Make technology your friend!

During school, technology can be a huge distraction. It might feel like there’s always someone on your back telling you to get off your phone and go and study. A lot of us know the feeling of saying “I’ll just check Facebook” and then somehow it’s 2 hours later and you haven’t accomplished anything.

Social media isn’t inherently bad, though. It’s a great way to communicate with your friends, and maintaining good relationships when you’re studying is really important. It’s especially great for any friends you don’t go to school with. Social media can also be really fun, and a great way to relax.

If you find social media and everything else that’s out there on the internet is too much of a distraction when you’re trying to study, you’re going to need some ways to manage this.

If you think you have a certain level of self-control, you can probably switch your phone onto silent (completely silent – no vibrations!) and hide it in a cupboard for an hour or two while you do some homework.

It can also be a good idea to sit your phone in a different room while you study – maybe have it charging in the kitchen when you’re doing homework in your bedroom.

If you don’t have this level of self-control, ask someone you trust (maybe one of your parents) to keep your phone with them for an hour while you do some study.

We also need to remember that technology can be really useful when we’re studying. The internet is an amazing resource, so it’s entirely understandable if you have your laptop open while you’re doing some work. However, sometimes it feels like an automatic response to just open Facebook when you get stuck for a minute.

If you struggle to stay off social media, there are plenty of apps that can help you. They block certain websites for an amount of time that you set, so that you can get some work done. Here are some apps you could try: SelfControl, Cold Turkey, and Facebook Limiter.

There are so many useful websites out there that can help you study, as well. You could download audiobooks if you can’t quite manage to read your novel one more time, find flashcards on Quizlet, or watch some TED talks to broaden your knowledge.

Staying motivated for your last exam

When you have a number of exams spread across a couple of weeks it can be easy to get burnt out and stop studying for the last one or two. You might feel like you’ve put all your energy into your first two exams, and you don’t have enough energy to keep up your studying stamina for another week.

However, it’s quite possible your strongest subject is coincidentally at the end of the exam period. Remember that almost all your subjects are weighted equally, so all the exams are important!

Here are some tips on how you can stop yourself getting burnt out and tired during the exam period.

Make a schedule

Write up a schedule of what you want to get done every day between now and the end of exams. Be specific about what you’re going to get done, for example, “Chemistry: 2014 VCAA exam”. Make your study goals realistic, but also make sure you’re working hard. This is the last time you’ll have to study for these subjects, so put in your best effort!

In terms of making your goals realistic, don’t convince yourself that you’re going to get up at 7 am and study consistently until 8 pm, with one break for lunch. You might be able to do this for one day, but it’s not a sustainable study method.

Set yourself up for productive study

When it gets close to exams, it might feel like a good idea to go all out and start cramming and studying crazy hours. However, if you have a long exam period, this is unsustainable. When you’re studying, you need to make sure you’re taking regular short breaks, like going for a 15-minute walk, so that you can keep working.

Keep your phone away from your study area, and only check it during your breaks. This is especially true if some of your friends have finished their exams and have forgotten that you’re still in exam mode.

When you relax, really relax

It can be easy to get caught up in total exam mode and forget how to relax. However, when you’re taking a break from study, do your best to completely switch off from it. Schedule in relaxation times, which could be something like watching your favourite TV show, going for a swim, or catching up with a friend (and promising not to talk about study!)

If you have a really long break before your last exam and you’re feeling prepared, it might even be a good idea to schedule a whole day off. You could get out of the house and take yourself out for lunch or to see a movie, or stay home and chill out all day. This is a good way to recharge the batteries and feel refreshed before diving back in to studying.

Look after yourself

You’ll get burnt out even more quickly if you’re not looking after your body. Make sure you’re getting lots of sleep and eating regular meals.

It’s also a good idea to have some of your study breaks involve exercise. Exercise gives you endorphins, which will help you feel good, and it will also mean you sleep better. If you’re sitting down at a desk all day, sometimes your body isn’t tired enough to sleep well at night. Exercise can help with this problem.

Year 12 English exam – Be Prepared!

Author: Maria D'Amato

The English exam is always the first of the VCE exams and it is often the one you are most nervous about. This blog will discuss how to tackle the exam and more importantly what to focus on. Master these points to be sure you will get the very most out of yourself and achieve a result that you can be proud of.

General Exam Tips

• Remember to take a dictionary.

• Use black or blue pen.

• Answer every question.

• Devote equal time to each of the three sections – they are equally weighted.

• Spend 2-3 minutes planning, and write short plans only. Plans will not be assessed.

• Spend no more than 50 minutes on each of the sections, as you don't want to run out of time.

• You must bring each of your essays to a conclusion.

• Allow 3–5 minutes to proofread and edit your work. Check spelling and grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, paragraphing and clarity of expression. Ensure you have included all the components of your plan.

• Please learn the correct spellings of authors’ names, characters’ names, and text titles. The assessors will view this favourably.

• Put the pen down momentarily and take a deep breath before commencing the next essay.

Section A: Text Response

• Select one of the two questions. Select the topic you know you can answer best.

• Look carefully at the key terms used in the prompt and unpack their meaning.
  Essay questions are set up very carefully and each key term needs to be addressed.

• The introduction needs to directly answer the prompt.

• Don't memorise essays and reproduce them in exams.
  Remember to respond to the prompt and focus on what’s relevant to that prompt.

• Be consistent with the development of the contention across the essay. Each paragraph in the body of the essay needs to develop your contention.

• Examples and evidence are drawn only from the text. You cannot bring anything external to it.

• Learn a comprehensive series of quotations from the beginning, middle and end of the text.

• Don’t forget to mention the ways in which the author expresses or implies a point of view and/or values.

• The conclusion includes the fulfilment of your line of contention.

Section B: Writing in Context

• You will be given a prompt to which you must respond, which is almost like a universal statement.

• In Section B you are able to express your thoughts and ideas relating to the overall theme in whatever form you choose, be it imaginative, persuasive or expository; however, you must work with the prompt regardless of what format you choose.

• The studied text is there for inspiration, not to write a text essay on.

• You need to show knowledge of the text but can also go beyond it and draw on related ideas (such as current affairs, your own experiences) to develop your argument.

• Don't just retell the story; you need to explore the quality of ideas and link back to the text.

Section C: Analysis of Language

• You should devote at least 10 minutes of reading time to read the written material in this section. This will enable you to gain an impression of the overall issue.

• Remember the what, how and why language is being used in an attempt to influence readers/audience.

• Identify the Context, Contention, Tone, Audience and Purpose.

• You need to focus on specific phrases and analyse how the language used by the writer shapes the beliefs/feelings of the reader.

• Paragraphs for language analysis are essentially “point, evidence, analyse”.

• You also need to analyse how the visual material shapes the beliefs of the reader.

• Keep your language simple and straightforward.

• Don’t forget to use language of comparison to show the differences/contrasts of opinions.

And finally,

GOOD LUCK 😃 

Preparing for the exams

Exams can be scary for many people. Even for the best prepared! While we can’t take the exam for you, we can give you some tips on how to prepare, as well as what you can do in the room to maximise your exam time.

• Try to get a good sleep the night before. There’s no use staying up late studying – sleep will be more beneficial than another practice exam at this late stage. However, you’ll probably be nervous, so try not to stress if you can’t sleep – you’re still resting your body and mind if you’re lying down in bed. Having a bath, drinking a cup of tea (without caffeine!), or doing some meditation are also good ways to relax the night before.

• Don’t skip breakfast. Make sure you’ve eaten a healthy and substantial meal before the exam so your brain has enough energy. Stay hydrated, but be careful not to drink so much water that you need to take a toilet break!

• Don’t talk about the exam before the exam. I find that it’s best not to hang out with friends before the exam. However, if you think being around people is what you need, then talk about something other than how much you’ve studied and what you think will be on the exam.

• Use your reading time wisely. Decide before the exam what you’ll read during reading time. Will you quickly glance at the whole exam? Or will you focus on one question and try to work out an answer? What is essential is that you use this time to plan in your head what you are going to do.

• Decide your exam approach in advance. You know what the structure of the exam is going to be, so decide in advance in which order you’ll do the sections. Start with your strongest section/s first. However, be sure to plan your time correctly so as to not rush at the end.

• Stick to a time limit. Further to the above, set time limits for each section, and don’t go over them. It’s better that you finish all sections of an exam and don’t have time to read over them than miss out on writing the last paragraph of an essay, for example.

• If you’re stuck on a question, move on. If there’s a single question you can’t work out, don’t stay on it for too long. It’s quite likely your brain just froze for a second, and that when you come back to it, it’ll be more obvious.

• Don’t leave early. There’s always something more you can have a go at. If nothing else, review your work and read your responses aloud in your head. I’ve seen far too many people leave exams early and lament their responses once they get to re-read what they have submitted. Remember, VCE exams are not intended to be finished early so make use of the time allotted.

• Decide what you’re going to do afterwards. Most people find it extremely unhelpful and distressing to talk about the exam after it’s over. There is nothing you can do to change it now, so don’t talk about it. You could do something fun such as relaxing with your friends, or you might want to go home and chill out before studying for your next exam.

• If something unexpected happens on exam day, find out if you can apply for special consideration. If you were sick or think your circumstances affected your ability to sit the exam on the day, find out more here.

The best way to prepare for your exams

Authors: Maria & Chris

There unfortunately is no quick fix when it comes to acing your end of year exams. The simple fact is that the best way to prepare is to do lots of practice and, just as importantly, to take your practice exams seriously.

If you’re sitting practice exams at school, do not waste the opportunity to test your skills in an environment similar to what you will experience on the day. After all, you’ll be sitting your real exams at school, so try to make it a practice run for the real thing. Prepare for them as well as you can within the time remaining. Rehearsing your exam day a number of times at school is a good way to control your nerves on the big day (although a little bit of stress can give you adrenaline!) And even though it is just practice, don’t leave early – you can never read over your work too many times, and there’s always something else you can have a go at!

But to set yourself up for success you really should also be doing practice exams at home. Responding to a wide variety of questions is a great way to be prepared for whatever the exam may throw at you. Past exams are available on the VCAA website. You should also be able to access some different exams from your teacher.

When you sit practice exams at home, it’s important to practice them within the same conditions you will be under, including sticking to the time limit. It’s no use being able to answer all the questions on the exam in seven hours – you need to give it the best shot you can under a time constraint. Try not to become disheartened if it feels like you’ll never do everything under the time limit – you’ll get quicker and be able to include more detail with more practice.

Furthermore, try to complete your exam without the aid of study notes and textbooks. You won't have access to them on the day, so best you learn to wean yourself off them now. If you have done the preparation beforehand then this should be easy. If not, then you know you have a bit more work to do. The good news is that you still have time to prepare.

After you do a practice exam, it’s really important to go through it afterwards and see which bits you got wrong and which bits you can improve on. If you’re doing a VCAA exam, you absolutely should read the exam reports on the website – they not only have answers to the exam, but specific advice about what the examiners are looking for, and what a lot of students missed or consistently get wrong.

Practice makes perfect when it comes to acing your exams. By preparing to perform under exam conditions, both mentally and physically, you have the best chance to succeed on one of the biggest days of your life (no pressure of course!)

Overcoming Frustration

When you’re studying hard for a long period of time, you might start to feel burnt out and frustrated, and your workload might feel completely insurmountable.

Sometimes we may lament that “There is so much to do that I’ll never get it all done – I may as well do nothing”. This is understandable, but unhelpful in the long term. Instead, follow some of these tips so that you can find the drive to go on and overcome the frustration of feeling like you’re stuck in a rut.

• Set achievable goals. If you’re writing a list or thinking about what you want to achieve in a day, don’t expect too much from yourself. This isn’t an excuse to do one small task and call it a day, but you do need to set goals that you can reasonably achieve. Achieving every task you set yourself to do in a day gives you a great feeling of accomplishment. Setting achievable goals on a consistent basis will also prevent you from getting burnt out.

• Break work down into small chunks. If you know that you’re super behind in chemistry, try not to think about the enormous amount of work you need to do to catch up. Instead, you can break it into smaller sections and focus on completing one section at a time.

• Study in short blocks. Know the amount of time you can reasonably concentrate without a break – this might be one hour, for example. There’s no way you can concentrate for five hours straight. Schedule breaks throughout a study session, and don’t make your breaks longer than the scheduled time.

• Save your easiest tasks for the end of the day. When you’re tired after an hour or two of really good study, it can be tempting to completely switch off. But at the end of the day you could also quickly do a small task that isn’t too much of a mental strain. This could be some kind of repetitive task like revising vocabulary for your LOTE subject. The flipside to this is making sure you do your trickiest work at the beginning, when your mind is fresh.

• Make your study space a study sanctuary. I find that when I’m particularly unmotivated, it helps to make my study space as nice as possible. This makes it feel like somewhere I want to spend time. Light a scented candle. Put some flowers in a vase or move a houseplant into your space. Play some instrumental background music, if this isn’t too distracting for you. Make a special flavour of tea in your best cup.

• Look after yourself. Try to make your breaks positive. For a short break, make a fun, healthy snack, like a fruit and veggie smoothie. For a longer break, go for a walk, run or swim. If you’re studying in front of a screen, try not to take breaks in front of a screen as well.

• Remember that things will be better tomorrow. If you’re feeling frustrated or sad about your studies, remember that things will be better after a good night’s sleep. If you’re really not getting anything done, try to go to bed early.

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

If your body doesn’t stay healthy, it’s really hard to stay focused on your studies, as well as all the other things going on in your life. While we can’t prevent all illnesses coming our way, here are some tips you can follow to avoid getting sick, and looking after yourself if you do.

Before you get sick

There are some good things you can do to help build your immune system, making it less likely that you’ll get sick.

• Get enough sleep.
• Eat healthily, including lots of fruit and vegetables – they contain heaps of vitamins!
• Do regular exercise – maybe you could got for a walk, or play a team sport. Exercising will also help you sleep better.
• Avoid infections by washing your hands regularly.

There are some other things you can do that have been shown to increase immunity.

• Try not to be too stressed. This one seems counterintuitive to doing year 12, but in general, it's a really good idea to learn how to manage your stress as well as you can. You can help manage your stress by staying connected to important people in your life, practicing meditation, and getting more organised.
• Maintain strong relationships. There is some evidence that that staying connected to people can raise your immunity. Positive relationships with family and friends are good for your mind, at any rate, so try not to isolate yourself, even when you're studying hard. 

It’s also a good idea to prepare yourself for the fact that you might get sick at some point during year 12. There are some things you can do so that this will hit you less hard.

• Stay organised throughout the year where you can. If you unexpectedly get sick, you don't want this to completely throw a spanner in the works. Stay on top of everything as much as you can so that a couple of days in bed isn't going to set you back.
• Don't take on too much. It's important to learnt to say no to things – you probably won't be able to do every activity that comes your way, so choose the ones you think are the most important.
• Prioritise rest. Make sure you have scheduled times for chilling out in your week. This might mean that on Friday nights you stay home and don't study.

While you're sick

If you do get sick, there are some things you can do to try to recover.

• Rest! Get as much rest as you can. This will help you recover more quickly.
• If you feel up to it, go for a walk. You shouldn't do intense exercise, but going for a short walk to get some fresh air is a good idea. 
• Stay hydrated. This is good for you at all times, but particularly when you're sick (especially if you're taking cold and flu medication).
• Avoid making others sick! Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze to avoid spreading germs and disease to other people. 

If being sick has affected your studies, make sure you talk to someone about it.

• Get a doctor's certificate if you miss important dates like a SAC. It's important to keep a record that you were sick so that you don't miss out on getting marks for a test.
• If you've been significantly unwell during year 12, it's possible you can apply for special consideration, which can assist you getting into uni if your illness has impacted on your studies. You can find more information about this on the VTAC website. If you have an acute or chronic illness, you might be eligible for special provision in your school-based assessments and exams.

Overcoming lack of motivation

Author: Chris Ebbs

It can be difficult to stay motivated for long periods of time, and during year 12 this can become a real problem. It’s important to maintain motivation so that you can keep studying at a consistent level throughout the year. However, when the end feels too far away, it can be tricky to push yourself to study as much as you might want or need to. Here are 5 tricks you can try in order to stay motivated throughout the school year.

The ‘just do it’ method. For some people, the hardest part is getting started. They might need a lot of convincing to get off the couch and to sit at a desk, but once they’ve got their books in front of them, the actual study part isn’t so bad. If this sounds like you, then remember to ‘just do it’ and you’ll thank yourself for it later. You might want to set a time that you promise to be at your desk every morning or ask a family member to help you get motivated to start. For best effects, remember to wear your fave Nike gear.

Work first, have fun later. This is an important trick to keep practising throughout your life. Once you start doing something fun, it can feel impossible to drag yourself away from it to get back to your desk. However, if you finish everything you were planning to first, then watching that tv show or meeting up with your friend will be so much sweeter.

The reward method. This is a similar concept to ‘have fun later’, but it’s much more defined. For some people, creating specific rewards for completing certain tasks really helps them get through it. If you study for an hour you could reward yourself with a snack. For the whole day you could watch the latest episode of your show. It’s also a good idea to have bigger rewards: for doing a SAC you could buy yourself something you’ve had your eye on for a while. And then make sure you have some kind of reward in mind for finishing year 12 – maybe your parents will take you out for dinner or you can plan a fun day with your friends.

Study with a friend. Some people can’t study well with others (I know I can’t). But some find that this helps them keep going. For this to work, you need to know that your friend isn’t going to distract you (and make sure that you’re not distracting them either!) But having a friend around can make the experience more fun, and also help you stay motivated as you learn together. If they’re studying, you might feel bad about taking a break and power through an extra hour. You can also help explain key concepts to each other if you’re studying any of the same subjects.

Go to a library. While having a consistent study space can help get you in the zone, sometimes a change of scene is just what you need. At home, there can be a lot of distractions, and if you’re alone in your study space, there is less accountability about taking extremely extended ‘breaks’. Going to a library is perfect – it’s quiet, lots of other people are studying, and you can usually turn the Internet on and off depending on whether you need to use it or you need to avoid distractions. (You could combine this one with Study with a friend.)

Top tips to mix up your study session

Author: LWD Team

Feel like you are in a bit of a rut? Are things not sinking in? Do those words on the page look like a worm pizza gone wrong? Give these three tips a go to help beat the study brain drain.

1. Flash cards. I find that flash cards are a great way to study. They work best for content-heavy subjects where you need to remember facts, like history or biology. But you can also use them to help remember quotes or formulae. The process of making them is a great way to revise content – writing things down helps you remember them more easily.

Using small cards instead of writing notes onto A4 pieces of paper is a good way to split the information into bite-size chunks. You'll remember information more easily if you single it out.

Double-sided flash cards can be used on your own or with someone else. Ask you family to get involved in your study if they have time. Teaching content to someone else is one of the best ways to learn or revise it. Involving your family can also demonstrate to them that your study is important and confirm their place as part of your support team.

2. Sticky notes. You can also make single-sided flash cards like small posters to stick up in your study space. Short and sharp facts are important here. This can be very useful for maths formulae or reminders of things you have to do.

You can put them anywhere: around your desk, inside your books, on your windows, on the fridge... You could even stick them to the outside of the shower – just remember not to stand there for too long and waste all the water!

Using multicolour sticky notes is a great way to add a splash of colour and fun to your study. There are studies that suggest our brains retain more information when it is presented to us in colour. Read more here. 

But before you go sticky mad, make sure you have somewhere at home where there are no study notes. It's important that you have a place where your mind can take a break.

3. Don't waste time practicing things you already know. When you're studying, it can be tempting to go over the same thing multiple times. You can convince yourself that it's really important to practice the same thing over and over. And it feels good to know that you're really on top of a particular part of the course. But you are actually doubling your workload by wasting precious time on something you already know.

I know that there are things you're not so good at or just don't get. So take a deep breath, get some sticky notes, choose one of the tougher topics and launch into it.

Read the chapter in the textbook. Do the textbook questions. Do a related exam question. Ask your teacher or tutor for help. Practice something you know you're not good at and you will ensure you study time is not wasted. And you'll definitely get a rush afterwards of learning something new.

What are you really doing when you’re studying?

Author: LWD Team

“Leave me alone Mum, I’m studying!”

But what are you really doing?

Firstly, we need to make a distinction between homework and studying.

Homework includes completing tasks set by your classroom teachers, such as chapter questions and assignments. The purpose is to provide extra practice in order to reinforce what you have learned at school.

In contrast, studying is the time you set aside independently to review the content and concepts you have learned. It includes reading, writing notes, and drawing up visual aids to help you understand the key knowledge in your subject/s, so that you don’t procrastinate come exam time.

Yet, It’s easy to spend three hours staring at your books and still feel like you haven’t achieved much.

You might have noticed that it is easier to stay engaged and motivated when you’re doing a set homework task than when you’re studying.

This is because there is a clear final destination: you know when you’ve completed your homework. However, when you’re revising content and practising your writing, there’s not always a clear end goal.

The best way to overcome this is to turn study into what feels like homework. Set clear tasks and objectives for yourself.

This might involve doing some of the harder questions in the textbook, doing a practice exam, or setting out the number of paragraphs you’re going to write. Making a list can be a good way to assist in this process.

Here are some additional tips that you may find effective:

1.    Choose a suitable study space – Find a quiet place, away from noisy brothers and sisters, and ensure you switch off all electronic devices or notifications on your phones and laptops.

2.    Create a study planner – Its’ really important that you set aside regular times in your routine for study. Block out certain days and/or times, so that it becomes habitual.

3.    Take short breaks and be sure to reward your efforts – there is no point trying to out stare your books because you will never win. So from time to time, get up, have a stretch and reward yourself with a quick walk around the block or a treat or two from the biscuit tin!

4.    Sleep!!! Though you can’t study when you sleep, it makes a world of difference to your performance when you are well rested and alert. Studying at 2am, or worse still, playing Warcraft at 2am will not help keep you at a peak study performance level.

Add some structure to your study, take regular breaks and sleep well at night and you’ll notice that you achieve a lot more when it comes to your 'study time.' 

The Essay-A-Week Challenge

Author: Chris Ebbs

Writing one essay per week sounds scary. But it doesn’t have to be. The whole point of this challenge is to take the scary factor out of essay-writing.

In year 12, everyone is doing at least one subject that involves writing an essay in the exam. This is tricky – how do you remember everything you wanted to remember, think of a really great argument and write coherently under a time limit? The best way to get better at something is to practice, and this is no exception.

By the time you’ve reached year 12, you’ve probably learnt all the ‘rules’ about essay-writing. But knowing these rules doesn’t automatically equate with producing good essays.

Find out the expected style of the exam essay for each subject. Write an essay on whatever you’re studying in class that week. You’ll practice your essay style, but you’ll also be developing and revising the ideas you learnt at school.

It’s never too early to start. Try not to be embarrassed or disheartened if it feels like you produced some ‘bad’ work – this is all part of the learning process. Set aside an hour or two every week for the essay challenge. Try to make it a regular part of your schedule. Make sure you set yourself time limits – you won’t have four hours and a laptop for research in the exam.

Your teacher or tutor will be happy to mark your essays and discuss them with you. They want you to improve, and this is a great way to do it. You could also check out the exam reports on the VCAA website for advice.

Let us know how the challenge goes for you!

Top 4 tips for approaching practice exams

Author: Chris Ebbs

Practice exams are, in my opinion, the best way to study for an exam. It’s (obviously) really important to know and understand all the content of the course, but understanding the ways in which the questions will be asked is also vital. You can revise the content as much as you want, but you need to make sure you can apply your knowledge. Here are my top tips for doing practice exams.

1.     Do as many as you can get your hands on. The VCAA ones are all on the website (along with exam reports that explain the answers). Your teacher will also have some non-VCAA exams, so ask for those. Non-VCAA exams might not be the most accurate representation of what’s going to be on the exam, but they will apply knowledge in slightly different ways and help you expand your understanding of the content.

2.     Actually go through the answers. I’ve encountered so many people who ‘do’ practice exams, but never go through the answers. Practice exams are a great learning tool, so make sure you look up what you got wrong and why you got it wrong. Find the content in your textbook and practice the skill.

3.     Do exams under timed conditions. There’s no use in understanding the content 100% back to front if you can’t answer the questions in the allotted time.

4.     It’s never too early to do a practice exam. In year 12 I had a teacher who asked us to track the different practice exams we did. I kept a record of the date I did an exam and the percentage I got. Over time I actually saw improvement! If you think this might help you or inspire you to keep going, give it a shot.