My little piece for the Irish Times

Meaning to put this up for ages but it sorta slipped from my mind (oops). Basically just a small review by yours truly on internet study sources, I was asked to do by Exam Watch! Enjoy 🙂

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/education/2011/1122/1224307943517.html

Read Full Post »

LC Post – Tips for the exam

So guys, since I had a day off today and really couldn’t face the books, I thought I may as well do something productive and write a few hints and tips for the Leaving..or any other exam really! I’ve just thrown together some of my techniques and general organisation methods that I thought might be useful to you guys who are feeling a little freaked out at the mo!

Well first things first, ORGANISE YOURSELF! It seems like the hardest thing to do at first, but believe me, once you get down to it 50% of your stress is gone. If you’re the type of person who has sheets of paper crumpled at the bottom of your bag, or “misplaced” those notes you got in Geography last week, listen up! Buy yourself a good folder, and don’t worry it’s never too late to start organising. Personally, I have one mega folder where I keep everything and a couple small ones for subjects like English and Business. I store everything in my big one, be it tests or notes. Each section is divided so when I go to study I can kill 2 birds with one stone. Sure it’s a burden to carry and if it goes missing there will be trouble (which happens frequently thanks to the practical jokers I call my friends!) but in the long run it gives you a great piece of mind.

(Here’s mine, sorry for the shocking picture quality, all pics were taken on my phone!)

Next, make yourself out a timetable. Now lets be realistic about it, you’re not gonna study all of Hamlet in 2 nights! Set it out over a period of time and give yourself enough time to get it done. I think it helps if you work towards a specific date or event. For my Summer & Christmas tests and my mocks, I made different timetables for each and gave myself around 4/5 weeks of study time. Trust me, you feel great at night crossing off everything you’ve studied! If you’re a worrier or a stresser (comme moi!) timetables ease the stress and pressure because you actually see the work being cut down each week. Makes things a lot less daunting in the run up to the exam! Also, another thing I find great is making visual boards. Visual boards you ask? Well back in 5th year, (when I was in the period of serious cabin fever due to the snow) I made a visual board for my Leaving cert. Some people call them dream boards either. Anyway mine is filled with little motivational tips and phrases, the course I want cut out from a prospectus, my dream number of points and other little snip-its. Okay, I know it’s pretty sad but when I sit down to study and become the teeeniest bit distracted, it pushes me straight back to the books. I don’t know if it’s just me, but one of my friends also gave it a try and it works!

I put loads of snip its from articles on my board, but I also keep all the supplements in the papers. Coming up to the leaving cert, the papers go wild with these! Between CAO applications, past student experiences, the low down on all the colleges and so forth. If you’re still iffy on what you want to do or where you want to go (pretty much everyone in the country), take a look at them. They are filled with some great advice and you get an idea of what the course and college is like. I guess this only applies to the LCs but none the less it’s no harm to hang onto some of the wise words of the students. The amount of times I’ve read the columns on people who received 600 points is beyond me!

Now for my personal fav, the stationary! I’m a stationary junkie (yes I am aware how sad that sounds) but I just love the stuff. In my opinion, it’s a vital part of learning and it makes things so much easier. Some of you may not agree and think the page becomes more like a bag of skittles than actual facts! But hey, who said learning can’t be fun! I suppose my OCD comes into play with this one, but I’m sure there are more of you out there…well at least I hope so or I’m a bigger nerd than I thought! For me, it starts with the pens. Staedtler. Red, blue, green and black.(although I’m not a fan of a black since I heard examiners prefer to read blue pen than black pen, but that’s just a myth!) For me there’s a system. Heading – red. Key word – green. Explanation – blue. Example – black. Because I do this for every subject, It makes learning ten times easier. As weird as it sounds, when I’m in the exam I can picture what I have written and go through it in my head. It’d be a lot more difficult to identify key words and explanations from just black text, then again that’s just me. Then there’s the highlighters. I take 3 core ones. Yellow, green and orange. Personally I’m not a fan of the purples or blues, I just think it darkens the pages rather than…highlighting it?! (fail of a joke) And I hate pink…just because it reminds me of 3rd year when I highlighted EVERYTHING pink. Not recommended! Once again, it’s the same thing. Colour system and it works. Especially for things like Business where you need to give clear explanations and examples. After that then you have the usual things, rulers, rubbers, toppers, tip-ex, Sharpie ( not necessarily an essential but they’re fun!) post its and whatever else. Post its and those coloured tab things (I have no idea what you call them!) are a major essential also. For every subject I like to add post its, so I can summarise things in my own words. You know when you’re looking back over things and thinking holy God what does that mean! Post its make things that bit easier and also allow you to know where the key things are in the book.

And finally the big day. As long as you keep your cool and stay calm you will be fine. There were many exams I walked into the past 2 weeks, freaking out about and shaking and trembling, but when I walked out I was wearing a grin like the cat in Alice in Wonderland. There’s no reason to panic if you’ve put your work in and are determined on your goal. A few things I brought into the exams were, my watch, (of course!) set a few minutes too fast to keep you writing and keep the adrenalin pumping, Rescue Remedy capsules, they taste ROTTEN but they do work, maybe it’s just physiological but I’m not complaining, hand sanitiser, this one is probably just me but I always have hand sanitiser in my bag after the exam, I hate all the blue pen and sweaty hand thing!,  Berocca Boost, I drink this everyday in school to keep me on form and not slump into tiredness, believe me caffeine will be your best friend by the time June rolls around and finally, a mug of tea! Some girls bring in water, but I like to have the cuppa tea beside me to calm the nerves. A cup of tea always solves the worst problems!

So that’s pretty much all my little organisational hints and tricks! Nothing that different from what you’ve heard before probably. My best advice is just to keep your brain focus and relax! You have one chance at this so keep your cool as best as you can, and until the big day, try get yourself on track to those 600 points…or you know…passing the leaving would do either! Thanks for reading guys!

-Orlaith 🙂

LC blogger

Read Full Post »

LC Post – Mocks 2012 – Irish and Geography

 Well amigos, finally into the last few hurdles of mocks (THANK BE TO GOD), So after finishing Geography and Irish paper 2 today, things are beginning to look up. Just two more left for me now, Irish paper 1 on Wednesday and History on Friday, (and no I still have not gotten over the fact its on Friday yet) and they’ve actually flown by. I think I worked them up a little too much at the start of it all!

 I’ll get right into it, Irish was first. I do ordinary level Irish, still wished I had tried honours when I had the chance but I opted for the easy way out, plus my Irish teacher is a gas one! As you probably know, the course has completely changed for Irish in 2012. The oral is now worth 40% of the grade, which personally, I think is an excellent idea. At least it gives those who aren’t necessarily good at writing the language a chance to gain marks speaking it. The papers have also changed, the comprehensions are now on Paper 2, which is a pretty stupid thing to do considering it’s a hefty paper to get through! The thing I struggled most was with my timing. Its funny, this paper, above any other, has had me rushed for time, struggling to get it all in. Only did I realise later that it was only 15 marks for the summary of the story which I had written 4 pages on…to say I was raging was an understatement!

 Another thing with paper 2, especially pass students, is that they don’t put the effort in. The ordinary level Irish paper 2 is the most failed paper out of all the leaving cert subjects, hard to believe eh? But it’s the truth..google it if you don’t believe me. Students just don’t care and think they can pass the paper relying on paper 1. Nuh uh bro, things aren’t that simple! I guess thats why the comps were put on, to increase the level of passing, but students are still going to fall under the trap of not being pushed about it, and I must admit, on Sunday night I was thinking more about Bressie on the Voice of Ireland than Oisin i dTír na nÓg! Don’t let yourself succumb to this idea and say “Ah sure it’s only Irish, I’ll pass it on the other paper”

 One thing I really recommend is recording yourself saying the stories out loud. You’d be surprised how much it helps! Instead of listening to your iPod on the morning bus, listen to your recording before you go in and it will play over in your mind! I do this with a good few of my subjects but I find it works really well for languages like Irish and French. You’ve got the sounds in your head and the sentences form from there!

 Next on to Geography. Well all I can say is “Me good hand”. My hand was dead. No joke. At one stage in the exam, I was convinced it had turned white and was about to seize up! He kept going though! (obviously considering I’m typing this right now, Smart one, Orlaith) Be prepared to write, and write quickly, time wasn’t that much of an issue but during the exam I felt the pressure was on. I decided to divide the timing into 25 minutes for the short questions and 33 minutes for the long questions. Roughly 8 minutes on each section so you can get a bit of reading time in at the end. I was pretty nervous for this one, I felt pretty unprepared but once I got into the exam I remembered everything on my essays (with a few little moments of writers block thrown in!) Geography was the first exam where I felt the adrenalin pumping, its such a vast course with so many different topics, at one point I think my brain went into overdrive and started to spiel everything out! I felt it went alright,  nothing spectacular but I think I managed to do okay. As I keep saying to myself, the results are necessarily the be all and end all of the mocks. Whatever the result is, I will accept I’m just glad I’m getting them over and done with and June is becoming a little less daunting, for now anyway!

2 exams left. By god will I be enjoying midterm, not only is it my birthday (had to slip that it sneakily!) but I’m taking a well deserved rest as should the rest of yee. We’ve covered our courses, sat all the exams, now I think its time for an obscene amount of vegging and watching Gossip girl on end. But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll be sitting Irish and History! I’ll keep you guys filled in!

-Orlaith

LC blogger 🙂

Read Full Post »

LC Post – Mocks 2012 – Business and French

So I’ve finished day 3! HALF WAY THERE! Not so bad, not so bad. So I had two exams today, Business and French. Not the nicest subjects to be paired with one another, but we’ll get over that. Overall, the day went pretty good, and now that it’s finished a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I’ll start with business since that was first. I think the key to studying business is working out methods in which you can remember facts. Business is all about the facts as all you little, business-heads know! It’s a core learning subject, and if that’s your strong point work with it. The exam consisted of 10 short questions, an Applied business question and then long questions. Personally this mock was about timing for me, and as many of my classmates failed to get everything done on time, it was a real wake up call. I was pretty happy with it, I had studied the previous day intensely and it stuck. Cramming does have it’s advantages, but I don’t recommend it. Sure you’ll be able to learn things for a short time period but it won’t stay there. If you chip away at it every week, the course does break down and you’ll find yourself feeling much more confident.

For timing I broke the exam down to 30 minutes for short questions (most people fly them but its good to have a little extra time in case you want to attempt a few more), 30 minutes for the ABQ and 27 minutes for each long question. In that you hopefully will have a little time to look over your work and correct some mistakes!

Now for French, Mon bete noire! Being a fond user of Google translate ( let’s face it, who isn’t!) I shed a little tear handing up my phone with my translate app staring at me! Just gonna throw my tuppence worth now, don’t worry about timing. YOU HAVE PLENTY. Looking around my exam centre today, I was met with girls so fast asleep, pools of spit were accumulating underneath them, people drawing caricatures of the sleeping girls, and girls playing charades with one another across the classroom! That should be your last worry. The only advice I can give is don’t try form a seriously complicated sentence, that sounds great in your head but on the paper it looks a little something like..”Il faut qu’on il y aura beaucoup de boites, tout de la fruits!” (By the way that makes no sense whatsoever!) Keep it simple, using French you’re comfortable with. You will be awarded for accuracy, not trying to be the next French Shakespeare. For me, I didn’t find it incredibly difficult, I just tried to keep my cool and use clear sentences!

So only three more days to go! Geography, History and Irish are all to come! Lucky me I get to wait until the very last day for History! The only exam on that day! So while all my friends, and pretty much the entire year head out for celebrations, I’ll be studying the success and failures of the Home Rule party. LOVE MY LIFE!

That’s all for now guys, no exams tomorrow so back to hitting the books! Enjoy your weekend and best of luck!

-Orlaith 🙂

LC blogger

 

PS. Have a listen if you haven’t heard it already! Bitta LC BUZZ 😀

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Qdkj9UcxY

Read Full Post »

LC post – Mocks 2012 – English and Maths

Well guys,

It’s finally began, THE MOCKS. Pretty daunting right? Especially when you think that you’ll only be sitting this exam one more time…In JUNE! So with my rescue remedies in hand, I walked into the exam centre on Monday…half hyper-ventilating! (So much for being calm and collected!) We had English paper 2 and Maths paper 1 first. Disgusting, I know!

I took my seat and laid out my things. Nerves were really kicking in. Girls happily chattered away, not a care in the world. They were the ones with the right attitude, but hey, I’m a worrier, can’t be changing that! The nine o’clock bell sounded and the teacher arrived. In her hand she carried a large paper bag, filled with shiny, pink paper. Fuck. This was it. I looked at my watch, 9.03 am. I made sure I set it just a couple minutes ahead to keep me focused on the time. (Worth doing in June I think) Next thing I knew, I had the pink paper lying on my desk. Staring at me. The final word I heard for three hours, “Begin”.

I flicked open the page, my hand shaking like a leaf in Winter. Hamlet. YES. The character I studied appeared. Comparative. Literary Genre. Sweet. Poetry. Perfect. The poet I knew was there. Feeling pretty chuffed with myself I sat there looking at it for a good 5 minutes before I thought, “Shit, Orlaith! Start writing! THIS IS THE EXAM”, but no. My blue, staedtler pen just hovered over the clean, crisp pages in my answer booklet. Of course, the one time I get writers block its in my mocks.Well eventually I began. I just wrote, I recited everything I had learned, spieled on for most and I probably re-wrote Hamlet with some dodgy quotes. Though when I came out of the exam centre, happiness washed over me. 1 down. I can do this. At the point, results and grades and points did not matter. After 2 years of work I managed to get everything I was taught into words. Not bad, not bad.

Yet, Maths Paper 1 went a little different. Let’s put it this way. It didn’t go at all. It was an ultimate disaster, and for all you nosey parkers, I do ordinary level. Yep. And I barely could do it. Embarrassing huh? Generally I like maths, I don’t find it incredibly hard, but by God, lady luck was not on my side in the exam! I’m trying not to get too worked up about it, I just hope I pass as I’m not counting it as one of my 6 subjects! And it prepared me for what is to come in a few months time.

Now Tuesday morning. Feeling on top of the world. English paper 1 and maths paper 2. I was excited to go into English, (I am aware I sound like a nerd, thank you) But English paper 1 suits me, I get to do my thing. I don’t need to worry about keeping to a rigid structure and reciting off a load of bull. I just let my pen do the talking, and not being boastful, but I think I served up a pretty good paper. Well at least I hope I did! Come on B3 for Journalism! It’s a nice paper and I think it will be a good way to start exams come June. There’s no stress involved, it simply based on whatever happens, happens. You can’t prepare or revise, you just have to…do! I walked out feeling pretty damn good, also the fact that I had finished English was a maaajor bonus! Stress = finito! Then maths paper 2 reared it’s ugly head. Project maths. Ew. Since we didn’t have the course covered and knew we were gonna fail, I took it nice and handy. NOT RECOMMENDED. It wasn’t incredibly bad, but I still hated the fact that we couldn’t attempt all the questions. Pretty stupid sitting a mock if we were all gonna be finished a half hour too early, but hey, thats just the name of the game.

So tomorrow I have Business and French. Pretty stressful stuff. There’s so much in business and in French, well the only thing I can say is, “Je suis focked”. 2 days down, 4 more to go. Not gonna lie, I am enjoying these little days off in between! Tea being delivered to your study desk because “I don’t wanna burn myself out” 😉 Gotta love the Irish mammys. Who said Leaving Cert was stressful! I’ll keep you guys posted! Wish me luck!

– Orlaith 🙂

LC blogger.

Read Full Post »