Success begins with you...one piece at a time!

The year is past half way and many students should be thinking about preparing for the end of year exams. Here are a few tips:

1. Do something – even if you don’t feel like it!
2. Focus on your goals. What do you hope to achieve by the end of the year? How will you feel when exams are over?
3. Live in the present. Don’t put off untill tomorrow what you can do today.
4. Study with a friend.
5. Write checklists and tick them off when you have done each task.
6. Stay organised, but don’t confuse organising your work with genuine study.
7. Write notes, learn notes and rewrite notes.
8. Look at past exams and understand the exam format so there are no surprises in the exam!
9. Do as many practice questions that you can get your hands on.
10. Have a good attitude towards study. (Yes, you can do it and you can do it well!)

Quote of the day:

Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what to do. Attitude determines how well you do it!
– Aldous Huxley

Homework needs to be part of the daily routine

Homework is an important part of your child’s daily routine. Good habits, established early in school, help children consolidate what they have learned at school.

Here are a few tips for parents to help with homework:

Develop a homework routine and schedule

• Together with your child, establish a specific time and place for homework. Set a specific time allocation each day for homework and stick to the routine.
• Ensure that all extracurricular activities, medical appointments, chores and responsibilities, meal times and bedtimes are accounted for in the schedule.
• Be aware that some children prefer to start their homework immediately after school, however other children need to play and relax before settling into their homework. Experiment with different times to see what works best.
• Keep an eye on things to ensure that homework is actually being done during the agreed time.

Create a better work environment:

• Make sure your child’s study is free from distractions and is easy for you to monitor.
• Limit distractions in the home during homework hours, such as noise or interruptions from other siblings.
• Turn off TV and radio.
• Remove phone and if working on the computer, close email and the various chat and social networking sites.
• Be sure all books, pens and homework resources are within easy reach.
• Consider placing a couple of motivational posters on the walls in the study area.

Help with preparation and structure:

• Expect your child to have all assignments and homework recorded.
• Review each task with your child.
• Encourage your child to review tasks each night and make a plan before beginning.
• Write a to-do list with estimated time to spend on each task.
• Encourage your child to check off tasks once they have been accomplished.

Increase motivation:

• Use a timer to challenge your child to stay on task.
• A “beat the clock” system is often effective – motivating children to complete the task before the buzzer goes off!
• Remind your child to complete homework and offer incentives: “When you finish, you can play computer games.”
• Praise work well done.
• Withhold privileges until a certain amount of homework has been completed.

I hope these tips help to make homework time run more smoothly at your house!

Example of a definition flashcard:

Side 1: Dyslexia ( put the key term in the middle of the card).

Side 2:
1.    Impaired ability to learn to read.
2.    A learning disability in which a person finds it difficult to read and write.
You may like to include a picture of a person reading a book! (Having a picture to go with you definition helps you make visual links with the key word.)

Tips for making good flashcards:

• Use a reasonable size card and write legibly!
• Don’t try to cram too much information onto one card. (The general rule is no more than five key ideas).
• Always try to understand what the concept or definition before you write a flash card for it.
• Where possible use your own words, never just copy! (I know it is tempting to just copy!)
• If you are writing flash cards by hand, draw a picture of symbol that might help you recall the information more easily.
• Test yourself often and make a pile of the ones you might struggle with memorising and review these more often.
• Get a friend or family member to test you.
• Most of your time should be spend learning the flash cards, not creating them!

The Flashcard Machine

The flashcard machine is a free web application that enables users to create interactive web-based study flash cards and share them with others. It is easy to use and user-friendly.

There are several groups of flash cards up on this site with various VCE subjects already in the data base!

Website: flash card machine

Establish Good Routines

It is important to establish positive working routines that include work, rest, exercise and play!

With study and work it is essential to be organised and on top of things. The saying, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”, may be helpful to keep in mind.  Having set hours to study and work are important and will certainly ensure long term success.

Tip: Use your diary or weekly planner to block out times for school, work and study and stick to them!

Rest and relaxation are also very important. How many hours of sleep do you need per night? The average person needs 8 hours, however children and teenagers need more. With increased stress levels sleep also needs to increase (however, often the opposite is true!).

Tip: Make a list of activities that help you relax. This may include things like, playing with your dog, drawing or listening to music. Try to do one activity per day.
Sleeping Tip: Aim for 8 hours + of sleep every night! Make a commitment to this in 2010!

Exercise needs to be a part of daily routine. Exercise needs to be fun and part of everyday. There is no use starting a strenuous gym program that you can’t possibly sustain over the long term.  Brisk walking, a jog around the block, a few laps at the local pool, or a roller blade with friends is a great way to enjoy exercise.

Tip: Write down all the activities you can do for exercise. Then write down one activity into your daily planner and stick to them. They need to become a habit.

Time to play and enjoy hobbies and interests are essential to enjoying life. Socialisation with friends and family is also part of life. TV is a good way to unwind and escape and so is reading a novel. In your weekly routine you need to include a few activities that help you “play”. This may also include playing a fun game!

Tip: Make a list of new and old play activities. For example, if you have never tried Yoga, you might like to buy yourself a DVD to try it, or sign up for a class. After you have written your list, try to do once play activity per day!
Tip: Schedule time to play in your week.

Good routines help us live life more fully. We are more in control and we are also able to deal with stressful events and people better. What can you do differently today that will make a difference to your weekly routine? Challenge yourself – you will be glad you did!

Do Revision Questions First!

New research has shown that getting things wrong actually facilitates learning (Scientific American, 20^th October, 2009). Getting things wrong helps with memory and challenges the brain to learn.

Students want to get the best mark on their final exams, but they need to challenge themselves to achieve their best.

A lot of students make the mistake of writing volumes of study notes on each subject. This is a time consuming process and as the student is “copying” from another source, the amount of learning in this process is minimal.

I have been telling students this for years – but often the perfectionism in individuals or the need to get a full set of notes distracts from the actual learning of the new material. My advice is stop being so obsessed with notes and do practice questions.

The current research suggests that if we challenge ourselves to retrieve or generate answers we can actually improve our recall.

The simple example is to do VCE practice exams before you have completed all your coursework or your notes. I know from experience that those who get the highest marks in VCE have done the most practice questions, or written the most practice essays.

Students may even consider trying to do the revision questions at the end of the chapter before they begin to the study the chapter. Primary school teachers often give their students pre-tests on certain topics and this is a great way to help facilitate learning.

If students get the questions wrong in a self test before they actually study, the study process is going to be far more useful for recall.

So VCE students should do as many practice exams and test yourself as much as they can – even before they have fully learned or revised the material – their marks will show the results!

If you would like help with VCE study techniques and revision, you may wish to enrol in a VCE Study Coaching Program.

Reference:

Roediger, H. L & Finn, B. (2009).  Getting It Wrong: Surprising Tips on How to Learn. Scientific America.

It helps to be organised and motivated. Clear and well defined goals are essential. And you have to know how to study!

Many students write out their notes and try to memorise them, but they are often distracted by the process of completing the notes, rather than learning effectively.

It is essential that students remain motivated and are capable of dealing with the stress and anxiety that the final years of school will bring.

School Psychology Services provides a focused VCE Coaching Program which involves 6 to 10 individual sessions with an Educational Psychologist. The aim is to help students perform to their full potential in VCE. Each program is tailored to the student’s educational needs and is specific to the subjects they are studying. Career and vocational planning is also available.

Leap Ahead of the rest!

Book your sessions today and leap ahead of the rest!

Don't Let VCE Stress get to you!

Stress and anxiety affect most of us from time to time.

Stress and anxiety during VCE is to be expected. Often young people put pressure on themselves to achieve. Parents and school expectations are also factors that contribute to rising stress levels in young people.

It is important to have some stress and anxiety about the approaching end of year VCE exams; otherwise no one would do any study! However, too much stress and anxiety leads to feelings of hopelessness, excessive anxiety and even depression.

Getting professional help to manage thoughts and emotions is sometimes helpful for young people.

Some quick stress release tips for VCE Students:

• Find some positive quotes and print them out and stick them on your wall or on the front of your folder.
• Write down everything good and wonderful in your life right now!
• Go for a walk and be in the moment – smell the roses, look at the colour of the leaves on the tress, look for the first signs of spring.
• Doing something you really enjoy, then make a list of things you really enjoy and do one each day for a week!
• Take a whole minute to eat a tiny square of chocolate.
• Find an inspirational song and listen to it when you feel a little uptight.
• Buy yourself a stress ball and squeeze it!
• Take time out from study each day to look at your goals and focus on your dreams!
• Play sport or do some strenuous physical activity.
• Take a bath or a shower.

Always focus on the positive and what you have achieved so far. If you are completing a VCE subject you are in your final years of high school – how wonderful! You have the rest of your life ahead of you and what potential each of us have for a truly wonderful future!

School Psychology Services enjoy working with young people to help them reach their full potential. If you would like to seek professional help for VCE Stress or anxiety, contact Deborah Jepsen.

Also ask about our Life Coaching for VCE Success. We have a 10 week program designed to help VCE students refine their study skills, learn specific study skills and reach their potential!

This post will outline reasons for getting organised, some tips for getting organised and  it will define what studying actually is! It will also gives students some study tips.

Reasons for getting organised:

• You can easily find the books you need to study.
• You know what needs to be studied.
• You have a complete set of notes of the work completed in class.
• You can learn more effectively.
• You don’t waste valuable time looking for things!
• You are able to break tasks down into manageable study blocks.
• You are able to achieve better result!

Study Space

1. Clean up your desk area.
2. Have pens and paper within easy access. The equipment you need will include: pens, pencils, highlighters, blank paper (A4 & A3 sizes), lined paper and flash cards. You may even like to include coloured paper.
3. Remove any distractions and replace these with positive affirmations and quotes.
4. If you are using a computer – turn off instant messaging and social network sites (you need to reward yourself with these activities!)

Study V’s Homework

Study is more than just doing the set work. Doing the set work, assignments, essays, and maths questions are all homework tasks. Study if different, it is reviewing and consolidating what you have learnt. Even if you don’t have homework, you always have study to do. Most students don’t understand this concept.

What is Study?

Study is reviewing what was taught during the class, it is also revising the text books and committing to memory the content of the course so it can be easily retrieved during an exam. Study is also predicting the types of questions you might be assessed. Often it is writing summary notes, flash cards, mind maps and summary diagrams. It is also do practice exams and questions to help you understand the core material.

Why study?

We forget what we have learned very quickly unless it is encoded into long term memory.  If we don’t think about the material we were taught or read it again we have lost somewhere between 50 to 80% of what was initially taught. Seven days later we can recall even less and a month later we can recall around 2 – 3 % of what was originally taught! That means if you don’t revise, you won’t remember what you have learnt!

Key points:

• If you don’t use it, you lose it!
• You need to constantly be reviewing what you have been taught.
• You need to revise, revisit and rehearse what you have learned!
• You will remember something much better if you revise it immediately after it was taught.

Study Tip: Spend 5 minutes after every class you have reviewing what you did in that class. Then a week later, review it again. This will reactive your knowledge on the topic.

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. What did I learn today?
2. What else do I need to find out?
3. What do I need to do next?

You might like to review how you study in each subject and create an action plan!

You can download a worksheet: How to study?

Other posts will include:

• Goal setting
• Listening skills
• Reading skills
• Note taking skills
• Time management skills

It is important to be organised

Being organised and concentrating during class time are essential elements for academic success at school and at university.

During Class

• Just hearing what your teachers say is not the same as listening to what they say. Listening is a cognitive act that requires you to pay attention, think and mentally process what you hear.
• Make an effort to concentrate during every class.
• Be attentive and concentrate on what the teacher is saying.
• Try to make links between what you are learning and what you already know.
• Sit near the front or middle of the class room.
• Identify what the teacher hopes to teach you during the lesson.
• Make an effort to sit away from friends who distract you during class.
• Participate in class – ask at least one question per class.
• Write notes – jot down a few points about what the teacher is saying.
• Wear an elastic band around wrist and flick it to remind you to concentrate!
• Use Diary – after each lesson write down homework (if nothing is set write this down).

Each night

• Look at diary and check what home work needs to be done.
• Write a “To Do List” and work through the list, crossing off each task as it is completed.
• Prioritise homework and complete what needs to be done for the following day first.
• Break home work and assignments into small manageable chunks.
• Think about each lesson during the day and write a brief summary of each class.
• Pack bag with books and gear for the following day.
• Reward yourself after homework is completed.
• If you have no homework for that night – sit at your desk and complete a puzzle or reading task.
• Make sure you get enough sleep.

Study Space

• Ensure that study space is clean and organised.
• Minimise distraction (i.e. computers, mobile phones, photos) in study space.
• Place some positive or motivational quotes on the wall.

Folders

• Ensure you have a folder for every subject.
• You may like to colour code your subjects!
• When you have a worksheet or handout, ensure it is filed into the subject folder.