Last Minute Recomendations

senordingdong

Well easter's gone and i suppose the **** really hits the fan from here on in.

Some advice is requested...
I have piss poor retention and havent done much "serious" study untill now.
Any recomendations from people that have been in my position and gotten through the leaving in one piece?

smelly girl

you're doomed.

Sorry.

skipn_easy

You still have time to get by. Just start studying ,seriously. You've still got quite a bit of time, just break everything down into small bits that you can tackle and don't worry about the bits you can't till later.

PrecariousNuts

Don't leave it till the last minute... oh wai

senordingdong

Originally posted by skipn_easy
You still have time to get by. Just start studying ,seriously. You've still got quite a bit of time, just break everything down into small bits that you can tackle and don't worry about the bits you can't till later.

Ok thanks, any advice on what to do about poor retention?

Seraphina

i started studying around this time and got 450points.
all a bit of a joke really.

senordingdong

Originally posted by Seraphina
i started studying around this time and got 450points.
all a bit of a joke really.

Ok then...can you shed any other light on the matter? Like what did you do specifically...or what methods or anythig liek that did you use?

Seraphina

sorry cant help you with methods there, i wouldn't be one to talk to. i have pretty good retention and with the amount of reptition that went on in school i just seemed to pick up most stuff easily enough. i concentrated on the stuff i was having problems with and systematically went through it, making my own notes from the book and practicing diagrams for stuff like biology and geography. i also had a bit of luck as my favourite poet came up in english and all the poems the teacher had predicted in irish (i still wonder about how she did that...)

Boston

Originally posted by Seraphina
i started studying around this time and got 450points.
all a bit of a joke really.

And thats why you go to ucd.

Seraphina

eh... what?
im in UCD

senordingdong

Originally posted by Seraphina
sorry cant help you with methods there, i wouldn't be one to talk to. i have pretty good retention and with the amount of reptition that went on in school i just seemed to pick up most stuff easily enough. i concentrated on the stuff i was having problems with and systematically went through it, making my own notes from the book and practicing diagrams for stuff like biology and geography. i also had a bit of luck as my favourite poet came up in english and all the poems the teacher had predicted in irish (i still wonder about how she did that...)

Dang.

Teddi

yea..i was the same seraphina.....in englsh plath came up and she was the only real one i had studied......

13 pages on her...man...you should have seen my face when i read the question in my head.......i had answeared that question at home studing...lol....

our english teacher was excellant...published the book..'Poetry now'...all the schools use it.....

yea..senor...i was the same as you....shut off your social life...
i gurrantee one thing though.....ull look back and laugh at it.......i know i did......they make it out that its the be and end all of everything....dont worry...its not

senordingdong

Originally posted by Teddi
yea..i was the same seraphina.....in englsh plath came up and she was the only real one i had studied......

13 pages on her...man...you should have seen my face when i read the question in my head.......i had answeared that question at home studing...lol....

our english teacher was excellant...published the book..'Poetry now'...all the schools use it.....

yea..senor...i was the same as you....shut off your social life...
i gurrantee one thing though.....ull look back and laugh at it.......i know i did......they make it out that its the be and end all of everything....dont worry...its not

At this rate i doubht ill laugh at all.

skipn_easy

One thing that I find really helpful for studying is making notes while I'm reading. I can't just read a chapter and remember it so I read it, see if I understand it, maybe read it again, write down the main points I got from it, and move on to the next one.
It works for me.... might help. Another thing that can help is asking friends of yours that are particularly good at something that you can't get your head round to explain it in their terms. They might be able to explain it in a way that your teacher or book can't get across to you, and in return you could probably help them in an area that you're good at.
All this assumes that you are actually sitting down and trying to study. Discipline yourself, cut down going out to just the weekends and only if you've gotten a reasonable amount of work done during the week.

senordingdong

Originally posted by skipn_easy
One thing that I find really helpful for studying is making notes while I'm reading. I can't just read a chapter and remember it so I read it, see if I understand it, maybe read it again, write down the main points I got from it, and move on to the next one.
It works for me.... might help. Another thing that can help is asking friends of yours that are particularly good at something that you can't get your head round to explain it in their terms. They might be able to explain it in a way that your teacher or book can't get across to you, and in return you could probably help them in an area that you're good at.
All this assumes that you are actually sitting down and trying to study. Discipline yourself, cut down going out to just the weekends and only if you've gotten a reasonable amount of work done during the week.

That sounds really helpfull. Thanks.

Nala

I did sweet fúck-all for my Leaving and got 355. Nothing amazing but above average.

**BEFORE THE EXAM**
-Go through the past papers and do LOADS of questions, that way stuff will stick in your head better.
-Look for a pattern-the same things come up approx every 3 years (do NOT quote me on that!!!!!).
-Visit Skoool.ie-you can ask the experts questions, its a good site.
-DON'T study really late at night-you won't remember anything.Maybe make notes that you can study the next day.
-Figure out what time of day is best for you to study-if you get some done in the morning you've the rest of the day to do what you like.
-Try to avoid too much sugar, i.e. Coke-it might decrease your concentration.


*EXAM-TIME*
-Get a good night's sleep (min. 8-9 hours) every night during exam time-studying when you're really tired is pretty much pointless.
-Eat a good breakfast on the day of the exam-hunger will distract you.
-DON'T PANIC-read through the questions, underline what you are being asked, i.e.
"What is the main theme of Heaney's poetry".
-Plan your answers-bullet points will do.
-Answer the question asked, not what you would have liked to have been asked.
-In a maths exam especially, hand up all rough work so the examiner can see where you got your answers from. Show where you used a calculator, both in rough work and on the answer sheet.

Hope that was of help.

*Good luck!*

subway_ie

Originally posted by neev
I did sweet fúck-all for my Leaving and got 355. Nothing amazing but above average.

**BEFORE THE EXAM**
-Go through the past papers and do LOADS of questions, that way stuff will stick in your head better.
-Look for a pattern-the same things come up approx every 3 years (do NOT quote me on that!!!!!).
-Visit Skoool.ie-you can ask the experts questions, its a good site.
-DON'T study really late at night-you won't remember anything.Maybe make notes that you can study the next day.
-Figure out what time of day is best for you to study-if you get some done in the morning you've the rest of the day to do what you like.
-Try to avoid too much sugar, i.e. Coke-it might decrease your concentration.


*EXAM-TIME*
-Get a good night's sleep (min. 8-9 hours) every night during exam time-studying when you're really tired is pretty much pointless.
-Eat a good breakfast on the day of the exam-hunger will distract you.
-DON'T PANIC-read through the questions, underline what you are being asked, i.e.
"What is the main theme of Heaney's poetry".
-Plan your answers-bullet points will do.
-Answer the question asked, not what you would have liked to have been asked.
-In a maths exam especially, hand up all rough work so the examiner can see where you got your answers from. Show where you used a calculator, both in rough work and on the answer sheet.

Hope that was of help.

*Good luck!*

So where'd you plagiarise all that from?

CuLT

Originally posted by subway_ie
So where'd you plagiarise all that from?

Does it matter?

Oh, and not to put a downer on anyone, but if you don't study and **** it up, it's not a laugh.
This is my second time, maybe the humour is lost on me...

jetsonx

YOUR Leaving Cert. Tips from Jetsonx
===========================

Relax you have plenty of time left. Be very smart about what you study.

1)Three things, past papers, past papers, past papers. - whether in school or
college- exam questions have a nasty habit of repeating themselves (often
under a different guise - but still the same question)

2)Make sure you have your anwering technique right. Check this with sample
anwers in the revision books (Eason do them).

3) Do mock papers on your own. Set your alarm for 9am and find
the quietest area you can and start your exam at lets say 9.30am and
fininsh up at 12pm just what you will do with the real thing.

4) In wishy-washy subjects like English - time to go and give sample answers
to your teachers/tutor (catch them at a quite time) and they will correct them
for you.


5) DO NOT START COVERING NEW MATERIAL A WEEK OR TWO BEFORE EXAM.
IT WILL ONLY SERVE TO CONFUSE.


The more you practice the past papers, the more confident you
will be the nearer the date approaches, the more confident you are the more likely
you are to give sturdy and impressive answers.

The first day will be the worst...but by the time you've sat your Irish paper you'll
realize the most people have gone beyond the caring stage and going into the
exam hall is just like going in for a class assembly. You are going to wander
the fu*k all of the hype was about...

Remember : the Leaving Cert is not a test of intelligence it is a test on
how to work the system.

Raskolnikov

Chuck your computer in the attic, only serves as a distraction.

Kold

Originally posted by senordingdong

I have piss poor retention

Lol....what?

Anima

An ability to recall or recognize what has been learned or experienced; memory.

conZ

When are ye all starting to stay at home to study?

I'm thinking about next Monday onwards (tomorrow week), but i'm unsure whether i'll have the motivation to get up early and study.
That leaves what, three weeks and two days till the start of the Exams.

Kold

When i hear retention, I seem to hear 'water retention'

Seifer

I was gonna stay til the end (the 25th) but we do so little in school and i seem to get so much more done at home that it seems kinda pointless... I'll see how this week goes...
The only thing I'm worried about is getting burnt out before the exams.
June is going to be the longest month of my life...stupid applied maths!

CuLT

Originally posted by Kold
When i hear retention, I seem to hear 'water retention'

You should get that fixed.

Seifer

To-day was a complete waste of time so I'm gonna stay at home to-morrow and see how it goes. If can discipline myself to study then today might've been my last day of school forever!

Healio

the only reason im stayin til the end is because one of my english techers (although he wont admit it) has something to do with the english paper on the last day he usually tips four types of essay on the shakespeare and one comes up every year.

PrecariousNuts

Since when are today and tomorrow spelled with a dash?

Regards english, Kavanagh for poetry is a definite right? Cultural context and theme for comparative texts, and god knows what for MB. Paper one should be ok.

Give me Macbeth hints nowwwwwwwwwwww

senordingdong

Originally posted by Healio
the only reason im stayin til the end is because one of my english techers (although he wont admit it) has something to do with the english paper on the last day he usually tips four types of essay on the shakespeare and one comes up every year.

And ofcourse youll come here to share this info with your fellow board-mates?

Healio

oh yeah damn rite il be sharing it well maybe through pm's though!!!!

For comparative dont just do the two modes do all three, literary genre is the easiest.

And id say Derek Mahon is more of a definite than Kavnagh, as Mahon hasnt been asked yet and he is not on the course for next two years at least!!!

PrecariousNuts

Yeah but Kavanagh is off the course this year and its his centenary too!

Seifer

I like hyphenating words that seem like two seperate words.
The english study must be getting to you if you're noticing things like that...

senordingdong

Originally posted by Healio
And id say Derek Mahon is more of a definite than Kavnagh, as Mahon hasnt been asked yet and he is not on the course for next two years at least!!!

If your gonna plan like that...the best option is to study Plath, Dickinson, Woordsworth and Hopkins.
This covers you from all angles.

Healio

im not really a fan of wordsworth, i havent done plath or hopkins, im lookin for either kavanagh, mahon or dickinson.

orangerooster

My Eng. teacher said "look to the ladies".Either shes punning Macbeth or she meant Plath and Dickinson.

Mutant_Fruit

literary genre is the easiest

Yeah right! Maybe for your stories it is, but when you have a 2 plays and a film, litery genre becomes quite difficult. With a film you are expected to be able to talk about camera angles etc. Not that easy to do.

Generally what people remember best is the themes (such as Love etc). Everyone can remember examples of love, but not always where the low panning camera angle was used.

Theme or issue is generally quite straight forward, and requires little or no thinking when actually doing the question. A bit of preparation before hand, and a good idea of the 2 main themes/issues in your texts are all you need to know.

conZ

To cover yourself completely in Poetry, do Dickinson and Plath - a lady poet comes up each year, and do two out of Kavanagh, Mahon and Heaney - an Irish poet comes up each year also,... afaik

CuLT

Haha, I love this "definately coming up" crap; the amount of waffles people eat seems to increase the closer they get to exams...

Healio

well for me literary genre is the easiest im doing:

Plough and the stars
An Evil Cradling
Strictly Ballroom

Nala

Originally posted by subway_ie
So where'd you plagiarise all that from?

It's all experience.

Nala

Originally posted by CuLT
Haha, I love this "definately coming up" crap; the amount of waffles people eat seems to increase the closer they get to exams...

Yeah, we were told Donncha Bán was DEFINITELY coming up for Higher Irish-by a teacher who's usually accurate at these things-and it didn't.

Healio

well i had mt last class with the english today, he reckons mahon, dickinson, kavanagh and wordsworth. He also thinks a joint question on macduff/banquo will come i.i the roles they play.

claire h

Originally posted by Healio
well i had mt last class with the english today, he reckons mahon, dickinson, kavanagh and wordsworth. He also thinks a joint question on macduff/banquo will come i.i the roles they play.

My teacher said pretty much the same thing - Hopkins instead of Wordsworth, but all the rest is identical. This must be a Sign, right?

subway_ie

All the english teachers in our school are concentrating on Dickinson, Wordsworth and Kavanagh. Makes me regret not doing Kavanagh now. I think I'll be sticking with Dickinson as my main poet.