Exams/Revision

It's exam time again at college, but these are the last before Uni, which is the reason why there's been so few posts over the last couple of weeks, as I've been busying trying to revise and not get distracted by anything! I've got 8 exams this time round as I'm retaking 3. It's a lot of exams and a lot to learn for them. It's only been the last year or so that I've realised that I actually have to put some work in and revise in order to get a good grade. And also before that, I didn't really know how to revise so I would sit staring at textbooks and hope that that would help! Now I have my own "method" of revising which seems to be working, although my revision does differ for each of the subjects.

For Maths I revise simply by doing past papers, and I think this is the best way to revise maths at any level. Just keep practicing the questions, asking for help when you get stuck. For all my other subjects I have my own "method" of revising. I use exercise books (similar to the ones used in schools, A5 size, but they were very hard to get hold of) and make my own notes, using the specification (so I know what I need to know), and comparing between my notes taken in class, revision guides and textbooks. I find this way works as I'm not just copying out my notes but thinking about what I'm writing down by comparing and thinking about what's the best information to write down. E.g. if I need to be able to label a diagram of the heart I would look at and compare my notes and the textbook to find the best diagram and I would copy that out into my revision notes.

I do find that the hardest part of revision is actually getting started and being motivated to do it. Because I like to use all my notes and textbooks and spread out using a whole table it's not really possible to to this at college. The only problem with being at home is that there are so many distractions, and it's amazing all the things you will do when what you should really be doing is revision! Usually once I have got started I get quite stuck into it and the time flies. That's one reason why I don't like the idea of a revision timetable. I wouldn't want to get into the flow of revising for a particular subject and then have to stop to change and start something else at a certain time, as then I would have the getting started problem all over again. I find it more useful to spend most of a day revising one subject and switch to a different one the next day.

Everyone has different methods which work for them when revising, as we all learn in different ways. Although it is important that when your revising you are actually thinking about what your doing, so simply reading through a revision guide is most likely not going to work! So keep trying until you find a method which works for you. Good luck to anyone taking exams at the moment.

I hate having a cold !!!

I've been ill this week. Just a cold but I hate them! Had most of the week off college (only been to 2 lessons) so I've got a lot to catch up on. Definitely going in tomorrow though and got my driving lesson, so hopefully I'll be feeling a bit better and getting out the house and doing some work will get me going again. Not felt like doing much, felt so lazy just sitting round doing nothing when there's always so many things I need to do.

Results Day!

We got our results for our January exams today at college. Obviously I hope for the best but I don't worry about what I'll get. I'll accept whatever results I get, and if they're not good then so be it, I can only improve in the future. (I take this attitude to most things in life: what's done is done, I can only move on and improve.) Turns out that my results ranged from very good...to very bad!
Basically my whole class (except one) got a U (failed) on our Physics exam! Our physics lecturer wasn't too pleased, but what can he say if we all fail - does that say something about how well the subject was taught to us? Or how much effort we put in to revising for the exam? Personally I think neither were great. I've not been putting so much effort into Physics lately because I don't think that it's important for what I want to do anymore. But needless to say, we're all retaking the exam as good grades are needed for Uni.

Anyway, that was the worst part. Maths was OK-ish. I got a C. I would've liked a higher grade, so I might retake, but it's a grade I can live with. Chemistry and Biology however, I am rather pleased with. (A's in both!) I know for these two subjects, especially Biology, I put a lot of effort into revising for and was focused on getting good grades in these as I know they're the subjects I need for the Uni courses I've applied for.
Overall the day was really good. Even the bad results in Physics didn't put a downer on the day. Didn't get much work done but had great fun at lunch with my friends!