Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse, need to improrve my CCNA Study Habits

kevin31

Turgon wrote: »

You do not learn to fly a plane from a manual..you need flying time.

How spooky is this. Another reason other then bettering my career to pass the CCNA is I want to start my Private Pilots License next year and there is 7 Ground exams to pass

Figure if I cant pass the CCNA then what hope do I have of that. So I have action plan CCNA then PPL

Kev

alxx

Yes make your own flash cards is the best way as its part of the learning process.


Private pilots license is fun. Got mine back in 94 and got up to a constant speed retractable rating
before running out of cash. Here (Australia) the exams weren't that hard.
Way out of flight currency now.

First solo is fun, as is first solo cross country nav.

Doing recalculations of routes in flight is similar to subnetting
especially taking winds into account its just a matter of practise.

alxx

You don't need to learn all possible commands , just the ones you need for icnd1.

These may help with commands as a reference but better to do labbing on equipment or in packet tracer or gsn3 to burn them into your brain.

CCNA Portable Command Guide
CCNA Portable Command Guide, 2nd Edition

Cisco IOS Cookbook, 2nd Edition - O'Reilly Media




Few past threads as well

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/70191-show-commands-icnd1.html

cisco command references
Cisco IOS Software Releases 12.4 Mainline Command References - Cisco Systems

Cisco IOS debug commands
Cisco IOS Debug Command Reference - Cisco Systems

Important Information on Debug Commands
Important Information on Debug Commands - Cisco Systems


Troubleshoot Cisco routers and switches using the debug commands | TechRepublic

Get IT Done: 10 ways to mitigate problems using Cisco IOS debug | TechRepublic


If you can get your partners and family to help (involve them in your learning) by testing you on the flash cards

instant000

JockVsJock
Flash cards are meant as a memory aid, not a hands-on replacement.

For example:
You may be familiar with
copy tftp flash

But actually running the commands is different when you have to do it live.
Did you IP the interfaces properly?
Are you cabled up properly?
Do you have the appropriate image?
Do you have enough space?

And, that's just one example. Don't skimp on the hands on.

=======================

As far as the output of show ip route, what part of the output are you struggling with?

You don't know what that information is showing you?

Please post examples of output (preferably, in a fresh thread) and this forum will be more than helpful in assisting you.

However, I feel this example goes back to "hands on".

That is, if you hook two or three routers together, and configure something, and do a "show ip route" it will be a LOT more meaningful to you.

So, if you can hook two or three routers together, and set something up, a simple routing, and then do a show ip route, and then ask for help understanding the output, it would be a lot easier for us to help you.

The saying goes "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime."

Turgon

instant000 wrote: »

JockVsJock
Flash cards are meant as a memory aid, not a hands-on replacement.

For example:
You may be familiar with
copy tftp flash

But actually running the commands is different when you have to do it live.
Did you IP the interfaces properly?
Are you cabled up properly?
Do you have the appropriate image?
Do you have enough space?

And, that's just one example. Don't skimp on the hands on.

=======================

As far as the output of show ip route, what part of the output are you struggling with?

You don't know what that information is showing you?

Please post examples of output (preferably, in a fresh thread) and this forum will be more than helpful in assisting you.

However, I feel this example goes back to "hands on".

That is, if you hook two or three routers together, and configure something, and do a "show ip route" it will be a LOT more meaningful to you.

So, if you can hook two or three routers together, and set something up, a simple routing, and then do a show ip route, and then ask for help understanding the output, it would be a lot easier for us to help you.

The saying goes "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime."

Correct. The OP needs more hands on.

I recommend access to a couple of routers and configuration of command line for 4 weeks straight. If he does that then all that reading will have some application.

JockVSJock

kevin31 wrote: »

Sorry barged in on your post but has been a real help to me to. Thank you for sharing your experinces!

Kev

No problem, hope you've learned from it like I have.

JockVSJock

instant000 wrote: »

Studying for certification tests is different for people.

Now, when studying for Cisco tests, I'll give you all the parts of it (as I see it):
1 - Theory (There is a basic theory behind things. Often, people are weak here. For more experienced people, they don't have respect for this gap in basic knowledge. I mean to say, you KNOW why it's no good for the customer calling with a networking issue to provide you with a MAC address when they're three hops away, but their IP address is a lot more useful to begin troubleshooting, and the MAC is more useful once you get closer to them.)
2 - Memorization (There is a certain amount you have to memorize to pass tests. Certain things are just "facts". Fortunately for the most part, you don't have to get overly worried about these on Cisco tests.)
3 - How-To (You have to practice using the devices, doing the binary math/subnetting etc.)

Now, people have different memory cycles, but one of the best memory techniques out there is "spaced repetition." It basically means that you go over things often enough that what you learned at first isn't totally stale by the time you get to the end. I believe that this is undoubtedly happening to you here.

Basically, you have to exercise your brain for the certification. Look at a standard bodily exercise training program: You do pulling exercises one day, pushing exercises another, and situps everyday You take time off in-between, but you work everything each week.

Look at your Cisco training the same way:
Day 1 - EIGRP & RIP + Flash Cards
Day 2 - OSPF + Flash Cards
Day 3 - VTP, STP + Flash Cards + Self-Testing
Day 4 - ACLs/NAT + Flash Cards
Day 5 - WAN + Flash Cards
Day 6 - Wireless + Flash Cards + Self-Testing
Day 7 - Rest + Flash Cards
(Repeat)

Now, I recommend your trying this method, for two weeks, and then seeing how you do with it, and how well your retention has improved.

1. Basically, EACH work day, you're reviewing your entire deck of flash cards (against all topics).
2. Self-testing is basically going through the entire set of questions in your book, trying to get them all right. I tried to schedule these against the same day as your lightest topics, but I don't know what are the easiest topics of you, so modify the schedule accordingly.
3. Then, each day, you're doing an in-depth study on one particular topic set, which is mostly labbing, but also reading, as required. If you have open-ended questions to study, they work great here (That is, something like the Written Labs in Todd Lammle's books, where you have to answer the question, but it's not multiple choice, so you either know the answer, or not.)

I know this type of schedule might not work for some, but since you've obviously tried other things, try this. Honestly, I believe the optimal time to re-hit a topic is within 5 days (especially for the first time through). I know this goes straight in the face of what a lot of people recommend, but I feel that you have lot of intelligence, but maybe not a sound learning technique. Try this for two weeks, and let us know how your retention works out. Obviously, if you can compress the schedule and perform the complete review cycle in 5 days or less with little effort (because you're so familiar with the material), then you're ready for the exam.

This is what I usually do in this order (has worked so far for me).
1 - Read the book (just get through the thing. Don't worry about doing labs, or answering questions just yet.)
2 - Make flash cards (if it looks like it could be a question, I make a card on it. I also make cards on the actual questions in my text books, also. No reason to leave something to chance. For reference, I made over 1,000 cards for CCNA.) This is usually a slow and ardurous step, but it will be rewarding later. If you have ebook formats, you can copy/paste to make these, which should be pretty quick. Also, you can import .csv files into your flash card program.
3 - Labbing / Flash Cards / Review (At this phase, I'm just doing the hands-on labs that come with the text, reviewing the questions in the text, and grilling myself in the flash cards. I'm not going back to read this book at this point, or look at any other links EXCEPT to get a better understanding on something that didn't sound just right. For example, just today, I'm going through the Chris Bryant ROUTE material, but something didn't work as designed, so I ended up looking at a Youtube video someone else made, and the issue was down to the fact that the ip default-network command didn't work until it had a classful network, which I caught from seeing the video from someone else. As Bryant's material is designed to lab as you go, I've been copying down the labs, and making review notes, so I don't have to go back to the material once I get through it ... as, you can see, I believe in investing the time up front to make the flash cards, so the review process can go faster.)

I hope this helps!
Here's my CCNA Thread.

Feel free to reference it for ideas. http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/66510-my-journey-ccna-640-802-a.html

Also, feel free to ask more questions in this thread.

instant000, I'm using your method and making some headway here, with way less stress. Basically I'm doing the following:

-reading
-flashcards
-still doing subnetting on a daily basis

A question I have is that I'm on Odom's Chp 4 Fundamentals of WAN and have over 80 flashcards for it.

I was wondering do you ever go back and re-read a chapter? The reason is that I'm having some issues getting some of the flashcards memorized and felt that re-reading may help. Was wondering if anytime in your method if you did that.

thanks

stlsmoore

Whatever it takes to get the theory down, you can't go wrong with going over the material to much. Repetition is key to becoming an expert at anything, go over it until you can't stand to go over it any more due to having all the info being feed to you down pat in your brain already.

instant000

JockVSJock wrote: »

instant000, I'm using your method and making some headway here, with way less stress. Basically I'm doing the following: -reading -flashcards -still doing subnetting on a daily basis A question I have is that I'm on Odom's Chp 4 Fundamentals of WAN and have over 80 flashcards for it. I was wondering do you ever go back and re-read a chapter? The reason is that I'm having some issues getting some of the flashcards memorized and felt that re-reading may help. Was wondering if anytime in your method if you did that. thanks

If you can't remember something, the easiest way to get it into your brain might be labbing it. How things are in the book isn't necessarily how they will really be. It's why they have "errata." The best thing to do is lab it. Sometimes the complete understanding won't be revealed at cisco.com, techexams, or groupstudy, but it will be found at the CLI. If you don't understand a flash card, then just lab the topic, then come to this forum with questions, and someone here will be more than willing to assist. Hope this helps!

Turgon

stlsmoore wrote: »

Whatever it takes to get the theory down, you can't go wrong with going over the material to much. Repetition is key to becoming an expert at anything, go over it until you can't stand to go over it any more due to having all the info being feed to you down pat in your brain already.

Repetition has it's place, ask pianists and ballet dancers, but it is not the key to becoming an expert. Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Reflect and think hard about what you are trying to learn. That requires time and patience, not repetition. Once you have the understanding, then by all means repeat.

Turgon

instant000 wrote: »

If you can't remember something, the easiest way to get it into your brain might be labbing it. How things are in the book isn't necessarily how they will really be. It's why they have "errata." The best thing to do is lab it. Sometimes the complete understanding won't be revealed at cisco.com, techexams, or groupstudy, but it will be found at the CLI. If you don't understand a flash card, then just lab the topic, then come to this forum with questions, and someone here will be more than willing to assist. Hope this helps!

To become good at an instrument, or to fly a plane you *do* it for real. Theory is fine, then it's hands on. Rather like mathematicians, to become proficient you have to *do* maths. By all means study theory, but then it's about application. All the connections you need to fire in your brain will happen when you get practical, providing you have a solid basis of theory.

alxx

And even then "perfect practice" is still only practice and can't cover everything thrown at you in the real world.

Doesn't matter how much you practice a instrument, it doesn't cover things like getting groped by a drunken chick during a gig or a fuse blowing, leaving me as the only instrument still playing until power was restored.
networking should be safer than playing gigs, shouldn't be drunk people involved( shouldn't )!

kevin31

Hi JockVsJock,

Just thought Id see how you were getting on now? Guess you have had a good few weeks to try instant000 method of learning is it working for you? Have you had to change much??

K

JockVSJock

Things are going ok. I'm still working thru Odom's book and I'm up to Chp 5, which is Fundamentals of IP Addressing and Routing.

Although I went back to do a flashcard review of Chp 4, Fundamentals of WAN. It was weird because I had the chapter down, I took a day off to spend time with a friend and went back to review and forgot most of the material. I was upset with myself, because I put in alot of hours trying to get it down ontop of taking notes and reviewing.

So basically I'm just reading, taking notes, reviewing flashcards, reviewing material and still doing subnetting, because that took me awhile to get down and I want to continue to remember it.

And I'm doing a chapter at a time. Once I've mastered that chapter, then I go onto the next one. A slow process, however it is better then trying to cram all of the material and wonder why I'm not making any progress or very frustrated.

kevin31

JockVSJock wrote: »

Things are going ok. I'm still working thru Odom's book and I'm up to Chp 5, which is Fundamentals of IP Addressing and Routing.

Although I went back to do a flashcard review of Chp 4, Fundamentals of WAN. It was weird because I had the chapter down, I took a day off to spend time with a friend and went back to review and forgot most of the material. I was upset with myself, because I put in alot of hours trying to get it down ontop of taking notes and reviewing.

So basically I'm just reading, taking notes, reviewing flashcards, reviewing material and still doing subnetting, because that took me awhile to get down and I want to continue to remember it.

And I'm doing a chapter at a time. Once I've mastered that chapter, then I go onto the next one. A slow process, however it is better then trying to cram all of the material and wonder why I'm not making any progress or very frustrated.

Good to hear! Starting this method this week hope it works for me to!

K

kevin31

Hi instant000,

Sorry to keep brining this post back.

Well last night/yesterday finally started your method of study see if it works for me. I can see that repertition is the key so think that this could work. So I have drawn up a timetable similar to what you posted so I have it documented just my Day 1 is on Wednesdays

My question is when do you cover other subjects such as Port security, OSI, RSTP, and the bits in between if you will?

What I did yesterday was listen to audio on way to work arrive at work an hour early then read up on EIGRP and RIP and also other things like Autonomous systems and distance vector protocols. Work all day get home then re read what I read in the morning then hit the labs on the same subjects performing the show comands to complement the labs. Hows it sound?

Plan next week will be on my second read in the evening create the flash cards and then start reveiwing them on a daily bases and also try fit on some CBT's on the days subject?

Thanks

K