GCSE RevisionPart 1

March 2008

What motivates you?

Money

Lifestyle

Happiness

Job

Good prospects

Mum and Dad!

Peers

Fear of failure

The story so far….

65 weeks of GCSE. 2405 Periods of GCSE work so far. 96,200 minutes listening to your

teachers!!

You have 13,320 minutes of class time left before exam leave.

That’s just about an

eighth of the entire course!

You can expect to get a lot of advice.TeachersClass teachersYear HeadDeputy RectorRectorMr FentonPeer group

Brother/sister/cousins

Parents

Media

etc

etc

What, How, Where, When?

People up and down the country are asking the

same questions.

You are not alone…..

By the time you reach this stage

of the Fifths you should be

able to self monitor.

Motivation & Revision

The Great Enemy……..

Procrastination.

“To put off until a later occasion. To be slow to

act.”

The Allies of Proctrastination.

CD player. TV in room. Computer/

WWW/MSN/Facebook.

Mobile phone. Practically

anything other than your work!!!

All the things in the house that could distract you and keep you from doing the revision that you are there for.

A typical room in the Hall of Residence.

Bed

Cupboard

Sink

D

e

s

k

W

I

n

d

o

w

G

r

a

s

s

G

i

r

l

s

Dealing With Procrastination

Timetable your fixed hours and your recreation time.

Make the recreation compulsory, NOT the revision work.

Dealing With Procrastination

Focus on starting to work, not on how many hours each day.

Only concentrate on a piece of work for 30 minutes to start with.

Then record this achievement on your schedule and give yourself a reward.

Dealing With Procrastination

Start as many 30 minutes periods as you can.

The aim is get into the habit of “frequently starting” to revise.

Only after some success with this approach should you gradually extend the study periods.

Dealing With Procrastination & Negativity

Create a timetable.

Establish how much of that time you can realistically work in.

Work out how much time you have before your exams.

Work towards the timetable.

Exam preparation.

Prior to Easter Holidays Easter holidays Upon return to school Weekends School days School day evenings Examination leave

Between now and Easter.

You have just 2 weekends and 9 school nights.

How would you feel if you did no work other than your usual mediocre and half hearted attempts at your prep?How would you feel if you had done one extra 2 hour block each weekend and the expected 2 hours each night after school?

That would be 22 hours of exam

preparation done before the Easter

break even begins!

What can I be doing now?

Plan your study space. Make sure that you have all the

notes that you should have. Tidy up your notes so that they are

in the correct order. Check that you have revision guides. Do you have a copy of the syllabus?

Easter Holidays.

You need a break - if you are staying at home then take the first week off!

Work the other two weekends and the second week!

Work in blocks of time each day. Divide the day up into three x three

hour long blocks Work any two of these blocks.

Easter Holidays.

At this stage you should be revising all of your subjects

After each block take a short break. As specific exams loom after the

holidays you can begin to focus on that subject.

Have you removed those distractions from your bedroom

yet?

MB’s schedule for the Easter break and study leave.

.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

9.00-9.45 Chem Eng Maths        

10.00-10.45 Eng Maths Geog        

11.00-11.45 Maths Geog DT        

               

13.00-13.45 Geog   Biol Geog      

14.00-14.45 DT   Chem DT      

15.00-15.45 Biol   Eng Biol      

             

18.00-18.45   DT   Chem      

19.00-19.45   Biol   Eng      

20.00-20.45   Chem   Maths      

PSD after the Easter Holidays

Enter final planning for exams phase.

Decide on class teachers for 6ths and 7ths.

To: All 5ths 21st May 2004.From: MB

Classes for 6th Form

Classes for 6th form are about to be drafted and this is your opportunity to state any strongpreferences that you may have for class teacher. Your new class teacher will be an importantlink over the next two years, particularly in assisting you with applications for furthereducation.

The following staff are likely to be 6th form class teachers next session;

Dr Blackmore, Dr Brookman, Mr Bonnyman, Mr Hashmi, Mdme Harley,Miss Lamb and Mr Meadows.

Your answers to two questions are requested:

1. Are there any of these teachers with whom you would strongly wish to work?2. Are there any of these teachers with whom you would not feel at ease?

You might consider not only how well you get on with a particular teacher but also theirexpertise in the discipline that you are most likely to pursue. It may be that you already havecreated a link, for example through careers, CCF or sport.

Name……………………………………………………………………………….

Favoured Tutors……………………………………………………………………………….

Tutors with whom youwould not feel at ease………………………………………………………………………….

We will do our best to match your wishes, but cannot guarantee they will be met.All responses will be treated in strict confidence and discussed only by MB and RTW.

GCSE RevisionPart 2

April 2008

Edinburgh Academy Exam Rules.

Take particular care to read Mr Fenton’s advice on Exam Rules.

By disobeying rules set by the exam board you risk disqualification from ALL

your subjects!

Exam Leave.

Starts on During the bulk of the exams. You will have exams beforehand. You may have an exam after exam

leave. You will be expected in school on

Friday

Exam Leave.

Your teachers will be available to you during exam leave.

You can expect them to be in their classroom during normal GCSE time-tabled lessons.

If no one shows up during the first 10 minutes of the lessons they may leave.

Communication is crucial!

Study & Exam Strategies

Sort out topics for revisionBased on: the syllabus;

examination requirements;

predictions derived from past papers;

guidelines suggested by teachers.

The World Wide Web.

Exam Stress!!!!!

Your anxiety might only be coming from a couple of subject areas. Identify the problem and try to solve it.

Talk about worries you have with a friend, parent or teacher. They might be able to see a solution that you cannot.

Exam Stress!!!!!

Consider breathing and relaxation exercises before and after revision sessions and after exams.

Relax by forgetting about work – play sport, read or visit friends. Physical exercise is an excellent way of refreshing your mind and body.

Exam Stress!!!!!

Keep to your normal pattern of sleep. Keep to a balanced, healthy diet. Avoid drinking coffee which can lead to

stress and stomach cramps. As far as possible, take control – know

when the exams are and where, ensure in advance that you have all necessary stationary and turn up on time.

Exam Strategies

Practical preparations:Check the time and venueHave the necessary equipment ready Emotional preparationsConsider what might additionally helpMemory considerations

Exam skills:

Read the exam paper carefully.Note how many questions you are required to answer. Analyse carefully the precise wording of questions. Tick the questions you intend to answer.Make a rough timetable.Answer questions in the order: easiest, favourite, most difficult.

So much of this comes down to knowing what to

expect.

Completing Past Paper questions is

crucial!

Time Management in Exams.We are going to look at the marks of 2 students in the same exam.

The exam paper required 4 questions to be answered in 2 hours and 30 minutes and each question was allocated 25 marks - a total of 100 marks.

Time Management in Exams.

2 hours and 30 minutes = 150 minutes.

10 minutes to read the question paper leaves 140 minutes.

140/4 questions = 35 minutes for each question.

Time Management in Exams.

Student A

Q1 18

Q2 16

Q3 10

Q4 0

Total 44

Student B

Q1 13

Q2 13

Q3 14

Q4 12

Total 52

The Scores on the Doors.

Questions.

Which student knows more about the subject?

Why did student A have such wide variation in his scores?

What do student B’s marks suggest about him?

What lessons can be learned?

After the exam:

Don't indulge in post-mortems.Review what went well in your overall approach, before and during the exam,including the way you handled anxiety.

Aim to improve upon that in the next exam.

“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”