Independent Learning

Some students take a long time to realise that there are actually
two types of work in secondary school. There is the obvious work,
the work your teacher specifically tells you to do and that is
compulsory: homework, working on assignments, preparing for tests
and assessments. But students who get good results in school take
a larger measure of responsibility for their learning. This means
that the nights where they do not have much compulsory work, they
also do independent learning. These are the additional things you
do, if you have no other schoolwork to do that night, to improve
your understanding of your subjects. It is what students who get
good marks are doing, they are just not talking about it to their
friends!


Examples of independent learning:


Reading

Reviewing what you have been learning at school that week

Extra practise on questions you find hard

Research on an area you are interested in learning more about

Making a mind map about what you have been learning

Making study notes on a topic

Improving your touch typing skills

Reading ahead in your textbook

Improving your study skills (you can complete units
on studyskillshandbook.com.au)

Doing work from a different textbook or study guide for one
of your subjects (check the school library, local library and
bookshops).






Some nights you will not have time to do any independent
learning. Other nights you will have no homework and will spend
the whole time allocated to schoolwork for that night working on
independent learning tasks. Your teacher may even give you a
sheet that has suggestions of independent learning work for that
subject. If you are unsure, you can always ask. This means in
secondary school you can never say ‘I have nothing to do’ – this
really just means ‘I have nothing compulsory to do at the
moment!’.