LEARN AND LIVE ITEM: PREPARE FOR EXAMS ... ITEM No.3

PREPARE FOR EXAMS. ITEM No.3: MY STUDY PREPARATION FOR EXAMS (FOR SEPT 18)

I SAID in the last item that you do not have to study beyond midnight – or even beyond 10pm, if you start early each evening.

In one of my best years of study at the tertiary level, I started studying at 7pm and ended at 9.30pm, every night. By 10.30pm, I would be in bed reading a book – which might not be related to any of the courses I was studying.

I was able to study early because the soccer season was over and I had more time.

(Some of you who participate in sports should withdraw from competition to concentrate on your studies. The grades that will be written on your certificate cannot be rewritten in following years. But you can always play your favourite sports next year or for another decade yet.)

If I were a Grade 10 student studying four examinable subjects, this is a possible study plan that I could use. (Adapt the plan appropriately if you are studying six or more.)

I will have early dinner at 6pm on Monday, shower, pack my books and go to the library and pick a corner away from the main foyer.

From 6.30pm-7.00pm, I will complete all English homework. Any incomplete work is left for later.   

From 7.00pm-7.30pm, I will do all Maths work. Any incomplete work is left for later.

From 7.30pm-8.00pm, I will do Science work. Again, any incomplete work is left for later.

From 8.00pm-8.30pm, I will complete Social Science work. Any incomplete work is left for later.

I may take a 10-minute break to go sit down at the newspaper section and read some news to relax.

From 8.45pm to 9.15pm, I study English, in preparing for the exams.

I will go over past assignment and test papers. I will note important points in a summary book – a different notebook to the one I use to take notes during lessons.

Next week, at the same time, I will start go through my notebooks and summarise important points. I will continue to do that until exam time.

It is better trying to memorise notes in a summarised form than as in full notes taken from class or textbooks.

After 9.15pm, I go over to complete outstanding homework, starting with English, then Maths, and the others.

By 10pm, I pack up and leave.

Anything that is not completed can be completed in my room – or early the next day.

My aim was to go to bed at 10pm – or 10.30pm at the latest.

And, I read before going to sleep – a good mental exercise.

I am usually awake at 6am and can squeeze in another 30 minutes to do some study before breakfast.

And, since I usually get to class about 20 minutes before class starts, I can squeeze in more time to complete tasks that were not completed yesterday, or continue revising some English.

On Tuesday evening, I will follow the same routine, but I will study Maths. On Wednesday, I follow the same routine and study Science and on Thursday, the same, but I study Social Science.

Friday is a time to relax and I may do some work in the morning on Saturday and Sunday evening, depending on how my study went in the week.

In the next week, I follow the routine as described above.     

Next item: How do you write your exam?

LEARN AND LIVE ITEM: PREPARING FOR EXAMS ITEM 2 (FOR SEPT 11)

WHAT DO YOU DO TO PREPARE FOR YOUR EXAMS  

FROM the last item, you learned that that your study time could be divided into homework time and study time.

But you do not have to study after completing homework.

You might want to study before doing homework because study might require that you are fresh.

It is true that some subjects are hard to study when you have worn out your brain on other things.

The best way to study for your exams is to go over all your past assignment and test papers.

Teachers or lecturers who set the exams usually draw their exam questions from past questions given in tests and assignments. Some even give hints about how much of which units would be set in the exams.

(That is common at the university level. And no, that is not cheating. Some lecturers at university give hints because they do not want struggling students to fail.)

In going through past assignments and test papers, redo the questions asked and pay attention to the ones that you got wrong and try to understand how you got them wrong.

Redoing the questions in Maths would mean you rewrite the problems in another exercise book and solve them again. It is only when you can solve a problem again, without looking at a solution, that you would know that you understand the problem.  

Besides redoing past test and assignment questions, go over your notebooks or lecture notes and summarise points.

Summarising points is a very good way of revising.

In Science, it could mean stating briefly the reactants and products of the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.

If you can correctly write the word equation of the two, you can write mini-essays on the two processes without difficulties.

Use a separate notebook to summarise topics for one subject. List the main details as you go through your notebook, page by page.

When you summarise, you are bringing out the main points and you will remember better.

Yes, that would require you to write a bit more too. But the method has worked for millions of successful students who use that.

At times, you may have to memorise definitions or laws. Write those in the summary book and on small slips of papers/cards that you can easily flip over when you are eating, riding in the bus or waiting for a game to start.

Some concepts in certain subjects (such as Maths, Science and Business) are better remembered in the form of equations and formulas.

Make sure you learn them and memorise them. For those at high school and primary school, memorising the times tables would help you in Maths. (That is a fact!)

In some cases, use diagrams, flow charts or photos to summarise concepts.

The water and nutrient cycles in Science and climograph in Social Science are best remembered if you recreate them in the form of diagrams or graphs.       

Try not to study beyond midnight. It is not necessary if you start early in the night. More on this in the next item.

Next item: My study preparation for exams 

LEARN AND LIVE ITEM: PREPARE FOR EXAMS (ITEM 1)

LEARN AND LIVE ITEM: PREPARE FOR EXAMS (SEPT 4 ITEM: THE FIRST OF FIVE ITEMS) … These items should help those of you preparing for exams.)

WHEN you are in school, college or university, you are usually assessed in a number of ways.

You can be given assignments which could be done over a week or even longer. You have the benefit of sharing ideas with friends as well as researching as many textbooks or other sources to complete the assignment, which could include short answer questions or writing an essay on a topic.

In assessing you, teachers or lecturers can also give tests – the most common assessment tool.

Another way you can be assessed is to be given a project to do. In Science or Engineering and related subjects, it could be to build something, produce something such as a coconut soap or another chemical.

And then, there are examinations (exams).

Exams usually carry a lot more weight and can determine whether you get an A, B or fail a subject that you are studying. 

Most of you - students in schools, colleges and universities - should be getting ready for exams at this time of the year.

Therefore, I will be writing on that theme to remind you on the need to prepare for the exams.

Writing exams at the Grade 8, 10, 12 or university is a different kind of exercise. It is not like the tests that you do on a regular basis or the projects you work on to complete.

An exam is one in which you are to be examined on a term’s, semester’s or even two-years’ work over a period of two or three hours.

Many students who do well in their assignments and tests do poorly in their exams because they do not prepare properly for their examinations.

Here are some pointers that you should take note of to do well in your exams.

Plan ahead. Study for your exams four weeks (or more) ahead of the exam time. Trying to do last minute cramming is not good. It is a bad habit to develop.

Write your exam dates and stick them over/on your study table. That should remind you to start on your preparations early.

If you are studying four subjects, divide your time in the week to study each of the four.

Of course, studying would be different from your homework, which would still be given to you as you approach exam time.

If the subjects are English, Maths, Science or Social Science, you could start with English for one hour on Monday, Maths on Tuesday, Science on Wednesday and so on.

You might have to spend more time in one subject than others because it is the more challenging one. Do not neglect any subject though. Try to do well in all of them.

Your night study time could be divided into two parts – homework time and study time, with homework time going from 7.30 to 9.30 in the night and you study from 9.30 to 10.30.  

Or, you might want to study first before doing homework because it is better to concentrate on some subjects when your mind is still fresh.

    

Next: What do you to prepare for your exams   

STAY MARRIED TO ONE PERSON

IF YOU ARE GOING TO GET MARRIED ... Get married to only one person, and work to live happily in love with that person. Life becomes simpler for you and the children ... Getting married, separating, re-marrying, divorce, etc just makes life complicated - and you get unnecessarily stressed too.
But then, it is important to get married to the "right one" in the first place.
Marrying the wrong person can imprison you ... Marriage should add value to your life - not subtract your value ... More on this later ...

JUST CAME BACK FROM WALLIS AND FUTUNA

I HAVE been away for the last three weeks.

In fact, I was in Wallis and Futuna for the 2013 IX Mini Pacific Games.

Wallis and Futuna is a French territory. It is to the west of Samoa and north of Fiji.

I will post stories and pics as soon as I get settled in work.

In short, it was a special three-week period where I practised some of my French and got to know more about the wonderful people in this place - our Pacific.

    

HIHIFO AIRPORT IN WALLIS

PICK up point for all athletes travelling to Wallis and Futuna for the 2013 Mini Pacific Games from September 2-13. 

 Photo: Hihifo Airport in Wallis, the French territory.

 

We were told that Team Tonga comprised of more than 70 athletes and officials travelled to Wallis by boat.

And, they travelled for four days.

Much like the days when their ancestors travelled up to these isles by canoes – yes, those days when the islanders travelled the ocean without a compass or motor engines.