revision MATTERSexam health

S I XTH FORM CENTREDURHAM RevisionMATTERS

High quality teaching excellent support professional intergrity ambition and progress

S I XTH FORM CENTREDURHAM

July 2019

“

“

signs that you’re stressed...

Cognitive SymptomsMemory problems

Inability to concentrate Poor judgement

Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing

thoughts Constant worrying

Emotional symptoms Moodiness

Irritability or short temper Inability to relax

Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and

isolation Depression or general

unhappiness

Physical SymptomsAches and pains

Diarrhoea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid

heartbeat Frequent colds

Behavioural SymptomsEating more or less

Sleeping too much or little

Isolating yourself from others

Procrastination or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes,

or drugs to relax Nervous habits - nail

biting, pacing

ExerciseExercise helps to kick start the brain and it’s also a good way to relax and switch off. Planning some exercise into a revision programme is a great idea. However, plan how to spend leisure time carefully – exam anxiety can be infectious, so meeting up with school friends may not always be the best idea.

SleepSacrificing sleep for some more revision is never a good idea: performance the following day will be affected.Winding down to prepare for sleep after revision is critical. Leaving a gap between bed time and revision reduces the brain’s activity, and is more likely to lead to a good night’s sleep. Sleep also plays a critical role in memory consolidation – when the brain backs up short-term patterns and creates long-term memories.

DietA healthy diet during revision and exams keeps energy levels high. A good diet will also increase chances of staying well during exam time and keep the risks of catching a virus to the minimum.Eating breakfast is always recommended to maintain mental focus, and protein-rich foods are healthy choices. Sugar rushes might feel good for a very short time, but they lead to highs and lows, and often feelings of fatigue – not the stable approach needed for exams and revision. Provide healthy snacks to get through revision and exams.Dehydration undermines thinking and memory, but a high caffeine intake can lead to feelings of anxiety. Lots of water is recommended.

Test Test Test Retrieval practice is the best form of revision strategy. Ask parents/friends to test you. Remember don’t confuse familiarity with actually knowing material.

Avoid cramming Space out your revision. Instead of 5 hours in one sitting do one hour per day. Test yourself and review material that you struggle with more often.

Interleave your revision Switch revision between topics rather than focusing on one topic at a time (known as blocking). BudDy up Find a class mate and test each other.. Share your notes and mind maps - many hands make for light work!

Create a revision timetable and stick to it Being organised will stop you feeling unnecessarily stressed.

Be creative Try out different methods of revising and use ICT to help.

Look after yourself. Get plenty of sleep. Drink lots of water and try to eat healthily.

Exercise is good for the mind as well as the body and is a great way of reducing stress and anxiety. Talking is good too – don’t bottle things up.

Mind map EVERYTHING! Mindmaps are great for visualising and remembering complex topics.

Re-read classnotes and set texts Revisit class content and highlight key ideas, summarising and memorising the most important information. (Test at the end.)

Create key Words Definitions Great for checking the most important terms are clear. Also, focus on exam key words. Create summaries - lots of them Try summarising your notes and examples in different ways. For example, using tables, charts, mind-maps, Cornell notes, Venn diagrams, flow charts. Use words and visuals to support your revision. Create examples that you understand and elaborate on information by making connections to prior understanding and real life examples.

We all know that revision is important - our teachers tell us, our parents remind us, even the dog induces a pang of guilt when he sees that we’re catching up on our latest Netflix boxset when we should be hitting the books. But what exactly should you be doing to revise? Here’s our essential list of of must do activites:

Just how do I revise?

look after yourself

revision MATTERS DURHAMS I XTH FORM CENTRE

confucius

There are an enormous number of mobile apps available to help you revise. Here’s three that we think will help you survive during the exam season:

GoConqr An online tool and phone app that lets you make and store your own mind maps, flashcards and quizzes. Also gives users access to 9 million ready made resources for a variety of subjects. You can also share resources with your classmates.. See www.goconqr.com for more details.

Forest App The perfect app for students who are easily distracted by their mobiles - leave your phone alone and watch your forest grow. Strangely addictive! See www.forestapp.cc for more details.

Todait A fun app that helps you put together a study plan to help you prepare and keep to your revision schedule. See www.todait.com for more details.

the science technology/parents

1 tutorful.co.uk

Parent power is a valauble tool to use when revising. Talk to your parents about how they might be able to help with the following

Ask mams and dads to test you - you could give them your mindmaps and flashcards and they could check how much material you can remember. The process of talking through an idea/concept to an audience is a really good revision technique. Ask your parents to help you organise a quiet study area where there are no distractions and you have the resources you need to revise effectively (pens, paper, index cards etc.) Ask them to consider turning their phone, TV, music off. When students are distracted their working memory can’t cope with processing information.

Ask them to help you keep on track with your revision schedule. Share your revision timetable with parents - give them your phone to look after if you are easily distracted by social media. Milk it! The most important thing parents can do is to offer help and support when you need it – even if it is just making a cup of tea!

parent power!

Information is transmitted by neurons (brain cells). When we learn something for the first time, new connections are formed and the brain stores the new pattern. We store these patterns daily, and this is excellent for revision. But if the brain is overworked, retrieving those patterns might not work as well as it should.

Repetition Pathways between neurons can be strengthened over time. Simple repetition – practising retrieving a memory over and over – is the best way to consolidation a pattern. And again… and again…and again…and again. The ideal time to revise what we’ve learned is just before we’re about to forget it! And because memories get stronger the more we retrieve them, waiting longer each time (a few minutes, hours, then a day, then a few days – a technique known as ‘spaced repetition’) is effective. This explains why we forget things so quickly after a week of cramming for an exam. Because memory retrieval does not continue, the process reverses and within a few weeks, we

have forgotten a substantial amount of what we’ve learnt. Take regular breaks Breaks are important to minimise interference. When the brain is forced to store many new (and often similar) patterns in short space of time, it can get them jumbled up. It is important to plan breaks into revision and to look over what’s just been learnt before moving on to anything new.

Avoid distractions Attention is the key to memorising. By choosing to focus on something, it is given a personal meaning that makes it easier to remember. In fact, most of the problems when it comes to revision have very little to do with the brain’s capacity for remembering things; we just struggle to devote our full attention to the task in hand. Playing music while revising will make the task harder, because any speech-like sounds, even at low volume, will automatically use up part of the brain’s attention capacity

There have been enormous developments in recent years in the understanding of how our brains work and how memory is structured.

It’s brain Science...

“The ideal time to revise what we’ve learned is just before we’re about to

forget it!”

get smartphone smart

revision MATTERS

Masses of tools and apps to help plan

revision

Great YouTube upload outlining

the science of revision

YouTuber Millie T’s has lots of revision tips - 1.2 million

subscribers

stress busters

the scienceof revision

some useful online resources

4 25 stress busting tips to help you keep your cool this summer

The student room5 57 learning

strategies to ace exams

2Millie T’s

youtube channel 3