Learning to Learn - Teacher Manual Introduction

Section 1 : Introduction
Transitioning and
Section 1:
Settling into Study
Students starting off in secondary school are faced by a number
of challenges and fears. Students who manage this transition successfully
tend to settle into their academic life more quickly and as such have an
advantage on beginning to make progress in their studies.
The focus for this section is to assist the
student in settling into their learning
and study as quickly and efficiently
as possible. This section is aimed at
students understanding themselves
better as learners and developing skills
which will aid their learning and study
into the future. This section is broken
up into the following areas:
Chapters 1 and 2 look at the
key skills that will help students
settle in and adjust to their new
learning environment and also
introduce them to the key skills
they will be developing for the
Junior Cycle.
Chapters 3 and 4 explore the
subjects students will be studying
and what they need to understand
in these subjects both for class
and for doing homework.
Chapter 5 looks at how the brain
works and how they can use this
knowledge to improve their learning.
Chapters 6 to 9 share with the
students strategies for managing
all the new information they will
be engaging with. They will explore
strategies to aid them in their thinking,
note taking, reading and writing.
Chapter 10 will introduce the
students to some simple memory
methodologies which they can use
in their study and revision.
Finally there is an end of section
reflection for students to reflect on
what they have learned personally
from the section and how this can
improve their learning and study
going forward.
The students will be given the
opportunity to practise all these
new skills with some of the
subjects they will be doing for the
Junior Certificate.
Some schools may decide to use
the early chapters in this section
as part of the induction
programme for students and
continue with the remainder of
the section throughout first year.
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