how we should use the lessons ? what method do you suggest ?

Good question!

I usually watch the videos and take the quizzes and exercises also. Sometimes I go back and review the videos. I also keep a notebook next to me so I can write tips or things I want to remember. When I get stuck i'll go through the forum or search on google.

The most important thing is to build stuff on your own as well. So watch all the videos,exercises,quizzes. Then go and build something with what you just learned. Or take the exercises and expand on them. The more you practice the more you will understand the info and it will stick with you because you did it several times.

Curious to see what others do here on Treehouse.

thank you Jeffrey!! let's hear other stories and methods....

I usually work like Jeffrey, I used to note things I had to memorize in a notebook but I finally switched to open office where I could keep my notes more organized, usually for each course I have a specific file, for example one for the illustrator course where I put as well some screenshots to describe each tool and etc... It helps me to remember things but It takes as well quite some time to be honest, however, I think it worth the pain, because on my side, as english isn't my mother tongue, I most of time translate things I think important in french and it makes my reading and comprehension easier.

Aside all of this, before last weeks I couldn't especially wait to finish a track before practicing because I used to follow as well some evening classrooms, thus, I had sometimes some little assignments to work on. That was useful because I could use the knowledge earned through Treehouse.

So I highly suggest you to practice what you've learnt on some projects once you feel you can use some new technics lately learnt. You might think you are wasting time & money because you don't progress in the meantime on Treehouse itself, but that's part of the learning process.

You don't need especially build an entire website, as an example I often use codepen or jsfiddle to test some code.

Once again, as stated by Jeffrey, the most important thing is to build stuff on your own. And no worries if you have the feeling to forget many things, that's normal to feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information.

Hopefully google is there, and the documentation of the language you use as well.

thanks Geofrey ..interesting answers... i think codepen is usefull ... btw. you can add me there: enzime4u :)

Great ideas Geoffrey! I agree that codepen is great for playing with code and for practice. I also like to use JSfiddle. :)

Practice practice practice!

To answer the comment you lately posted.

First off you have the feeling you can't remember all things lately learnt, no worries, It's normal to be overwhelmed by the amount of information you are taught. So just keep this in mind, this can't be viewed as an issue, It's totally normal. The matter is thanks these videos you are aware of some technics that can be used throughout your future projects. Be patient, and step by step you'll memorize things you often use.

Secondly, the CSS foundation is indeed quite heavy. But keep in mind this : You don't need to know everything by heart from this classroom to start some projects. I don't on my side, for example I still have some hesitations when it comes to animation in CSS. I don't often use them since this functionnality is used mostly as enhancement in my projects. If I really need this, I just go back to the video, and watch again.

However according to me you don't need to master everything in the css foundation before creating a project. Why ? Because, when it comes to CSS & HTML, at first, things really important to me are these ones :

• Basic HTML markup
• The box model (padding, margin and etc...)
• Positionning (Relative, fixed, absolute, floating & clearfix).
• Selectors (And if you have time to invest Advanced selectors).
• Backgrounds & border, fonts, list.
• Values and units.
• Media queries (to build responsive website, but this can come later as well if needed).

I pointed these ones because to me with this knowledge you can already start building simple website.

You told us you are on the webdesign track right ? The first classroom is about building a simple website with Nick. If you 've finished it, go ahead, don't wait ! Practice makes perfect ! In french we tend to say " It's by forging we become blacksmith ", nothing is more true than it if you want my opinion. So you could already build your own little portfolio and make subtles changes if you want.

When have I started to build websites ? Sometimes in the middle of these ones, sometimes after a classroom, It depends. Not at the end of each track for sure. Just watching these videos won't turn us into good web developers. Teachers here teach well, but then you have to do the rest, once again => practice !!!!!

Lastly, I would like to mention something, you eventually have the feeling you need to master totally subjects before starting a personnal project. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have this feeling.

So If I could give you an advice is, don't think this way, you don't need to be a pro in a specific field before building something. Go ahead, start projects, even if you don't know by heart everything. You have a doubt in the middle of the project ? Right, no problem, check the video or post your questions on the forum. (I give this advice because I used to think this way in the past).

Finally, the matter is you aren't inactive, all you need to do is learn the way you want, e.g : Treehouse, and above all... practicing.