Revision and Exam Preparation

A workshop and presentation for parents/carers of Year 8 students

The conversation………

• Why should you revise?

• Where should you revise?

• When should you revise?

• How should you revise?

• How often should you revise?

What the students say:

Keep your nose out ‘coz it’s so annoying Stop nagging Leave us alone – if s/he left me alone I might

actually do some revision Keep the house quiet and siblings under control Don’t force us to make a revision timetable Money/biscuits to revise please!

What the school is doing...

The Learning for Life lessons have already covered revision techniques and learning styles in year 7 and 8.

Tutors are supporting students in preparing revision timetables

What the school is doing...

Subject teachers will make crystal clear, to students, what is exactly required in each subject.

Revision topic handout.

Learning Performance Techniques:

How to Revise: Highlighter pens for Key Words Spider-diagrams and flow charts Interactive revision and lap books Mnemonics Suitable educational internet sites

with animated diagrams

Give your child responsibility! Give them choices Allow them to work out

strategies which best suit their preferred learning style

Talk through their plans with them to allow them to reflect on and modify them

Suggest and monitor group revision sessions

How should they revise?

If you just sit down to revise, without a definite finishing time, then your learning efficiency falls lower and lower,like this:

How can they improve this?

If they decide at the beginninghow long they will work for, with a clock,then as the brain knows the end is coming,the graph rises towards the end

How can you improve this even more?

If you break up a 2-hour session,into shorter sessions, for example 20 minutes,with a short planned break between each session, learning is more efficient.

Compare the next 2 graphs:

One solid session

4 shorter sessionsThe yellow area shows the improvement.

The Curve of Forgetting!

Look at the graph below:

It shows how much your brain can recall later.It rises for about 10 minutes …and then falls.

How often should they revise?

if they quickly re-revise after 10 minutes,then it falls more slowly! This is good.Analyse the new graph:

However,

if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 day,then it falls even more slowly! Good !Analyse the new graph:

Even better,

if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 week,then it falls even more slowly! Great!Analyse the new graph:

And even better still,

10 minutes

1 day

1 week

…and then 1 month

So the best intervals for ‘topping-up’,

by reviewing or briefly re-revising

are:

When to Revise?

START WITH THE HARDEST.

When freshest tackle the subject that they find hardest.

What you can do to help...

Plan around your child e.g. family activities

Cut back on some extra-curricular activities

GET THE BALANCE RIGHT!

What you can do to help...

Treats e.g. food, TV at lunch

Motivation – goals and ambitions

Short term/long term treats

Rewards for revision and not results

Reinforcement

‘We remember: 10% of what we hear, 20% of what we read, 50% of what we do, 75% of what we discuss90% of what we teach.’