Revision Techniques

To many students, revision is a last minute activity done just before the examinations. For those who have not been studying consistently, revision can be highly stressful. Depending on the student, the period set aside for revision could be as little as a few hours. At most, it is a few weeks.

When you try to revise an entire year of lessons in such a short space of time, it is no wonder that one would feel stressed out. You should actually start “revising” right from lesson one, at the start of the course. Some may ask, what is there to revise at the start when you have not learnt much? Won’t you forget by the time the examinations come around?

If you have to revise again before the examinations, isn’t it a waste of time to revise earlier on? Such questions will not arise if you view revision as a process of gaining an understanding, rather than just remembering facts. The techniques of revision are thus very much the same as the techniques of studying — pay attention in class, make good notes, ask questions until you understand. When you have a good understanding of the subject, you will remember most things. Any last minute revision that you do will simply involve refreshing your memory to recall what you already know.

Rely on Notes
It is not practical to revise by reading your textbooks, especially in my case when I was doing two courses concurrently and holding a full-time job. There are just too many books and too many pages to read during those few hours or few days that you have set aside for revision.

If you revise by reading books, you will end up with marathon sessions, reading late into the night. If you do this regularly over a period, you will feel very tired and your chances of falling ill are high. If you do this on the night before the examination, you will not be in tip-top condition. Rather, you need to rely on your notes and, if you have, your mind maps. It is important, therefore, to make good notes and mind maps. It is also vital that you already know your subject well. Then, one glance at your notes or mind maps will be enough to refresh your memory. When you revise in this way, you will not feel stressed out, but confident. Making good notes takes time.

During your lessons, you might just spend a few moments to scribble some words that will refresh your memory. Then, after the lessons, spend time making proper notes in a way that will help you to understand. Write out the points neatly and in an organised manner. If necessary, rewrite the scribbles from your lectures. Try to summarise an hour of lessons, plus perhaps many more hours of self-study and discussions with friends, into notes that you can read through in, at most, a few minutes.

Your notes for the entire year should not take you more than a few days to revise. As the examinations approach, your notes will enable you to revise quickly, without stress.

Think About the Exams
Since the purpose of revision is to prepare for the examinations, you ought to also think about the exams from the very beginning. From the first lesson onwards, think about how the topic might appear as an examination question. Consider also how two or more topics might be combined into one question. If you were the examiner, how would you phrase your questions? What aspects would you like the student answering the questions to highlight? Bear this in mind when you make your notes. Gear your notes towards answering possible examination questions, rather than simply listing out facts and figures.

Looking at past examination questions can be very helpful. If one or more questions have already been asked about a topic, think about how the same topic could be asked differently.

Don’t Spot Questions
Do not use past examination questions as a way to predict the ones that you will be sitting for. In other words, do not try to spot questions as a way to reduce your revision workload. Do not assume that if a certain topic has been asked about many times before, it will be asked again, or if a topic has not been asked before, that it will not be asked. Spotting questions is something that students naturally do. In my study groups at university, for example, we would identify socalled “hot topics” and pay greater attention to them. Some books on study techniques strongly advise against spotting questions.

But I think it is pointless to tell any student not to do so, because he or she will still do it anyway. What I can advise is that you should not rely on spotting questions. If you wish to be a top student, you must be prepared to answer any question on any topic. This comes from studying consistently throughout the year, understanding what you have studied, and making a good set of notes and mind maps. When you are well-prepared, you need not worry what questions would be asked, as you will feel confident of answering any question.

Practise Answers
What you can do with past examination questions, however, is to practise answering them. This is an important part of your revision and preparation for the real examination. It is not practical, of course, to spend too much time answering past examination questions. If you are really pressed for time, like I was, the least you can do is to practise answering them briefly in point form. In other words, you can make notes on how to answer these questions. You could also only pick topics that you need extra help with.

Having answered these questions, either fully or briefly, you can then discuss the answers with friends. You might do this in formal study groups or just casually, or simply swap your practice answers and learn from each other.
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Exam Techniques

Finally, the real examinations. . . The way you approach your examinations is very important. It is as important as how well you understand the subject. Some writers of books on examination techniques even claim that these techniques account for up to 50 percent of a student’s performance.

It is hard to put a number to this. But it does happen quite often that students fail, or do badly, even though they know the subjects well. If, by the time you sit for an examination you still do not understand the subject, there is nothing much you can do about it. You deserve to fail. You will benefit from repeating the course and sitting for a re-examination. But if you did not read the instructions carefully and answer the questions in the way that is required, this is a complete waste. You may, in fact, know the subject well. Yet you fail simply because you did not do as instructed.

According to examiners, this happens very often. Whether the student was anxious or careless, it is something that should not happen at all. If you know the subject matter, you deserve to pass. If you know the subject well, you deserve to pass well. But if you do not do as you were told, there is no way the examiner can help you pass or achieve high marks. This is something you can avoid. Be aware of common mistakes. And make sure you do not repeat them.

Here are the list stuff you need prepared;

• Follow Instructions!
• Plan Your Time To Answer it
• Read the Questions Carefully
• Plan Your Answers
• Make Your Answers Clear as an opinion or Fact
• Write Down Clear , Easy Read and Understandable Answers
• Stay Healthy
• Eat well
• Exercise
• Rest well
• Relaxation

A Positive Attitude
Adopting a positive attitude may well be the most important piece of advice. Examinations are not intended to make you fail or look stupid. If too many students do badly, it reflects badly on the teachers and examiners. It is not in their interest to make things difficult for you. In fact, they want you to pass and do well!

So do not think of examinations as attempts to make a failure out of you, or as “traps” to catch you if you are careless. The aim is to give you a certificate to show the world that you are a capable person and to make it easier for you to find employment. If you adopt this attitude, you will not feel so stressed out. It takes a certain level of confidence to focus on exercise, sports, recreation and rest during the examination period.

This confidence comes from having worked hard consistently throughout the year or semester, which is what you need to do. If you want to be an excellent student, you need to aim for it — and work towards it — right from the start. In fact, you need to set the Prizedream and work towards it even before the course commences. Of course, there are some people who can do well by studying at the last minute. But they are a very small minority. Are you sure you can be one of them? Do you even want to be like one of them? Sure, it is a great blessing to be gifted with intelligence and talent. And it certainly feels nice to be lucky if you happen to spot the right examination questions.

But how far can you go in life if you keep depending on luck and favourable circumstances? If and when setbacks occur, can you pick yourself up and rise to greater heights? Doing well in examinations is not the end. It is the beginning. You will continue to be tested throughout your life — in your career, relationships and other life’s challenges. More than study and examination techniques, you need life skills. You need to learn how to create your own excellence and success. Sure, a bit of luck along the way would be nice. Good luck!
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Techniques for Promoting the Ability to Track Print in Connected Texts

Model directionality and one-to-one word matching by pointing to words while using a big book, pocket chart, or poem written out on a chart. As you repeatedly lead the children in this reading, they can follow along and eventually track the print, and also make one-to-one matches on the connected text independently.

They can also practice by using a pointer (most children love to use the pointer because then pleasure becomes associated with the reading) or their fingers to follow the words. In general, children will happily vie to be the point person. Even before Vanna White, the joy of “signifying letters” existed and has tremendous appeal for children.

Copy down a brief, familiar rhyme (perhaps from a favorite book or song) and post it in the room at a child’s eye level, so the child can independently walk around and read it. Copy down a brief or familiar rhyme or poem on individual word cards. You can challenge the children in small groups or independently to reassemble and display them on a pocket chart. As children “play” with constructing and reconstructing this pocket chart, they will develop an awareness of directionality, one-on-one matching of print to spoken words, spacing, and punctuation.

Model interactive emergent writing with the class. While discussing and writing down the weather, deliberately ask and have the children suggest where the first word in that report should go: the top or the bottom of the felt board? Will the first letter be upper case or lower case? What goes at the end of the sentence?

Create with the children sing-song repetitions/rules for using capitals, periods, commas, etc. Encourage the children to begin reciting these sing-songs as soon as they identify specific concepts of print in connected texts.

Model for children how, when pointing at words, they can start at the top and move from left to right. Tell the children that if there are more words to the sentence they are reading under the first line of print, they must go back to the left and under the previous line. Young children enjoy practicing this kinesthetic “return sweep.” You might want to teach them to identify the need to do this by saying “don’t fall asleep at the page” or “time to get to the ‘return sweep’ stage!!” Post this saying and encourage them to sing-song as they joyously take
ownership of their reading.

Have even beginning readers “read” through the text to find letters they recognize in the story. Share some of the text that includes these specific letters to whet their appetite for more reading.
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