Preparing for Examinations
It’s about that time of the year again! The birds are singing sweetly, the flowers are filling the air with their sweet aroma and the blue sky looking lovingly down on you. And you know what that means; only a few more months until summer vacation. However, for many of us the arrival of the spring season not only means a holiday, it also brings with it examinations and the stress associated with exams. Distressing, yes we know! But never fear TEENage is here and we have a few tips to help you get over those exam woes and help you get the good grades too.
1) Set up a study schedule – Create a schedule based on what you feel most comfortable working with on each day that you intend to study (Hint: you should get some studying done every day!). Write the schedule down and place it somewhere you would most likely see it so that you are motivated to stick to the plan.
2) Get organized – After you have made a schedule with which to study, you need to examine the subject areas individually. Which area are you weakest in? Which do you feel you will need help with the most? Are you missing any notes from class? After you have done all this, check to see if your notes are in order for the most effective study. Organisation reduces the amount of stress spent on being frantic over missing or seemingly missing notes.
3) Form a study group – It has often been said, ‘more heads are better than one’ and this can be proven true in a study group. The group environment can provide the right motivation you need to get to know the material. The group setting provides different aspects of a topic one never thought of before and members may know some topics better than others and so can help others with their weaker areas.
Warning: When choosing a study group, choose wisely. Pick serious individuals who are willing to work and not those who will be big distraction to your and the group’s progress.
4) Reduce your screen time – In the age of technology, it is so easy to get distracted.
5) Set the mood – Position yourself in the right atmosphere for effective study. Study in good light so that you can see the material. Sit properly on a chair behind a desk. Do not attempt to study on the bed or couch. The key is to be comfortable but not too comfortable that you induce sleep.
6) Review your past work – Believe it or not, many times the questions we get on exams we have seen them some time before. Whether as class work, homework or an example given in class or a textbook, we are exposed to the questions. So reviewing you past assignments is important part of your success in your exams.
7) Practice Practice Practice!- Some subjects like math, technical drawing and other technical or practical courses make this easy for you because you have to practice for them to do well. However, you should take the practice approach with your other subjects as well. Think of questions that you think your teacher or examiner may ask and write them down as you go along. When you have completed studying a topic or subject all together, see how much you have retained by attempting to answer these questions. You can even make it more interesting by putting this into practice with your study group and see how well you all do.
8) Get a good night’s rest – It may seem like the best idea to pull an all-nighter, especially the night before an exam but it really is not. Your brain needs time to rest and rejuvenate so that it can function at its best. Therefore, it is recommended that you get some rest, particularly the night before the examination, so that you can perform your best on an exam.
9) Start from early – As the age-old saying goes ‘The early bird catches the worm’, so you can easily conclude that the earlier you begin to study, the better prepared you will be for your examinations and the better your grade will be.
10) Pray – Just a little prayer can go a long way when it comes on to hard task; so saying a little prayer before you go to bed or before an exam can help in many ways.