Revision and Exams ~ ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I hate to mention this but there are for many youngsters exams looming just around the corner. The panic will not have decended like a fog yet, well afterall, theren’t any real exams for some weeks yet so there is still time to panic later!

I know what it’s like, you think you have loads of time, you know you have loads of time but the reality is that you will waste your time with other seemingly more important tasks. You will run right up to the days before the most important exams in your life and then start to revise and review your work. The problem is that you can only do this if you have done the work in the first place.

Re – vise and Re – view have the all important two letters RE at the start. This means return. You can only return to something that you have already done. Revision is have another look at something, by the nature of the language used this means returning to knowledge and learning not starting from the begining again!

How many of us have sat down the night before an exam only to realise that we don’t know the stuff required and have no chance of learning it?

I believe Mind Maps can help all students and because I believe this I will be running some courses in York City Centre on revision techniques just after Easter. These courses will be there to provide revision tips and techniques for GCSE and A level students.

The Mind Map below shows the top 10 tips for revision and review before an exam period. It does not matter what the exam is the process is the same. Have a look at the mind map and work out which things you do and should do before exams.

If there are things that you should do then plan, organise and do them before the exam period starts. If you do this you will get better results without any doubt at all.

Paul Foreman has come up with a great idea which I think many people would find handy when revising. Have a look at his wonderful site where you will find many good ideas. The idea of have a desk triangle to hold three important maps which I will be experimenting with to help people retain and recall information this summer.