As ridiculous as it sounds, I sometimes picture things like this floating away from me as helium balloons. Corny or not, an approach like this gives me a way to separate from what’s bothering me. Consciously committing to doing this when necessary through the day–and starting with any trouble that may already be brewing in the morning–can relieve stress and aid focus.

There’s more we can do in the mornings to encourage the day to go well: I’ll take up the other techniques in my next post.

GUIDE TO STUDY..

here are some guide and tips for preparing and taking exams which might help you out for your upcoming exams !!

Knowing More & Remembering it Longer

Remembering Strategies

1. Select
   • Select what you want to remember.
   • Ask the teacher
   • Examine your class notes
   • Read the text assignments
   • Study the handouts
2. Remember
   • Choose your techniques that will help you remember.
   • Visualize
   • Associate
   • Apply
   • Repeat
   • Use mnemonic devices
3. Review, Read, Recite, Rewrite
   • Use these techniques to keep what you want to remember in your memory.

Using Mnemonic Devices to Remember Information

• Rhyme. A rhyme is a poem or verse that uses words that end with the same sound. Example: Thirty days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one except February which has twenty-eight.
• Acronym. An acronym is a word that can be pronounced that is made by using the first letter of other words. Example: The names of the five Great Lakes in the U.S. form the acronym HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).
• Abbreviation. An abbreviation is a group of letters made from the first letter of each word to be remembered. Example: FBI is an abbreviation for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• Acrostic. An acrostic sentence or phrase is formed by words beginning with the first letter of each word to be remembered. Example: The phrase very active cat might be used to recall the three typed of blood vessels in the human body: veins, arteries, capillaries.
• Pegwords. A pegword is a word that helps you remember something by forming a picture in your mind. Pegwords are used to remember lists of things. Each pegword helps you remember one thing. If you memorize 10 pegwords, then you can use them to remember 10 things. If you memorize 20 pegwords, you can remember 20 things.

Using Repetition to Remember Information

• You have probably used repetition many times without realizing it. Anytime you have read, said, or written something a number of times to remember it, you have used repetition. A good way to remember information when using repetition is to read, say, and write what you want to remember. For example, if you need to remember a list of words and their definitions, here is how to use repetition to do this:
  • Read aloud the word and its definition. If you need to, use a dictionary to help you pronounce a word.
  • With your eyes closed, say the word and its definition.
  • Without looking at the word, write the word and its definition.
  • Repeat the steps until you can write the word and its definition from memory three times without an error.
  • Do this for each word on the list.

Four Ways to Forget

• Disuse. Information not periodically used withers and disappears. Do you remember all of your previous telephone numbers?
• Interference. It is easy to confuse materials that are similar and related. When confused, we are more likely to forget which is which. Learning two similar foreign languages at the same time may present some problems.
• Repression. We have very strong systems of belief. Sometimes what we learn doesn't fit with what we believe. When in conflict, odds are our beliefs will win. Believing that we are no good at remembering names will make it all that much more difficult to learn new names.
• Not learning it in the first place. This is probably the number one culprit in forgetting. Even if we've been exposed to something, unless we solidify the learning we are not likely to remember it.

TEST TAKING STRATEGIES

Taking Objective Tests

If you are taking an objective test (multiple-choice, true/false, or comparable type), you will probably achieve your best results by following this procedure:

   1. Read an item through quickly, with high concentration, and answer on the basis of your first impression.

   2.Then re-read the item, asking yourself what it really means and expressing its thought in your own words.

   3.Ask yourself if your original answer still appears correct in light of your close analysis of the item, but do not change your answer because of a mere doubt.

   4.Always keep in mind that your instructor is not attempting to trick you in the questions. They are designed to measure your knowledge of a subject, not your ingenuity in solving verbal puzzles. So don't out-smart yourself looking for devious, tricky interpretations and ignoring the obvious, straightforward meaning.

Essay Tests

In taking a test where you are to write answers in your own words, observe these guidelines:


1.Read the question carefully. Then re-read it and express its meaning in your own words. Check each word in the question to be sure that your interpretation omitted nothing important. To give a satisfactory answer to a question, you have to correctly understand what the question is asking.


2.Answer the questions you know first. This way you will be sure not to use all your time puzzling over questions you do not know the answers to, and then run short of time for writing answers you know well.


3.Outline your answer on a piece of scratch paper before starting to write it in full. In this way you can organize your thoughts and check your answer against the question for possible omissions. Writing from your outline, you can present what you know more clearly and completely than you could if you just started writing down your thoughts as they came to you.


4.Write with a good pen, or a well-sharpened No. 2 pencil, so that your writing can be easily read. Also, watch your penmanship, spelling, and punctuation.


5.Read over your answers after you have finished your paper, checking for thought and completeness, as well as for spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. All these factors are related to your mastery of course material. What is involved in answering a question "completely" is determined by the question's wording and the preferences of individual professors. From the number of questions on the test and the amount of time you are allotted, you can form a rough approximation of how fully you should answer the questions.


6.Count your questions and answers before you hand your paper in to be sure you did not overlook anything. Be sure your pages are in correct order so the instructor will not have to shuffle through them trying to sort them out.

Preparing for Finals


•At least a week before exams, shift into overdrive by beginning an extensive review. Set up a detailed time schedule for the remainder of the semester


•Attend all classes as instructors often use the last few classes prior to an exam to summarize, review, and clarify.

•Prepare summary sheets, one set for text and one for lecture.


•Pick out the most important facts.

•Organize information into categories in a manner different from the way you first leaned it. For example, History is chronological, so try organizing your notes under headings that emphasize time instead of themes.

Review summary sheets and include key words for important facts.

Recite information orally - ACTIVE learning is essential! How you store information determines how well you retrieve it, so use all your senses when reviewing.

If you must cram, resist trying to memorize too much material. Select only a handful of facts even at the risk of leaving out something important.

During Exams

•Arrive early and remember to BREATHE!

•Read and listen to directions.

•Skim the exam and plan your time


•Answer the easy questions first to build confidence and create momentum. You may work the test from back to front, answering the last question first.

•A question you can't answer can be skipped, often another question will trigger your memory or provide that elusive answer.


•Answer all questions.

•Save a few minutes at the end to go back over questions you skipped, to
review your answers and look for careless mistakes.