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Take the Cat's Advice.
Ask the cat is a special service: It does not work so well when my
owner is away on holiday and I am left by myself in the house because our cat sitter does
not know enought help to help me help you. Ask the Cat now. You
have to ask specific questions: it is no good saying "Please tell me everything you
know about .... "
Index cards are very useful. You can keep them in your pocket and
get them out for a few minutes when there is nothing else to do: e.g. when you are by
yourself on the bus, when you are sitting on the loo or lying in the bath, just before you
go to sleep. Make some cards now.
My science revision windows are little Java Applications which
you can put on your desktop and use just like index cards to help you memorise facts and
definitions. They were written with MS Visual J++ which means they cannot do anything
nasty to your computer, but you will receive a warning; please trust me, they really are
good and will help you learn things. Get them now.
You just have to repeat things to yourself over and over again until
you cannot possibly forget them. This is best done whilst you are in the bath or sitting
on the loo. You can also try when you have just got into bed and turned the lights off. In
fact you are more likely to remember things if you "revise" them as you are
falling asleep in bed than if you are wide awake earlier in the day. This is
"learning by rote". Even if you don't really understand something, you will be
able to remember it.
You really should find a nice warm place where you can work without
being disturbed by other people. Don't try to work with the TV on, it will distract you.
Put a "Keep Out" or Don't Disturb" notice on your bedroom door whilst you
are revising. Make sure that you have everything you need close by: cup of tea or cool
drink, a packet of biscuits, books, paper, pens, pencils etc.. It will not help you
remember things if yuou have to keep on going into another room to get something.
Your school probably has several science teachers; they are all able
to help you, but only if you ask. Most teachers like to help students: if you ask nicely,
they will probably be flattered that you have come to ask them, but don't be upset if the
one you ask is busy and says "come back later". You could also try asking a
sixth-form student. If you have not got any friends to help you ask
the cat.
Try to work out what it is that you don't understand. Perhaps
you could make a list of the things you do understand and a list of the things that you do
not understand. Show your "DON'T UNDERSTAND"
list to a friend or teacher and ask them if they would please explain at least one of them
to you. If other pupils in your class say that they don't understand them either you could
tell your teacher that you all need a bit of help with that topic.
Put a tick by all the things on your "I Understand
it" list that you have memorised. Now you will be able to plan your
revision because you will know what you have got to do. You can add more things to this
list when you have got a teacher or a friend to explain them to you. You can put more
ticks on the list when you are sure that you have memorised them.
Plan your revision carefully.
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Don't waste time on things which you have understood and memorised. |
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Decide when you are going to see a teacher or friend to ask for help. |
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Decide how much time to spend memorising things. |
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Make sure that you spend enought time on each subject. |
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Don't spend too much time on one subject just because you like it. |
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Don't spend more than 90 minutes at a time on one subject, give yourself a break of 30
minutes on another one. |
Count up how many days there are until your exam. Choose two subjects for each evening
and perhaps three for saturday or sunday, but don't work all seven days in the week.
Decide which day of the week you will keep for enjoyment. You can always swap days later
if you need to go out to a party or watch a special TV program one evening.
"90%
is good and 95% is possible. Good luck with your SATs."
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