Introduction to the Bible
Tips for Studying for Quizzes1. This class is NOT easy. Average effort will produce an average grade (C). 2. Review your notes each day after class. You memorize material better through constant repetition—not by cramming the night before. The more you go over your notes, the more likely the information will move from the short-term memory to the long-term memory. 3. Read and explain your notes to someone else. Reading the information on the paper and recognizing it is not the same as being able to understand and explain it from memory. If you cannot explain the information in a way that someone else understands, then YOU DO NOT KNOW IT. Not only will this help you know the information better, but it will give you practice for clearly explaining the information to me on the quizzes. Being able to speak something out loud in a coherent way is very different from the thoughts in your head. 4. If you do not understand something or there are gaps in your notes, compare your notes with a friend's. (If you worked hard at taking notes and someone who has been slacking off in class asks to see your notes, either refuse or charge them for the privilege of using your notes. They should have been working just like you worked. Share notes only with people who share your work ethic or who have been stricken with illness!) 5. Rewrite or type your notes. Writing things out is great way to reinforce the material. Try to think of questions that I might ask from the notes. I will not word everything the same on the quiz as I spoke it or wrote it in class. I want you to be able to understand and articulate the information, not regurgitate the exact same words and phrases that I used. 6. Ask me either in class or one-on-one about things you don't understand. You are going to have to take the initiative on this. I do not have time to ask all my students each week if they need help. 7. It is your responsibility to take missed quizzes and to hand in work that is due when you are absent. It is not my responsibility to seek you out. Instructions for Writing Papers1. Papers must be typed, single spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt., 1 inch margins. I will not be legalistic about this, but these rules are here to prevent unprofessional-looking papers. Your name and period must be at the top in 12 pt. font. The title may be 14 or 16 pt. font. Black is the only font color you may use. 2. Papers should not be longer than a page or two. The goal is to say what you have to say well and with support in a short amount of space. Short and concise is an art and skill that will serve you better in your everyday life more than lengthy research papers (though there is a place for research papers, and that skill must be mastered as well). 3. Support, support, support, and give examples. Your opinion or answer is only as valid as the support and examples that you give. This is the primary thing that I am looking for and the sign of thinking and understanding and what makes you worth listening to. I am not necessarily looking for the right answer (though important and the ultimate goal but sometimes not always possible) but weather or not you have reasonable and valid reasons who the answer that you give. 4. For this class I do not want you to use any resources, books, internet, etc. besides the Bible. I am more interested in your reading and studying the Bible and making your own observations. You will not refer to anyone else's observations, and above all you must not plagiarize (copy the work of other writers). There will be one assignment at the end of the year for which you will consult commentaries, but I will be providing them. 5. In the rare case that I have you write something in class, it must be done on a sheet of lined paper separate from the assignment paper I gave you. Skip lines and write as neatly as possible. If your cursive is unreadable, then print. Make sure you have ripped any "snowflakes" off the edge of the paper before you turn it in. |