#hegarty maths | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

habshihalwa · 2 years ago

Text

Surviving GCSES: The Ultimate Guide

~ HOW TO REVISE ~

NB; some 'specific subjects' may not be included

WHEN:

- revision should be 'little and often' - meaning you should be revising a few hours every week, whether it's recapping the material, quizzing yourself, or doing homework. By doing little and often revision, it's more likely to become embedded in your long term memory

- if you cram the day before an exam, do effective cramming. Use this time to go over anything you don't know or understand. Blurting is a good method to use- try reading a page or a topic and writing down as much as you can remember from it. Fill in the gaps and identify your weak spots

REVISION METHODS

ACTIVE RECALL should be the main way you revise. It's forcing your brain to actively remember what it can about what you've learned, bringing it to the front of your memory

- blurting: blurting is a great way for you to find out what you know and what you don't. Write down as much as you can remember, and fill in the bits you can't with a different colour. You can repeat the process until it's embedded in your memory and until you're confident that you know everything you need to know

- flashcards: when writing flashcards, do NOT just copy notes onto there. Write questions on one side, and answers on the other then use it to quiz yourself. ALTERNATIVELY for memorising quotes, you could also write half of it on one side and half on the other. You could also write notes on one side and questions on the other, so you have to look in the text to find the answers

- past papers: I cannot stress this enough. Once you've revised and learned everything you think you've learned, test yourself by doing past papers. Research has shown that the top students do more past papers and questions than anyone else. Mark these yourself using the mark scheme so you can identify where you went wrong and how to improve it. Pay extra attention to the mark scheme so in an exam you can quit the waffle and identify where your marks are at

- pretend to 'teach' the content to someone younger or dumber than you. Try and explain it the best you can in simple words - this shows you understand it enough

- there are LOADS of videos out there about how to revise- watch them and use them!

- sleep: sleep is also a revision technique after you've learnt something, as sleeping gives your brain time to process the information and store it in your memory. but only sleep AFTER you've revised a bit

TEACHERS

- teachers are your best tool. Use them

- teachers know what they're doing, and are specialised in their subject for a REASON

- request revision materials,

- if you don't understand anything, simply ask. That's what they're there for. At the end of the day, your grades are gonna matter more than the time you bothered them

- listen in lessons!!! This is so important and many people don't realise. Pay attention in lessons like you're listening to the latest gossip or hot celeb talk or whatever you're into. Give it 110% and actively participate. It won't be embarrassing when you get those good grades.

WEBSITES

Here are some websites I like to use that are FREE and I use constantly to aid me with revision

• Quizlet

• anki

• StudySmarter

• seneca

• tassomai

• gcsepod

• hegarty maths

• Corbett maths

• maths genie

• YouTube and tiktok (they have some good shi on there ngl)

• Duolingo

SPECIFIC SUBJECT REVISION

MATHS

practice papers and questions. Memorise formulas and how to use them. Just keep doing practice questions. If you like puzzles and games, you like maths- think of it as another piece to solve, and like a game. At the end of the day, maths it's just problem solving. There's only one right answer.

ENGLISH LIT:

blurting, mind-maps, flashcards to learn quotes. Look at the AOs to figure out where your marks are, and try and do as much work as you can because at the end of the day, over the year or two years your classwork is gonna be what you've done the most. Plan essays and write them. Talk to your teachers about where to improve and where you've gone wrong. Read more to help with developing your language and writing style. Try writing something unrelated to school- maybe a story, a poem, a speech. Repeat it to help develop what you're doing. English lit is just memorising quotes and explains them- don't overthink it. Make sure you know your text back to front and know how to answer questions. Write practice essays and get your teachers to mark them, and later ask them to explain what you can do to get more marks. Especially in gcse, these examiners are marking abt 50-100 essays. What makes YOURS stand out. Why do YOU deserve that grade amongst everyone? YouTubers I like to use include Mr Bruff, Mr Salles, Mr Everything English

RS:

it depends on how you like revising. I like copying out my notes and making my mind-maps, and then using flashcards to help memorise quotes. Answer practice questions regularly and ask your teacher about the mark scheme and HOW to answer questions if you're struggling. Think of it as learning about yourself and your religion, and many others - help it bring you closer to God if you're religious

SCIENCE

science is mostly fact based and about how well you apply these facts to questions and practical examples. I very strongly recommend using flashcards and paying attention in lessons. Watch YouTube videos and actively and constantly recall your notes. Answer LOTS of past papers and practice questions - every year they use 3-4 of the exact same questions in the exam. There's only so many questions they can ask. Also, print off the specification (this can be found on the exam board's website) and use this to make sure you haven't missed any content out. Use this specification to make flashcards - also, use the questions at the end of each lesson in cgp textbooks as practice questions for flashcards!!! Science is quite flexible to revise from, you can watch videos and make notes, or make mind-maps, or do blurting. Just make sure it's active and that you're reviewing the content regularly!! I also recommend using Seneca to sort of make sure you know everything the day before an exam. Science is an explanation for everything, think of it as something interest as it can make quite a lot of interesting conversation topics.

LANGUAGES:

think of languages as something essential to your identity and helping you live in today's everchanging world. Language is a way to communicate with people - honestly just think about that for a sec. Use duolingo, Quizlet and other language apps!! Be consistent and the night before ur exam, do the biggest and fattest Quizlet you can revise. Test yourself on flashcards when memorising chunks for speaking exams. Also think of everything in ur designated language like when ur drinking water translate that. Or when ur speaking at home or to someone speak with what u know in that language.

HISTORY:

there's a lot of dates and factual knowledge in this, so your best option is to constantly review and actively recall everything. Try doing some practice questions and planning essays. Blurting is SUPER useful for this subject especially too!!! History is super interesting - we learn from the past to improve the future. History builds us and moulds us into where we are today!

HOW TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF

- find out what you want to do in life: medicine? law? art? finding a passion and knowing what you want to do after school can really help motivate you

- if you're unsure of you're career, start by listing what you like and what you're good at. Ask people what career they think you'd be suited to and why. Research these careers and about life beyond school

- a reminder that school is SO much more than just listening to teachers about useless stuff. When you think about, it's teaching you everything about the world you are living in RIGHT NOW

- knowledge is power

- make your parents and your family proud. If they can spend thousands of pounds on you and spend 15+ years raising you up, im pretty sure you can do this

- think about everyone who's ever told you you can't do it or thought you're useless. Imagine the look on their face when you make it. Prove them wrong.

- watch academia and studytok videos. As dumb as it sounds, they're quite motivating

- think of the consequences if you don't revise. while everyone will be smiling and happy with their results, you'll be sitting there knowing you could've done better if only you'd taken the opportunity. That opportunity is now

- a reminder that social media is always going to be there. There's always posts to like and videos to watch but the real world isn't here forever. Focus on your studies before your phone

- think about what you're ultimately working towards: WHY do you want these grades- money? A successful career? Revenge? Validation?

EXTRACURRICULAR BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

- don't make school your life- having a hobby or doing something you enjoy is SO important. It also makes you a more interesting person :)

- we all need downtime. find what that thing is for you

- you need to develop your brain outside of school too. Whether it's sport, music, art, writing- invest a little bit of time into that everyday

- READ. Reading is important and gives you more knowledge and develops your brain. JK Rowling once said if you hate reading, it's only because you haven't found the right book. FIND IT.

SELF CARE

- don't forget to take care of yourself. At the end of the day, a test is just a paper, a grade is just a number. As much as you want to get good grades, remember there's so much more to life

- remember this world is temporary - don't become so caught up in school you burn out. One day we're all going to die so it's important you stick to your religious faith/beliefs because everything is from god/happens for a reason. Ultimately, you may put so much effort into something but if God isn't pleased with you or decides not to make it happen, it isn't going to happen/if it's not meant to happen a certain way, it won't. Failure is inevitable and don't let it put you down. The afterlife/death is forever and when you're standing in front of God on judgement/ rotting in your grave this test is not going to matter. At all.

- hang out with friends often, and make sure they're not toxic and they're people who make you feel happy. Do things with them because you're only a teenager once so live your life and make memories with them. Just a reminder that there's a difference between fun, and stupidity+danger. Don't wreck up your future in the process

- take days off, and love yourself. Have a relaxing bath or a facial, or dress up for no reason. Remember that YOU are the most important person. Never hate yourself for putting you first

- don't overdo it so much that you burn out. Don't sit at your desk for ten hours straight trying to memorise something

- remember to get fresh air and go on regular walks and exercise. Exercise gets your blood flow pumping and can help clear your mind and help with exhaustion and mood.

I love you, and good luck to everyone doing their GCSEs :) you got this! ❤️

#gcses #studyblr #gcse studyblr #academia #motivation #how to revise #maths gcse #english lit gcse #history gcse #exams #exam season #have fun #blow this up and make me proud :')#revision #studyspo #how to study

138 notes · View notes