Revision:Tips and Tricks!

Hello there!

Wow it has been a while and I apologise profusely as I have been super busy with revision, my novel, revision oh and MORE REVISION! Ugh I hate it and recently it has been getting me down as the stress of my May exams is starting to press in on my brain like someone force choking my mind!

Uh okay weird analogy but anyway... 

After being inspired to really get my head in the right place with my work load I have been revising better and my mental health has improved, Huzzah! 
So listen in close because I am about to give away some revision/motivation secrets!

First, make or print off a yearly calendar with each day of each month shown. Then taking your favourite colour pen put a smiley face or a heart, whatever shape you want, on a day that you have achieved something. It can be anything you want such as writing a bit more of a novel, doing some of a chemistry essay blah blah blah. And whenever you catch a glimpse of your calendar you can see the smiley faces and clearly see how you are achieving something everyday! It sounds really obvious but trust me. It works! I feel much more uplifted and ready to do revision seeing how I am achieving something consistently.
Here is a picture of my calendar which I have some pictures on to make me smile or encourage me! The lack of smiley faces is because I only started it on the 14th of February :P

Second, when doing revision I find the best method for a visual learner like myself is to have cue cards. On one side of the card write a question such as "What is the definition of differential gene expression?" and then on the other side in bright colours and add pictures if you wish, write the answer! These cards are great because if you get the small ones you have to write condensed notes to fit it in one card and you can take them around with you! I wrap two elastic bands around the pile which I colour code for each topic and voila I can read them on the train, in the car, at lunch in college.

Third, always start revising for an exam as soon as you start learning material. This means you have more free time if you do revision notes after each lesson and you wont have to cram the night before (I highly recommend that you DO NOT cram the night before.) 

Fourth, do as many past papers as you possibly can! This I cannot emphasise enough as it lets you get into the examiners head and evaluate what answers they want for a specific question. I try and do at least one of each subject a week. Once you have done one mark it straight away and highlight the questions you got wrong so you can see if there is a pattern to indicate a part you are not strong on. Also, be VERY harsh when marking, do not give yourself pity or meh marks as I call them as you will get a grade that isn't reflective of your abilities.  

Fifth, get a good nights sleep before the exam! Especially if you have more than one in a day (we all feel the pain of those) and have a nutritious breakfast. The best things to eat are foods with glucose as your brain uses glucose as its power source. I like to have a mixed berry smoothie with oats and some toast. I will also have a Aero bar as not only is it yummy and makes me feel better, you have sources of natural sugar in the fruit. 

Sixth, don't just rely on your textbooks and teachers to have all the information you need. Go and find the specification on the examiners website for your subject so you know exactly what they want from you. This is especially useful if you want to learn the specification and mark schemes off by heart and will boost your performance. If you want those high grades take responsibility for your learning.

Well that's a wrap folks, I hope these tips help you like they help me and I wish you all success in your summer exams!

-Tasha