exam tips

Instead of staring at their desk or computer screen for two hours, your teen has just powered through a productive study session in which they completed a meaningful task that will directly contribute to them getting better grades this semester.
Theyve completed a task in half the time it would have taken them had they not set themselves this one manageable goal.
They took a task that seemed virtually impossible to complete, and broke it down into manageable chunks.

Not only will your teen have engaged their mind to complete a tangible goal, they will feel good about having achieved something.
Its very satisfying to tick something off the study to do list, and this is a powerful motivator for wanting to keep going.

Breaking my study down like this into manageable chunks is the way that I like to study normally. Like your teen, I would feel extremely low at the prospect of having an infinite number of study hours ahead of me. But if I set myself a manageable 1 2 hour task, then thats all I have to focus on for that time I put can in the energy and effort the task requires without feeling overwhelmed.
Once I complete a task I usually have a break make a cup of tea, have a squiz at whats going on in the world then Im ready to launch into the next task. How much study your can teen do in a given time will depend on them. But if they structure things so that they study in these task based chunks, they should at least be studying productively.

As with most things, students tend to sit on a spectrum. The straight A+ students are at one end, and the first prize for most number of absences are generally at the other end. This spectrum is generally directly proportionate to the number of study hours invested throughout the semester and exam study break. However, there are outliers the teens who actually DO try hard.DO their homework, DO study for exams, but dont manage to get the grades that reflect the work they have put in.
If this sounds like you or your teen then this article is for you.Studying hard and not getting the grades you deserve is a grave injustice, and something must be done.

If you are or if your teen is actually putting in the study hours, but the hard work just isnt showing in your transcript, then to put it bluntly, youre doing something wrong.
Somewhere along the line in your study process, something is breaking down. This is your trouble spot.
And before you go any further, you need to figure out where and what it is.

For some students, their trouble spot arises early on in the study process. They sit down at the desk, pull out the books, but dont make sure they understand what theyre studying.
Whether youre reading, writing study notes, or making diagrams, it is ESSENTIAL that you are studying in such a way that ensures the information isnt just going in, but is staying in.
If youre just going through the motions when you study, then its highly unlikely that youre going to be able to retain any of that information.

For other students, their trouble spot is further down the line of their study process.
Maybe they do make sure they actually understand what they revise, but when it comes to applying their knowledge to practice questions, they may as well be written in another language.
If this happens to you or your teen, then you are going to have to PRACTICE doing loads of practice questions.
Im sorry theres not a magic wand solution to this one, but practicing questions that mimic those that will be in the exam will be the key for you.
If this is you, do not feel bad. Its one of the most common mistakes students make studying their guts out but omitting to practice applying what they know to a real problem or question.

Describe and explain the differences between the reactions of sodium and water and aluminium and water.
Discuss the process of photosynthesis. Explain why car tires become warm to touch after a while. Dont worry I dont actually want to test you on your high school science knowledge.
I want your teen see how the clue to nailing a question in a science exam is in the questions themselves.

The hypothetical questions above dont give a lot. On the face of each one, its not obvious what the parameters of the question are. Where do you start? How much detail do you need to go into? But if you know what clues to look out for, the questions actually tell the student exactly what they need to do.
Lets take the first question: Describe and explain the differences between the reactions of sodium and water and aluminium and water. On the face of it, this seems like a very broad question. Where on earth are you supposed to start? The magic words in this question are describe and explain. These words are the kinds of signals your teen needs to be on the lookout for.

The word describe in this question tells your teen that the first thing they need to do is describe the differences in the reactions between both sodium and aluminium with water. Describe simply means tell us the facts. Your teen would need to detail what one would observe in both of these reactions in such a way that emphasises the differences between them. Describe the reaction of one, and then the other. I never said this was string theory. The word explain tells your teen that they need to explain why the reactions are different. For this part your teen will need to have done the hard yakka. Theyll need to understand why the different atomic structures of sodium and aluminium make them react with water differently, and how this corresponds with the different reaction observations.