Q: (Initially posted 9-30-05) FROM STUDENT MEMBER FRANCISCA L. IN CA
I am taking Biology HL this year which those of you familiar with the IB Program know its the second year in a rigorous subject of Biology. I am having a hard time concentrating in class. The teacher basically lectures during the whole class period and I find myself drifting off and wishing I was anywhere but there. I want to do well in my class because its very important to me, I don't want to waste all my hard work and my teachers. My question to everyone is what can I do to keep myself alert? There must be methods that you have tried before that worked out well. I like to learn and I want to learn biology but I'm not sure what steps to take. Even out of biology class the assigned reading seems daunting. I welcome your advice, please help me out.

A. FROM MENTOR AMY MCMILLAN IN NY
Hi Francisca, Although your Biology teacher's lecturing style is boring, it unfortunately is the way many instructors teach - especially in college. Here are a few pieces of advice that I hope help:
1) Don't read your biology book the way you read most other books. You need to read in small sections, make flash cards or lists of terms and names for each section and evaluate the material for that section before moving on to the next section.
2) Read the chapter or section in the book that your instructor is going to go over BEFORE class.
3) Find ways of staying actively involved in class - I would use my pre-reading to develop a list of terms or names and then listen for them in lecture and give myself points if they came up (fun to do with friends as well!). I would also try to remember what words meant or what people did which experiments before the teacher said them.
4) Read the chapter or section in the book right AFTER the lecture on the topic and make up questions that you can use to test yourself on the material at a later date.
5) Use the online resources available with your book if you can - there are usually great animations, self-tests, chapter and section summaries, etc. that are extremely helpful.   Although all of this is a lot of work, you will find that you will do well in Biology, develop some study skills that will help you in other courses as well, and maybe even learn to enjoy your class!
********************
A: FROM MENTOR KAREN PELLETIER IN MA
Hello Francisca,   Your main question was, "What can I do to keep myself alert?"   I am relating to this question as I find myself constantly in the same situation as I attend three hour to entire day teleconferences. Teleconferences are when you attending a meeting with many people located all over the Unites States and are talking via a phone line, presenting information using PowerPoint slides. Keeping alert, focusing, and keeping track of what is important is key and difficult.   Strategies for these meetings that I use are: Make sure that I am taking care of myself physically by eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercising. This provides for a health environment for your brain and the rest of your body to stay alert. During a meeting I always take notes. With an instructor talking non-stop this might be impossible so you need to key in on high level constructs. You might want to try Creating a fishbone diagram. Also if I have a frame of reference or have pre read some of the material that the class will cover may allow you to listen more intently for key constructs and allow for better comprehension.   One of the objectives of professors is to help their students learn and succeed. You might want to talk with your professor and ask if he has any suggestions as to how to be an active participant during his lectures. Questions like: What is it that he expects his students to take away from each class? How best to prepare for a lecture? Or What study techniques do you suggest so that I may succeed in Biology?   Hope this helps.
********************
A: FROM MENTOR ELEANORA ROBBINS IN CA
What a bummer-you, want the subject but the instructor is boring. Sounds like life to me-sometimes you just have to "gut it out," especially when you don't have options. One way to solve the problem is to become friends with the instructor. Then you hear a friend talking, rather than a teacher with whom you have no connection. Once you make friends, you could start slipping into your private conversations "that is sooooo boring." Maybe this person will get the message. And hundreds of students who follow you will forever be in your debt. In the meantime when you are sitting there being bored out of your gourd, you might take the sentences you are hearing and try to figure out how you would use the same information but make it exciting. This human behavior is called: "never thanking the people who taught you (to not be like them)."
********************