Becomming a New Dep

[englishangel]

Sat in the sun and dreamed, no change there then, well except for the sun of course.

[englishangel]

that put me in my facetious place didn't it?

[cj]

I see that englishangel and I adopted the same revising techniques. I have fond memories of Latin O level revision (particularly Caesar's Gallic Wars) being undertaken with Clare Ryan at the far end of Big Side, in the sun with a few fags. Can't remember revising for anything else but I suppose we must have done. I was never one for organised timetables, more of a stay up late crammer. But I was fortunate in that I had sat regular exams from the age of 8 and was used to them and was quite good at bullsh1tting my way through a paper (worked wonders for my finals at university!). To be more helpful, I would suggest that you actually 'allow' yourself some time out, whether it's half an hour in the afternoon for a cup of tea and a kitkat in front of the telly or a bath etc. I don't think you ever get much done when you are constantly feeling that you 'ought' to be doing something. Brains do need a rest.

[Katharine]

When I was teaching in West Africa several of my colleagues thought I was very strange to advocate breaks in revision and not sitting in front of books all the time. (The lovely term for revision there was chewing book) If you plan to have breaks then it should help you to keep going for a little longer. If there is a TV programme you really really want to watch, plan watching it when you decide when you will work that day, if you don't you will resent working and not achieve anything.

However you asked what I actually did .... now that is a different story!

[Ajarn Philip]

However you asked what I actually did .... now that is a different story!

Yes - the benefits of hindsight!!

I'm with Alan to a certain degree, in that the true benefits in learning are for the sake of what you learn, not for the exam you pass, and that your best subjects tend to be those that you have a passion (or at least some feeling) for. How (reading, study, travel, personal experience, work, etc.,) and what you learn tend to be up to you and your personality.

Having said that, as things stand, exam results are relevant, so a little hard work can only be A Good Thing. Not that I can offer any advice there from a teenage perspective. Discipline is not something that has ever come naturally to me (well, not self-discipline anyway...). After my A levels and a gap year I made a conscious decision not to go to university and went into the civil service. I regretted that decision within a few years, mainly because I missed the experience. I eventually got a degree in my 40s, which in some practical ways (as a qualification to teach here in Thailand) has proved quite useful, but the degree itself was a complete fraud. My dog (if I had one) would have got one. Maybe a 2:2 instead of a 2:1, but he'd have had to make a real effort to fail completely.

My daughter is now in her (oh my God) late 20s and has two daughters of her own. She opted out halfway through 6th form college, but is now doing an OU degree. My son is 22. He did no work at all at school and achieved appropriately derisory GCSE grades. He is now an impoverished actor, somehow making his way in the world. I am very proud of both of them. I believe/hope that they are happy with the paths they have chosen.

My life has effectively been my own since I was 11 years old. Most, perhaps all, of the crucial decisions about my future since I started at CH (and I had no say in that, but no regrets) have been made by me.

If I remember my teens correctly, there's not much point in giving instructions or advice with any expectation that either will have much real effect - I formed my own opinions then and made my own decisions, just as I do now.

Looking back over a mere 51 years, the only things I would say in the way of advice to someone in their teens, or even a little older, are:
i. try to find something (and now we get back to Alan's point) that you have a real passion for, whether as a job or a hobby
ii. if an opportunity of (almost) any kind comes your way grasp it eagerly
iii. treasure your real friends
iv. keep an open mind
v. have a good time



vi. never give advice, sound like a 'father', and for crying out loud don't try to make out that you know the answer to anything!!
vii. never make a post after midnight if you have consumed more than three bottles of beer or nine cups of tea.
viii. make time to read The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings and The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant

[sejintenej]

When I was teaching in West Africa several of my colleagues thought I was very strange to advocate breaks in revision and not sitting in front of books all the time. (The lovely term for revision there was chewing book) If you plan to have breaks then it should help you to keep going for a little longer. If there is a TV programme you really really want to watch, plan watching it when you decide when you will work that day, if you don't you will resent working and not achieve anything.

However you asked what I actually did .... now that is a different story!

I go along with Katharine; some teachers will even admit that it is impossible to concentrate for extended periods without a break - I would advocate maximum 60 to 90 minute stretches and then a break / change of scene.

As to how to revise - I think that the important thing (where possible) is to understand the background though that is possibly more effective in physics than the Punic / Gallic Wars. I always had problems

School work (and revision especially) is tiring so for the future try to get physically fit long in advance. It would help to get those pancreatic juices sorted out too

Also, DON'T revise today's exam subject today; finish revision the night before so that it actually goes into your brain cells overnight.

Best of luck

[Katharine]

David has reiterated what I said earlier - but reminded me that I did not wish you luck. Yes, however hard you revise luck does come into it, so I wish you the very best of luck.

[Laura M]

I have never ever failed an exam in my life, I honestly don't know how this is possible but I am one of these people who seems to cope with the concept of exams well. Here is my view on exams. No matter what they say even at uni it is still possible to cram for exams one of my mates Lucy is heading for a first class degree and this works for her (I also cram and get good results but sadly my coursework lets me down). But if you feel a sustained period of revision is best for you then use my GCSE model. Do not revise more than six hours a day. Make sure you get out of your house once a day (even to the corner shop if nothing else). Ensure you have a timetable for all your subjects which you stick to. Make time for yourself (a trip to the cinema or something). This is how I seem to cope and I've done alright so far!

[blondie95]

I hate exams the whole conept as previously mentioned of cramming your head with information and then in a pressurised environment regurgitate it in a understandable mannor in a tight time limit.
I always faired better at the coursework and what i learnt doing coursework has stayed far longer, i chose most modules at uni based it having no exam!

However when revising for exams a timetable and then at the starting listing all the key topics that make up that subject. Also mind maps-i did these for history and meant that when in the exam i could picture it and what each arm represented in terms of info or argument.

But most of all good luck!!!!!!!

[englishangel]

that put me in my facetious place didn't it?

Gosh, I haven't put my foot in it again have I?

No, I did.

Poor Idgie asked a serious question and I gave a silly answer. My young'uns are not that far past exams that I should forget how important they seem. Well one of them is still taking exams but she is on her own now so anything I say is superfluous. But I do know she takes time out to watch Doctor Who and Casualty.

[Great Plum]

When I was at university, I shared my room in my first year with an industrious chap who was reading Law... (he later became my best man).

He advocated that you should revise for no more than 6 hours a day or your brain turned to mush so the easiest was to break it into 3 sessions of two hours each...

We also suggested that you should try and have either the afternoon or evening off every day so that you don't feel too pressurised...

At 4.30 every day, we also had a nice cool beer and played frisbee out in the park with some mates to wind down before tea... it worked well...

[blondie95]

At 4.30 every day, we also had a nice cool beer and played frisbee out in the park with some mates to wind down before tea... it worked well...

and that the 2 hour session after that seemed a doddle and a bit fuzzy no doubt?

[Great Plum]

We normally then would do our final 2 hour session between 8 and 10 - 3 hours after the beer!

[sejintenej]

Having said that, as things stand, exam results are relevant, so a little hard work can only be A Good Thing. Not that I can offer any advice there from a teenage perspective. Discipline is not something that has ever come naturally to me (well, not self-discipline anyway...). After my A levels and a gap year I made a conscious decision not to go to university and went into the civil service. I regretted that decision within a few years, mainly because I missed the experience. I eventually got a degree in my 40s,

Whilst I go along with that, the subject was directed more towards GCSEs and A levels; I have significant doubts about the standards required, especially for GCSEs.

To give a simple example, wouldbe trainees used to come for interview ONLY if they had a "C" at GCSE Maths but I found that
they were generally incompetent.
Imagine if you will an exam of 5 questions, no calculators, unlimited time and scrap paper (but a calendar on the back wall which could be consulted). It was directly linked to the work a successful candidate would have to perform

Q 3 was "What is the date 90 days after the 3rd June?".
Q 4 was really complicated: "What is 80% of the value of 20,000 bales of wool at £5 per bale?" (It was deliberately made that easy!)
Q 5 was a series of five additions and subtractions of pound and pence amounts on the lines of £23456.46 add £16543.78 take away £15987.68. - it was set out in vertical form with spaces for the intermediate answers and never went "negative".

Of the first 16 candidates 8 didn't get a single question correct and only 2 got all 5 questions correct! That is the standard of GCSE Maths! - a colleague did the entire test, 4 questions in his head, in under one minute!
My next door neighbour, a deputy headmaster, was infuriuated that we should test pupils - it is for employers to teach staff elementary maths!!!

What they teach in school c a n be of use in later life. I curse the teacher at CH who told us not to learn the "tu" form of verbs because never ever would we be in a position to use it. O level Geometrical and Mechanicval drawing came in handy dound the plans for the council when we sought permissions for the renovations. Geography came in useful when I had to travel - especially the economic side of the subject .................

[Katharine]

Maths means very little to me, it is a language I never mastered and never could no matter how I try. Yet I can read music, and grasp complex philosophical points with ease. I think the idea that examinations indicating anything beyond the ability to regurgitate at will is misguided. I have learned more visiting second hand bookshops and through building a record library than what school taught me.

Everybody is different, and these attempts to standardise everybody are, to my mind, cruel and absurd. What if illiteracy and innumeracy prove to be genetic in origin, for example?

I find it very difficult to believe that either illiteracy or innumeracy could be genetic. I think the fault lies with poor teaching at primary level. When I was teaching we used to reckon that the children coming to us in first year secondary displayed mathematical abilities with at least a seven year range. We would do our best to rectify the effects of teaching by people who did not always understand the concepts themselves (at this time primary school teachers did not need an O level in Maths to enter training). Given five years I reckoned I could get almost anyone to GCSE standard, but sadly I did not always get the chance. I really enjoyed the chance to show the realities of Mathematics, not the boring side remembered by so many.

From all I read now, there are too few Maths teachers with a qualification in the subject. The qualification is only the start, to be a good teacher you have to love the subject - and I do. You may ask why I am no longer teaching, the answer is that my Welsh is not good enough. I fear it would take me far too long to learn the language to a standard sufficiently well to be able to teach in it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/educ ... 431840.stm shows how standards have decreased over the years. Deputy director of Reform and a co-author of the report Elizabeth Truss said: "In today's Britain it is acceptable to say that you can't do maths, whereas people would be ashamed to admit they couldn't read". That quote is something I have been saying for years. I even had a father at a parents evening say to me that he didn't think any woman could understand Maths.