Relaxing for exams II

From the first second of your first class of the high school semester, your work load starts to build up. It builds up quickly, exponentially if you are mathematically inclined, quicker than flies around sh.. on a hot summer day if you are not. Take control early, maybe from the second second. I liked writing that 'cause it sounded neat. At the end of the first day, take a look at what has happened in all your subjects. Did you get a guide to assessment in anything? Did you get outlines of courses? Were there any events mentioned that would mean missing classes? Keep track. You need to know everything that is going to affect your learning. Don't think you will always be able to fix things up as they come along. Not so. At least, not always. The further through high school you get, the more risky it is to leave things go.

Again, keep track. Get a small, cheap but durable notebook for this. The importance of noting down has been emphasised before. This book can be strong enough to last for a couple of years or for the whole of high school. Get one. Its content will be a recipe of what to do, when to do it. It will be the best planning tool. Write 'to do' lists, comments by teachers that relate to assessment and content, important ideas, thoughts about how you are going. Do not confuse it with a diary.

A 'to do' list is a seriously strong ally in keeping the growing mountain of requests and requirements down to a volume you can keep a clear picture of in your head. If the pile grows too big, your head will start to spin with the workload. This creates some serious blocks to clear thought and creates doubts about your ability and stamina to finish off a workload, growing virus-like in your head and in your school room. Your back starts to bend and groan under the load. Don't let it get this far. Remember you are starting to keep the load down from the second second :) Still like that eh?

So, the 'to do' list. Keep it really simple. A priority column and a description of the job to do. That's it. For priority, I use I, II, III, IIII and so on so that as one job is done, I can update priorities easily. You'll invent your own as you go. If you get to the end of a page, take all unfinished jobs off that page and put them onto next page, with priority. If there are several large jobs to do, get some sort of order to them, broken down into do-able bits if necessary, and write them as first to do and absolute must do on your page. It is better if you can clear at least one large job from your list each day, especially if you have several queued up. Feel good when you do because you know some of your buddies and some of your competitors will be looking at that same task, waiting for divine inspiration to get going. Smallish, do-able chunks is what you want. Stay on top of the pile to keep it from growing beyond the possible as deadlines become exhausting, brain fuzzes over and will fades.

How does this help relax for exams? Well, because you are less stressed the whole semester as you stay well in control, your brain will be less tired, your thoughts clearer and your ability to do well under stress will be stronger. It is the stress and strain of trying to overcome the multi-task mountains that leave us tired and frustrated. If we stay on top of things with a few simple strategies, we remain more relaxed. This comes from knowing everything is under control and by being able to take a break during the semester; playing sport, going to the beach or just chilling with friends. It all improves our health in both body and mind.

Take charge in the second second. Stay on top of the load. Have more fun in doing so. Watch others struggle and stress. Help them out if you can.

Best of luck with your studies. Have fun.

Relaxing for exams I

How would you like to go into the next exam feeling more relaxed and ready to go?

Want to find out how to get to this idyllic state? We'll have a look at how that may happen. It will take a few articles to go through but any one of these will give you ideas and help.

The thing about the brain is that it can work well under all conditions. It performs better as the conditions become more familiar. It performs better if it is not stressed too highly. It should come with a well rested body. It also performs better the more easily it can retrieve and use its vast storehouse of information. Ohhh. That sounds like a lot of pre-conditions. Luckily you can set this all up with not much, if any, more total effort than you currently use in the lead up to exams. So let's get going. Working towards best results at high school.

Personally, I think the best thing is to be ready well ahead of time. One of the absolute must do exam preparations is to go over the information you have covered on a regular basis. This does not mean you spend hours and hours each week on a single subject and multiply that up to get a huge total number of hours for all your subjects. You can sneak small portions of spare time. It will probably, but not necessarily save you a few hours when exam cram comes by. Sneak. Surreptitious study. Oh that sounds so cool. So how to get so cool? You need only to go over the material you met very soon after you meet it. Tidy it up. Your notes, I mean. Fix up the pages and numbers on the pages. Put important information into the back of your notebook. Read through the tidy notes twice. First time to refresh what you did and organise the bits you did  not understand. Second read through, comfortably this time because you know it and know where it is in your notes.

This will help store it in the same way you got it. In a tidy manner, ready for easy retrieval. How much time do you need? Little. You could do the information for one subject in much less than a lunch hour break. This could be the tidy up part as it does not need to be an area of calm and, if you get interrupted, you can get back onto it. You will get used to the timing you need very quickly. You do need to do the second run through quickly. Most lessons should only take a few minutes to review. Add some homework to this and you will be surprised how quickly you can get on top of your learning, ready for improvement in your grades and more success at school. Find time between classes, on the bus, at home, before you go out, in class down time such as when the teacher is absent. You get the idea. You will soon find your own ways to sneak time and increase your chance of success at school.

Go over each subject often in small doses, rather than wait until just before exams when stress and other demands on your brain and body start to snowball, and finding you need to do massive hours. You should be better prepared if you do small sections at a time over a long period rather that try to get it all done in one block. Your brain will be a bit scrambled from so many and so untidy pieces of work. Retrieval will be difficult in such unordered material.

OK, so you now have some repetitive structure happening to your learning. This will help you learn the information so it can be retained for longer and retrieved more easily. Make sure to go over all the work covered to date that will go on exams another two or three times. Constant brushing through each subject will truly enhance your learning as will some of the other ideas you can see in other posts to follow.

Help others and help yourself

High school is no different from life. In fact, it is an intimate part of it. You are in it up to your notebook and pen. Just as there are needy people in the community we live in, so there are needy students at school. They are not bold enough to ask for help. You see them struggle. They may always be lacking even the most basic equipment. Their pen is often broken, they are forced to use one scruffy notebook for every subject. What do you do about it? Nothing? Do you comfort yourself with sad feelings of regret for someone who is really in need of a helping hand, rather than your lame guilt-ridden sympathy? Get off your butt. Get a few friends together and see if maybe you could come up with one or two ideas to give a supporting hand. Only needs one or two. It sure does not need a whole book filled with ideas to give someone the lift they need that turns failure into success.

It is those few caring, helping and supporting gestures that really make the difference, not the grandiose waffle of those who talk a lot about how it is a shame that some people are not so fortunate and who have the means to do massive good but content themselves with the ephemeral. Champions of the world and its ills, blown in the dust.

But you can do something. You can easily help with very little cost in either time or other resources. If you do it will strengthen you as a person, it will create a positive ripple around you. There are so many benefits that come with helping someone out. A good feeling accompanies your effort, knowing you can actually improve the life of a fellow student. If you support them with your knowledge by going over material they are unsure of, your capacity to learn will advance in leaps and bounds as your brain explores alternatives within the same content and stretches to boundaries it never knew. Sometimes even a friendly gesture is enough to get people through to the end of the day feeling more positive about their life. Positivity can snowball out from you. It does  not have to change you in any way but if you let it, you will find that increased opportunity and strengthening knowledge are just two of some wonderful benefits.

It doen't have to be much; share a few tips, show them your study planner or time management planner. Could you spare a notebook, pen? Could you help them out after school in the library? Maybe you could give up a burger and buy a notebook you could take along and allow this person to use it. That would be awesome, giving up a small pleasure to help someone out. They will be grateful. The help will always be remembered in a world where too many are too focused on self.

Those who do give back a little in this way will tell you they get back tenfold what they selflessly give out. Give it a go and improve the life of someone who is within your sphere; enjoy the consequences.

Good luck with your studies and enjoy a successful future
Have a great day

Develop a system for taking notes and reviewing II

Let's suppose you read 'Develop a system for taking notes and reviewing I' and now have a notebook for each subject. You have numbered the pages; each day you put a day, date and topic; at the back you have started to diarise important information such as topics covered, location of reference material, clues the teacher may give you as to what is required for exams or assigned tasks; lists of homework due dates; and any other important key bits of information.

What else? You want this book to help you. Why else would you go out and get it? Don't let it get all scruffy, ripped, disorganised. That's how study from it will turn out. Horrible, hard, indigestible. Write the main body of text in blue or black for ease of reading and underline or highlight in another dark color such as dark orange, purple. Don't fill your book with all colors. Again that just sends confusing signals when it comes time to study or review. Make it easier for your brain to follow what was done and find the bits it is not sure of quickly. Once found and highlighted, these fewer topics can become the center of your focus as you begin the exam process. You can easily judge where to spend more time.

If you must doodle on your page, set aside an area at the bottom or side of the page for doing this. Don't let it get all over your work. It may look creative and fun. It has no place in among serious notes. It will interrupt your thoughts as your mind drifts away to interpreting the artwork, rather that the more serious business of the notes on your page.

To let revision of your work flow smoothly put a very brief phrase or two on the top of each page, telling you what is on that page. You may forget in a couple of months' time what you have covered and this can serve as quick triggers to target the revision and study process and make it more efficient. Making better use of your time is one of the most important goals in your ambition for Success at School.

If you remember some time ago I said that we do not want to fill every waking moment with study, study, study. Yukk! If your time is used well, then you will find that you have time for breaks. Those breaks will be enjoyed more because in the back of your mind is not the worry of unfinished, even unknown tasks; you have it all under control. Proper use of time when you are young will transfer to adulthood so you will still have fun knowing that all you need to do is under control. Worry free play. Yeah to that!

Good luck with your studies
Have a great day

Empty your brain for exams??

In the last post the advice was to empty your brain in preparation for exams. It is the working part of your brain you want to empty to leave it free to do what it does best; solve puzzles, find solutions, suggest pathways. At first you may think it's a stupid idea to empty your brain just when you need it the most. So what are we talking about here?

What comes after 3? 4. After 121? 122. After p? q. What does c a t spell? At some stage in our education we came to know this automatically, often after a lot of perseverance on your part and encouragement from teachers and parents. Still, if you are reading this, you can recognise a lot of words and without having to think, know what they mean. Some years ago you would puzzle over the answer to 5+6=? You probably know this with little thinking required. You can write sentences. It is easy to put a label on trees, dogs, the urban landscape and thousands of things you are familiar with. All this was hard at some stage but now uses little brain power. Solutions come quickly. 'Without thinking' we often say. This is what we mean when we say empty your brain. It's all there, catalogued for future use, hardwired in and ready for retrieval.

In your brain you have gradually built a huge store of information. So read the information you need well before the exam. Learn the formulae off by heart, just like you did years ago with alphabets and counting and spelling. Practise each type of problem until the stucture is familiar at least. It is the familiarity which is important. What are the correct steps for a math problem, order for an essay, style for a history report? Let yourself know these and you will be able to empty your brain ready for exams. Let your mind do its best. Don't clutter it by cramming information in at the last minute. If you do this, there are few connections that have been built between the bits of information needed, and you have to work extra hard on each problem solution to get the right pieces together.

What this means is reviewing, asking questions and consolidating your knowlege in smaller chunks, basically as you come across them in class. As soon as you can re-read the material, see if you can complete work without the use of notes or friends. If you can't do this ask questions and fill in the gaps. Let your mind do its best work at exam time. Start 'emptying your brain' from your very next class.

We'll gradually go through notetaking and study skills later. That will help with exam preparation too.

Good luck with your studies. Have a great day. If you want a hand, feel free to email.

Make exams easy. Better brain links for Better School Marks

During tests your brain needs to work quickly and efficiently. Experts tell us that our brain works best when it is uncluttered, relaxed and when the channels we need to use to solve the particular problems in front of us are well ingrained in our brain.

Let's deal with the last of these. It seems to be the most difficult. In practice, you can ensure that you are always at this vital stage. The channels you use to solve particular problems are just like channels used to carry water. With a regular flow of water and maintenance of the edges, these channels are efficient and do their job well. Treat learning any new skill or theory at school just like an athlete trains a skill. How many times do pros swing a bat, kick a ball, pass, punt, run, jump, swim lengths? They may be among the best in the world but they still must work on the most basic of skills, as well as those that most of us will never master. That's why they are the best.

As kids they probably spent hours on a new trick, throw or stroke that most of us would have given up on. They would definitely have made many mistakes. Nobody gets better by staying safe and making no mistakes. Learn from them and steadily improve. Do a couple extra practise sessions. You won't need as much effort or repetition as our world class athletes but you will be well rewarded.

So back to those channels. Imagine when you first come across something you have to learn that you have to dig a channel to join up the right parts in your brain so you can absorb it into your mental capability. On the first go, the message goes over unfamiliar ground looking for the right links. On the second it may recognise that it has seen this before and remember most of where to go, starting to dig out a channel for future information of this sort to go through. The next time the channel is dug out further and information begins to flow quickly and freely. The more you repeat the better the information flows, the more quickly and readily problems are solved.

Just like the water carrying channels that will fall into disrepair if they are not used and well maintained so too these mental channels will become less efficient with lack of use. The good news is that if you set up good channels at the beginning with a lot of early practise, your small bits of revision and review is all that is needed for maintenance to keep them in first class condition.

During exams you will have a network of open channels that link together in many ways and are ready to pump information that will be retrieved, assembled and laid out as a solution. And good job to you for making that happen.

Study zone: comfortable, not too comfortable

At your place? Let's look at where you are going to study this year. Go to where you study most. Is there a television there? Is it usually on? Is there loud music? Are there usually other people in the room? Is it hard to look outside? Is the fresh air flow minimal? Is the light dim? Do you lie on your bed and get too comfortable for your thoughts to be electric and clear? Do you jam ipod buds in your ears and blast music into your head? Do you cram all night before exams? Are your study sessions one long, boring sitting? Do you study without giving yourself some kind of reward? OK there are a lot of things to consider for an ideal study spot. And you can see what we're getting at.

To give yourself the best use of valuable time when you can get to study.

That's what you want. Maximum benefit for the limited time allocated to study. How will you turn all the answers to the above questions into "No."? Seriously, put a plan into action. If there is no such place in your house, then substitute a room at school during breaks or before or after school. See if you can find permission for this. Use the local library, on weekends if necessary. Oh, weekends are just for playing? Then you are just playing at being serious about giving yourself as much chance of success as possible. Do not kid yourself. Setting up a good area now will carry into the future. You will gradually and naturally set up your work area for best production automatically when others will struggle. It is not just for school.

Could you negotiate a quiet time in the house? Sometimes others do not realise the importance of letting your thoughts fully focus on the work of school and how it may help them in the future as your career grows. This may be tough when you are starting out. But every small victory counts. It is not always a final battle that wins but the skirmishes that make up the whole that prove to be decisive. If your success has been limited until now, do not give up. You may have to prove your intent. Step by step. Find the support. Email me.

What is ideal?

Sit at a table, comfortable chair. If possible have only the material you are working on lying on the table. Well lit. A window through which you can easily look outside and open for fresh air. If you have to have music, make it music you can tune out to so it does not interfere with some intense concentration. Make it easy to turn off now and then. Take short breaks from whatever you are doing, glance out at the day, turn off music and enjoy the silence, let knowledge sink in and work its way into your mind and thinking. Set a timeframe, say one hour. Then give yourself a complete break. Stand up. Stretch. Roll your eyes, they need a change too. Have a drink or snack. Limit the break to 5-10 minutes max.

Get serious about your success. Better School Marks is where you can easily start. You have to be there. Take what you can from it to most advantage you. Enjoy doing it. It is the successes, no matter how small, that we look to for our pleasure that we want to get out of school. They are selfishly just for us.

Smart? The world needs you

School may not be what you want to be doing. Suffer! It is just part of the system. It is very often the key to future possibilities of career, study and success. If you are clever, the world needs you. If the academic part of school is easy, make it harder by setting challenges. The world need you. Many potential inventors of medicine, machinery, structures, science and creators of art in all its forms are lost because of brilliant minds losing their gloss in a school delivery mechanism choked with the mundane, the unnecessary and the bland.

It is the blandness of the system that creates non-creative activities, producing by conformance, a choking of the flow of creative juices in students. Schools will say they do creative writing and all manner of cultural pursuits, designed to promote creative thought but this is all formulaic. Creativity activities need to be set to boundaries that do not limit the mind in its exploration. At school we are all marked "A" or "C" or "very good" or "needs improvement". It's all a mish mash of a marking system. Would Leodardo da Vinci's teacher mark his science as "will not fly, man was not meant to fly - D"? Limiting creativity is one of education's biggest blunders.

"Creative writing", as a subject has myriad rules to define it and what it should consist of and end up looking like. Often teachers turn out creative clones of themselves. Creative? "Art is creative" I hear you say. Well, it should be. But again the rules offer too much definition for students to let their minds wander to the infinite edges. Too little time and too little co-ordinated effort across the curriculum makes sure we are not developing this most important compartment in our brain. Leonardo explored art, science, mathematics, philosophy, logic. Freely swapping one to another. He is recognised regularly in our texts as having had one of the greatest minds.

What can you do? Keep your mind polished. You may have to find ways to create scenarios that constantly challenge. Draw. Paint. Play an instrument. Dance. Create. Write. Stir the depths of your mind. Let it flow to the outer reaches of the universe and the inner secrets of your thoughts. Then look to the academics. If the content of mathematics classes is too slow, too easy then go to a library at the local College and ask to join. Sit there and read books that show you what is coming up next. Then determine to get there by yourself. Go to the College to get the feel and atmosphere. If not, ask your school library to get you some texts on loan.

Take a slow pace and look ahead of where you are. Not necessarily mathematics. For any subject you can see where the class is going and find something that takes you past it. Choose one of your favourite subjects and see where it fits into the world process. However small a step you make here, you will be advantaging the world. See if your desires lie in cultural, scientific, literature, or other but find something to be passionate about and get started. If you are only reasonably able, then your influence on the world can be great. Good luck!

The teacher picks on me

I often wonder if people should think about this one a bit more and come to the conclusion that in most cases, this is a good thing. Think about this one. Firstly, is your behaviour reflecting that of a good student? Do you, perhaps, talk a little too much, write a little too little, look around vacantly often? Don't say "Everyne else does", because we are looking at you.

Most teachers want the best for their students, whether you like that teacher or not. They stay in their job hoping to be able to influence one or two people in a positive manner along the way so they become successful in the future. Teachers may annoy you but most of what they do is driven by outside influences. The content of classroom lessons is prescribed by State or other central bodies, so what they teach you is usually not of their choosing. They are just trying to lead you through it as best as they can. Their interactions with you is also governed by School Boards, parent groups, lobby groups, and Government legislation. Often they have a dress code just as the student body does. Often they do not like aspects of the dress code too. As you can imagine often the poor teacher is retricted and feels confined and frustrated by over regulation just like you do.

So, look at it a different way if a teacher says something to you and don't put yourself into a basket of talkers or non-homework doers or others like that just so you feel better because you have an excuse. Maybe the teacher  has your needs at heart and wants you to do well and just wants to remind you what you should be doing. If you get annoyed at that, of course they get annoyed too. Wouldn't you get a bit annoyed if you thought you were trying to help someone and they said something smart or angry back at you? You should actually, usually, be pleased because they may be more interested in your success than some others. They want you to be on task for success and try to keep you on track. Maybe they can see a lot more potential in your ability than you are showing. Your welfare and success is often at the top of their consideration. The more you work with them the easier school gets and the more likely you are to reach your success goals. Try it.

Reduce distraction for Better School Marks

You know how when you are in class how easy it is to be distracted by something more exciting than the lesson? Smart comment. Random fart will do it. Screeching car. Teacher's fly undone. Someone makes funny face through door. They happen all the time. Well, you just can't get rid of these, they will always be there and will often be more annoying than a source of amusement. It will take some concentration and practise to get over these quickly and get back to the job. They clutter your clear concentration, stop your brain building links between the important bits. Most of all they waste precious time. Time when you could be learning that really key link or idea that makes you go: "Oh! That's what you mean. Now I get it!" Whatever the "it" may be.

Do not be one of those annoying extremists on the other end who wouldn't know how to have fun if you poked them in the ribs with a funny stick. But do recognise lost time as one of the few valuable assets we have that can never be regained once lost. If the distraction looks like taking over for a while (you know, one of those things that disrupts and keeps going with the class in no mood to settle back down), glance down at your notes to see if you can make some sense of bits that may have been vague. Do not openly ignore the activities or you may be ostracised for it but do take furtive glances at your notes or even take a furtive view into recent work in your mind's eye. Just think back to the last lesson or two and see if you can recall what you learned. It would look just like you were daydreaming, so not really ignoring the class at all.

Carry with you at all times, in your mind, your picture of you after fulfilling the next success task. Remind yourself of what you have achieved, even if you have begun with your success planner as mentioned a couple of posts back. This is good reinforcement for the effort you have put in so far and will give you proper reward for a job well done, so far. It is your success and your focus we are building on.

You cannot blame a disruptive day for a way out of work. What others do should be a separate world away from what you are trying to do. "They were talking"; "They didn't study"; "They did no work"; "They had no notetaking equipment". Being drawn into this is what a lot of people use as an excuse for their own laziness. Keep above it and don't become part of it. It will suck you down toward failure.

De-clutter at home

Home is often set up as the worst place to study and to prepare and get on with the plan for Better School Marks. Remember we are looking to set you up so you give yourself as much chance as possible of driving a successful future. Sometimes, especially at the start, things seem a bit tough. If they are, just email, and we'll try to sort it out. Somehow you need to allocate study space. If that solution is not immediately obvious, how about you find a spot around the school where there will be the peace to study. Note, not "try to find" but "find". Don't let yourself have excuses in such important matters. Could you use the local library?

Home is best because you can leave your stuff out without it getting stolen when you go for a break. You do need quiet. You do need calm.

Get rid of the ipod, phone, tv. Do not be tempted by the buzz of unanswered texts or the chance to listen to the latest song or by your favourite program or a possible facebook comment. Plan around all this. They can all wait until you are ready to consider them. They are not as important as you and your future. In this future you will much more likely be the rule maker. So, plan around all this. Did I already say "Plan around all this'? Well, if you are serious, do it.

What you are looking for, as much as possible, is for one signal to be going into your head and that is why the peace is so important. No tv, no phone, no friends over, no music, no facebook. Try to make a dedicated space in your room. It does not have to be showy. Flat top for desk, comfortable chair you can sit in for about 2h at a time, a lamp would be good as would be a specific spot to store your important notes. If your school uses computers a lot, then the space for this would also come in. But it is far more important to have book and pen space.

Get the equipment ready and lay it out. Get your head into focus. That may mean you have to bully yourself a little at first, until you start to notice the difference. Sit in that space, zone out to the rest of the world. This is the time that is dedicated to your success. Be very selfish about it.