Preparing for the new year - HSC

[Opengangs]

Hey all,
I'm writing a small guide about preparation for Year 12, and what you should do if you want to avoid being stressed and burnt out. Throughout the year, I may also drop by with another guide about how you can improve on your exam marks and what you can do if you receive a bad mark.

PREPARATION
To start, you'll need to have a strong mentality that you can do it. It helps to know what you're capable of doing and what you're not, but without this strong mentality, none of that will be useful to you.

For the rest of the holiday, it should be a time where you reflect on how you performed in Term 1. It's a time to know what went right, what didn't, and what you want out of the remaining 3/4 terms. Have long term goals. Do you want to ace the half yearly exams? Or is your goal to maximise your ranking in the cohort? Whatever your long term goal is, you should have it set in stone.

Then, reflect back on your preparation in Term 1 and Year 11 and see exactly what you did: the good, the bad, and the ugly. See exactly what you could improve on, and make it your goal to improve it. Even if you improve one aspect of it every single day, it's progress.

MAXIMISE STUDY EFFICIENCY, MINIMISE STUDY TIME
It's great that you want to study more hours, but are you using that time wisely or not at all? You know, studying hard or hardly studying? So, how do you "study efficiently"?

The answer is a lot simpler than you think. Study the way you feel, works best for you. If you're a visual learner, make mind maps or colour coordinate your work so it's easier to find information. If you're an auditory learner, listen to podcasts that relate to your subject or find videos that allow you to maximise you as a learner. Of course I could suggest a method, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to how YOU study. The methods you use are dependent entirely on what kind of learner you are. Embrace it.

I always advise people to break up their studies into increments or blocks of smaller sessions. If you look up the technique "Pomodoro technique", you can find a whole heap of resources on what it is, how it enables you to retain information, etc.

However, I don't just use this technique by itself. I like to use this technique with the idea of goal setting. Break up a 2 hour session into 4 30 minute sessions. Use the resting time to freshen up, scroll through social media, or just relax. At the start of each study session, write a goal. A short term goal that you can manage within the allocated time. It keeps you accountable and you become the harshest manager. You'll start to feel a lot more accomplished.

I truly do hope this post has helped with preparation for the new year! If ever you're feeling stressed, burnt out, or just uneasy about the HSC, feel free to leave a PM. I'm always here if anyone has any concerns.

Thanks!
-- Opengangs

[jamonwindeyer]

Love your work as always OG

[username2000]

thanks!! need motivation for the holiday work 

[dermite]

My problem is this:

My term 1 (yr12) results were not good at all for my maths and english subjects; I did better at 3u maths than 2u, and I barely got more than 60% for both.
In english (which is my achilles heel), I didnt do much better (~70%)
My phys/chem marks were actually pretty good, got in the top 5 ranks for both of them, but so did 40 others (the marks were really congested, as there was a small standard deviation).
My results for math and english really brought my motivation down, and i'm really in need of some motivation.
How do you bring yourself up from such a deep pit that I have buried myself in?
I've been putting about 3-4hrs on average nearly all days in the holidays so far. but I was owondering oif there was anything else I should be doing.

Thanks and soz for the long post.

[username2000]

wow thats a lot of study ...why dont u enjoy ur last hols

[Opengangs]

My problem is this:

My term 1 (yr12) results were not good at all for my maths and english subjects; I did better at 3u maths than 2u, and I barely got more than 60% for both.
In english (which is my achilles heel), I didnt do much better (~70%)
My phys/chem marks were actually pretty good, got in the top 5 ranks for both of them, but so did 40 others (the marks were really congested, as there was a small standard deviation).
My results for math and english really brought my motivation down, and i'm really in need of some motivation.
How do you bring yourself up from such a deep pit that I have buried myself in?
I've been putting about 3-4hrs on average nearly all days in the holidays so far. but I was owondering oif there was anything else I should be doing.

Thanks and soz for the long post.

Hey, dermite.

Don't worry about what's been done in the first term; you have three more terms to pull your marks up. Like seriously, don't stress about what you got and focus on what you can do to improve. (Fun note: your marks itself will not matter at all in the long run; your mark difference internally and the HSC will be the results that get assessed for your ATAR, so really don't stress about getting 60% at this moment)

To see where you can improve, focus on the specific areas where you're losing the most marks. Is it a particular topic you're struggling with or is it more spread out? From there, devise a study plan where you pay attention to the areas you're weaker at. For example, if it's parametrics, focus on doing more textbook work for that particular topic. You should also ask your teacher for extra help. Make a plan with your teacher in between lunch times some time to knuckle down. This helps your teacher understand that you're trying to get better, and they're more likely to pay closer attention to your progress.

Hopefully, this helps a bit because I've been in the same spot. The first 3u exam, I got 52%, and it was even worse in preliminary.