Exams...

This time of year sucks! It's really sunny... but you have to revise for exam season! I have written previously about revision, but now I'm going to focus on the exam! This is from my previous experiences and this seems to work for me.

Revision stops for me at dinner time on the night before - I just chill out after dinner and take my mind away from the exam. I get an early-ish night and make sure that I have packed everything I need for my exam in the morning.

In the morning I wake up with plenty of time to shower, wash and dry my hair and have breakfast at a leisurely pace. It takes me a while to fully wake up and so I want to make sure I am awake by exam time! Then I leave the house allowing plenty of travel time.

Once I get to school/uni for my exam I have a quick last look over anything I'm particularly worried about or want to get into my head. I make sure that on the outside I'm looking fairly chilled and relaxed because it seems to convince my mind that it feels the same!

When it comes to opening the paper I always get that little heart flutter of 'this is it'. My mum gave me a piece of advice when I was doing my GCSEs that has helped with exams ever since - take three long and deep breaths and then remind yourself that you are going to do your best because that's all anyone can ask for!

Here are a few things that I do to help calm my nerves under exam conditions:

1. Set out my table how I want it - Pens at the top right, pencils top left with a rubber and pencil sharpener in the corner, ruler underneath, everything in line with the table edges. I adjust my chair so that I am comfortable. This is my way of owning the space and making my self feel less like it's a big scary exam hall.
2. Deep, slow breathing - always a good one! If you tend to work yourself up try a quick breathing exercise whilst waiting for everyone to be seated. Its called the 4-7-8 breathing technique (4 seconds breathing in, hold for 7 seconds, 8 seconds breathing out). Some people say it makes them feel sleepy but if you are feeling anxious or stress, doing this a couple of times really helps focus you - plus the physiological benefits.
3. When you leave the exam don't talk about it! It's in the past there is nothing you can do! Dissecting it question by question is not going to help your stress levels so move on and do something different. If you have other exams take a bit of time to chill before getting back into revision, even an hour or two will help!

             Good luck to everyone taking exams! Just remember it's a small part of you life and who you are!

Stress!

This time of year for most students can be pretty stressful, what with exams, assignments, finding summer jobs and wanting to be outside in the sunshine instead! I thought I would write this weeks blog from my own struggles with stress and what I have learned to do to deal with it.

So here goes:

1. It's ok to feel stressed! Sometimes stress is a good thing (for example if you were being chased by dinosaurs and didn't bat an eyelid, you would probably get eaten very quickly!) but more often than not - it's normal! You are not weak if you are stressed or show signs of being stressed - it's just part of life.
2. Know the signs of your stress. I personally get very physical signs, like heart palpitations, fidgety or restlessness, but others don't. I know some people get very insular and don't really fancy doing anything, even going down the pub for a catch up and I know others who will do anything and everything apart from face what's stressing them out. It's different for everyone but knowing your own symptoms will help you cope with it.
   
   
3. Talk to someone about it. I know people say this a lot but it really does help. I would never speak to someone I knew about things like that but I could speak to a stranger about it - so I did. Having had that experience I now feel more comfortable talking to my friends and family. The people you have around you will support you, so don't be afraid to talk. If you genuinely feel you can't then write it down. Just getting thoughts out of your head will help you make sense of it all.
4. Work out how to alleviate your stress. For some people walking away from what is stressing them out and coming back to it works. For others they need to face it head on, deal with it and power forward. I found that I was different in different situations, which makes things more tricky to work out in the first instance, but once you get to grips with it you'll know what to do quite quickly. 
5. Some ways I reduce stress my levels are to make sure I get enough sleep, exercise and being outdoors if it's nice weather, listening to music, watching films and drinking a cup of hot, sweet tea. Never underestimate the healing powers of a cuppa!

This is just from my own experiences and everyone is different. Hopefully by writing about it people will feel able to deal with stress in a positive way.

There are counselling services available all over the country, through schools, universities and charities, so if you want to talk to someone but feel you have no where to go, have a look for these services. 

Revision

So it's that time of year again... Exams! I thought I would give you an insight into my revision 'tactics' and you are more than welcome to use them! At school, when you come to an age that you need to be revising, teachers bang on about different ways to remember things. That's great but I know that I personally didn't find it that useful. Here are some things that I have used in the past, I not saying that this is the only way to revise, it's just what I found best for me.

1. I don't make a revision schedule - I could never stick to it because life is too changeable and it just made me feel bad when I didn't. I take it day by day, plan times that could be used for revision and then revise what ever subject I feel like doing (sometimes because it's the easiest, sometimes because I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing) at the time. 
2. I can't do the 30mins revision and 10min break - so I don't! I always felt like I was just getting into the flow of things and then the alarm would go off for a break, and then I found it harder to get going again after. I tend to revise for as long as I can, whether that's because I stop for dinner, training or because I've had enough. Some stints can be an hour, others have been 4 hours - but the 4 hour one didn't feel like it because I had found my rhythm.
3. I start my revision by learning the keywords (I study mostly science type subjects) - this way I know i have a basic knowledge and can then build everything else around it. Plus if there is an obscure question on the exam I will know the keywords and can make an intelligent guess if I don't know the answer.

Here are some techniques I have found particularly useful - you can do them the old fashioned way with coloured pens and paper but I want to introduce revision to the 21st Century! I have found some apps that have really helped with my revision, and because you still have to input the information yourself, it's just like writing it out.


Mind Maps:

There are plenty of mind mapping programmes out there that you can try, either free downloads or ones that you pay for. I personally use SimpleMind FREE which I downloaded from the app store (or here http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/). It syncs with my iPhone and iPad so I always have my revision with me on the go. This is quite good if you are waiting around and instead of checking Facebook/Twitter (which we all do) I open the mind map and have another look.

I like this because you can use colours, make connections and link things together and you can print it so there is always the option of sticking it to the wall or back of the bathroom door!





Flash cards:

Again there are lots of programmes out there but I use Flashcards by NKO which was FREE in the app store. I like this because it syncs with my iPad and iPhone, it's on my dropbox and you can create lots of different decks for different subjects. You can also invite friends to join the decks, so you can create them together and compete against each other!

It has the option to use it like regular flashcards or play games, such as true/false, match the pairs up, memory tasks, word searches, spellings, quizzes but you can also have it read the cards to you - which is great if you drive because you can plug in and do revision on the go!


Quizlet:


This is similar to Flashcards above and has all the games type features and sharing capabilities. I originally found it online at: https://quizlet.com and I created an account. You can also access decks created by others so for example, if you wanted to revise the bones of the body, you could search for this and use someone else's cards. Teachers can also set up accounts and use it as a starting base for their students revision and everyone could access the same decks and add to them - which is a great class revision homework type task!

Those are the main three things I tend to use but I also like to revise in a small group or pairs, where someone asks me questions or I describe the word on the card and they have to guess what it is. I also don't mind helping other people out by going over things they don't understand as if I can teach it to someone then I know that I know it!

1. Start early - the earlier you start the better prepared you will be. Even if you just make up your cards and haven't looked at them, you'll know the bits you will struggle with and so can spend more time of them.
2. Have a positive attitude - revision is not the most fun, especially as the weather gets nicer, but we all have to do it at some point in our lives so just get on with it. Taking a positive attitude towards it will just make it that little bit easier to start.
3. Be honest with yourself - if you're not doing enough it's ok to admit, but then you have to do something about it! If you are so stressed that you can't stop revising then maybe a tick list would be good for you - you could check off 3/5 topics a day and then stop.
4. Have an overview of the subject - I write a list of topic areas and the subheadings within those. This way I know what I need to revise, where I am and I know I won't have missed anything.
5. Talk - Revision and exams are stressful times! Talking to friends, family and teachers about how it is going, and being HONEST about it, will really help! If you are struggling that's ok to admit. Use the support network around you to help get you back on track. Keeping quiet won't help your revision and will increase your stress levels, and that won't help either!