My top revision tips! (Revision Tips...)

Name: moog27

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Product:	Revision Tips...
Date:	17/05/08 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: might give you some new ideas

Disadvantages: revision is stressful!

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Where to revise
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My room is always incredibly messy and I found myself using it as excuse to avoid revision! I spent a day tidying it and then was suddenly inspired to do some serious revision! I spend three days sitting on my bedroom floor with all my books in front of me doing revision. Having the space really helped. I like to revise with music or the television on but I am not entirely sure that this is beneficial!!! The best place to revise is a tidy, comfy and quiet place. I prefer to use my bedroom to revise in but I also use other rooms if the house is empty as well as the college library.


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Creat ing a revision timetable
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Every year that I have exams I create a revision timetable and every time I fail to follow it! It just doesn't work for me for some reason. Perhaps because im lazy or maybe because im just forgetful! But in general I have to be in the right mood to sit down and do a proper revision session otherwise it just wont sink in! Having said that I do know many people who do stick to their revision time tables and find them a really useful way of scheduling their revision. The best way to create a revision timetable is to work out what times you can dedicate to revision and then draw a timetable of days, times and topics you are going to revise, right up to your exams. The only thing to make sure of is that you don't stress yourself out too much of you get behind or miss a couple of sessions.


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Revision posters
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Creatin g revision posters is my favourite revision method and the one that I find most successful for me. I have a roll of A2 paper which I nabbed from my dads work (shhhh!), a couple of marker pens and a pack of colourful felt tips. Both my college subjects are broken up into various topics so I make one poster per topic and read through all my revision notes on a particular topic and then include information on the poster which I think will be needed in exam questions on that topic and information which I need to remember. So not only do I get the information into my brain by reading through it and judging what should be included on the poster but I then also get it rammed even more into my brain as I write it down!!! Then I put the posters up in places where I will see them regularly - most of them are on my bedroom walls and ceiling, some are on the back of the toilet door and some are scattered in random places where I will read them! So that way I cant move in my room without reading revision stuff and while im sitting having a wee I can read about the psychodynamic explanation of abnormality! Interesting stuff!! I really do recommend making revision posters because not only are they more fun that sitting reading through notes but they make you revise the info in three different ways (searching for the information, recording it and then reading it daily!). I used revision posters as my main revision method last year for my AS exams and I found myself sitting in my psychology exam picturing the poster on the back of the toilet door and I could suddenly remember all the information I needed to answer the question!


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Revi sion cards
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This works in the same sort of way as the revision posters apart from the fact that you write certain facts or chunks of information on little cards and then carry them in your bag with you and when you get the chance (eg you may be sitting waiting at the train station) you get them out and have a read through them. I know that this method works really well for a friend of mine but I tend to forget to look at the revision cards so they aren't much use to me! Where as doing posters I cant get away from them so it sinks in better!


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Practi ce exam questions
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I passionately hate having to do past exam papers but unfortunately they do really help with learning stuff needed for exams!!! Although questions from previous exam papers will not come up in your exam, the questions will generally be similar and the more practise of doing past questions you get the more you will remember of the information that is needed in exams. I found that my college tutors seemed to give us billions of exam questions to do in the few weeks before study leave but they became easier to do as time went on and are a valuable revision method. Most of the exam boards have their past exam papers on the website and you can get them from your college/school etc too.


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Reading through old notes
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It has been proved that just reading through notes is not a good way of revising although it can be helpful to read through notes but then actively revise using them. For example, read through them and then summarise them or ask yourself questions on them. Once you have read the information, do something with it! Instead of just hoping it sticks!


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Revision sessions
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In some ways, revising with friends can be really helpful as you can ask each other questions and do little presentations on topics to help each other revise. However! If you are not very strong willed (like me lol!) then you will end up chatting rather than revising and you waste valuable time!! During my study leave for my GCSE's I did some all night revision sessions with a friend of mine. We literally stayed up all night and just revised solidly but taking a topic each, preparing a little presentation on it and then showing it to the other one. We also tested each other and stuff like that and although it was tiring, we got so much done and there were no distractions as TV at 3am is absolutely pants!


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Thinkin g time
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Now this will sound really silly but it works for me so I figured I should share it!! For some bizarre reason I was laying in the bath and begun thinking about what I had covered in my latest revision session, I found that it refreshed it all in my mind and was actually really helpful just to think through as much as I could remember! I decided that I should set aside 'thinking time' and so I decided that every time I was in the bath, every time I was sitting on the toilet and the time spent laying in bed before I went to sleep I would just spend a bit of time thinking over as much psychology and ICT stuff as possible in order to keep it all in my brain. Now I can sit on the toilet without thinking of revision stuff but it is a really good way of revising!


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Stud y leave
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The few weeks before GCSE's and AS and A level exams, most schools/colleges give students study leave. The biggest mistake many people make is thinking 'yay! Time off!!' - I did this in my GCSE study leave and went out shopping everyday and sleeping till midday!! I suddenly realised that my exams were drawing near and I hadn't used the time constructively!! My study leave for college starts this week and I am going to really try and get my butt into gear and use the time sensibly!!!
Study leave is the ideal opportunity to get some serious revision done so my advice is to really take advantage of it!


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Dealing with stress
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Exam time is sooooooo incredibly stressful and unfortunately stress can make revision harder. I have often found myself trying to sit down and do revision but feeling so stressed about everything I need to get done that it all just falls straight out of my brain. Finding ways to relax can really help such as having a nice warm bubbly bath, taking time to watch your favourite TV programmes and spending time with friends can also stop you feeling deprived!


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Reso urces available
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There are lots of revision guides available to buy in shops so it's a good idea to have a flick through them and try and work out which ones are more suitable for you and would benefit you the most. I tend to find revision guides, which have information in bullet point format more useful than those with longer paragraphs of information. If you do get revision guides, make sure they are designed for use with your course syllabus. There are also plenty of revision resources on the Internet. When I was doing my GCSE's I found the BBC's GCSE bitesize website really helpful as it gives you information and then provides little tests to check what you know. There are so many revision websites that it is impossible to list them all but type in the word revision and the name of your course into a search engine and you are bound to come up with loads of useful sites. The exam boards website for your course is also a good place to look for past papers and other information.


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Sleep
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I am hopeless when it comes to listening to advice which is give to me and so when I was told that sleeping properly (i.e. not staying up too late!) would help make my revision more successful, I thought "bullplop"! and carried on staying up late revising! Anyway one night I didn't feel too great and got an early night, the following day I had one of the best revision sessions I had had in a long time! So now when it comes to revision time I try and get to bed at a sensible time and try not to drink alcohol too often as it makes your sleep more disruptive. Now I know it isn't always possible to get an early night but sleeping sensibly can really help make your revision successful.


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The method that is right for you
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I think the most important thing is to find the revision method that best suits you. For me it is doing revision posters and past paper questions but for others it can be things like recording themselves reading their notes and then playing it back. There are so many different ways to revise and it is pointless pursuing a method that you know doesn't help you.

Summary: My top revision tips!