Advice for Leaving 09

crunchycorner

First of all congrats to all who got their results today, from what I've read on boards you all did great!!:D

And since you're all here, any advice for us going into 6th year sometime in the next 2-3 weeks???

Really want to work hard from day 1 so any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance!!:rolleyes:

KeyLimePie

Do all your homework
And learning homework counts as homework
Make sure you understand everything on the day
And do a bit of study here and there !
this is only for the first few months btw

littlneutralone

Never rule out good old-fashioned cramming.

titan18

Do all your homework.
Study a bit every week at least anyway.About 30 mins per subject in a week is good,I'd say.Do 3 subjects a night,10 mins each.

Dont do what I do and convince yourself that it'll be easy to get the points and not work until you get off school in may.I was all laid back during the year.I still got my course if it remains the same as last year but If I went abck I'd work harder.

Dont listen to teh guy above,thats what I did.Wasnt fun

daggy

never scab in homework.. do it properly, carefully . make sure you understand everything you write and hand up, if you dont nobody will.
Dont mind studying, just do the homework. Study for tests, try your best and ask for help! Use your friends too..
you will feel amazing this time next year knowing you did your best! so go do it. best of luck !

PurpleFistMixer

Study styles will vary from person to person, but I'll tell you what I did, and it worked for me (got 600... somehow... really, I wasn't one of those "study for 1 million hours a day" 600 points types);

Work consistently. Always do your homework. You don't need to kill yourself making sure it's perfect, but give it a good stab. Now, I sort of did the same thing in 5th and 6th year to lessen the load, so if you dossed in 5th year you'll probably have to work harder than I did in 6th... But if you consistently do your homework every night, make sure you're on top of your subjects, revising what you've already done if you've got spare time, you shouldn't have to kill yourself.

I went out most weekends in 6th year, too, so you don't have to become a hermit, provided you manage your time properly. (I set aside that weekends were a no-study time, so I did it all during the week. It definitely got tiring at times, but having space to myself at the weekend meant the LC didn't absorb my life and stress me out.)

Be careful not to burn yourself out. Don't go mad on the study as soon as 6th year begins. People talk about studying for hours a night to get hundreds of points, and alright, maybe that's necessary for some, but in my own experience, being on top of your subjects is more important than killing yourself with hours of study. Cramming works for some... not for me, maybe not for you either! I found by the end of the actual exams I was totally burnt out, which I thought cost me an A1 in Applied Maths (felt I did terribly in that paper, just couldn't concentrate or think properly, was too tired). No point making yourself sick by overworking yourself, and if you spend too long in "study mode" it can stress you out. Remember, the LC is not the be all and end all of the world.

Studying works best when you're active. Reading a book is not effective studying. Writing what you rememember of a chapter, revising over it, writing out what you missed, repeat until you miss none of it, etc, is much more effective. Or, instead of reading the chapter from the book, make your own, more concise notes which you can expand on if necessary. It's too easy to blank out when you're just reading a page. You need to be engaged with it. Either say it out loud, write it down, make a diagram, whatever is relevant.

As far as making study timetables go, some will say it's a waste of time that could be spent studynig, but if you know what you're revising and when, it reduces time spent going, "hmm... maybe I'll look over poetry.. not really in the mood though.. maybe this.. I'll flick through this, etc..". If you have specific objectives they're much easier to attain. Don't just say "study english for half an hour", specify what you'll get done during that time.

This is getting a bit long. I should be celebrating!

littlneutralone

titan18 wrote: »

Dont listen to teh guy above,thats what I did.Wasnt fun

As opposed to your regular scheduled studying, which is a riot :pac:


Just to impart some serious wisdom, I found it best to donate a night a week to revision of each subject, after written homework and studying. Never underestimate the power of the fifth-year course.


And for languages, towards the end every night I read an article on lemonde.fr and welt.de to desperately salvage topical words. If you did that from September, you'd build up some fearful vocabulary.

And I can't resist one last promotion of The Cram.

raah!

I agree with purple fists post.

And I think what she describes there with regard to apt maths applies to me too. I overestimated my endurance and cramming ability, and had set apart considerable sections of the course for the 4 free days we had before it. But was just too exhausted to get through it all.

So my bit of advice is also, don't over-estimate yourself.... it seems this is what I did

alan4cult

Drop Accounting and take Business.

blue-army

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

Study styles will vary from person to person, but I'll tell you what I did, and it worked for me (got 600... somehow...

:eek: Fair play! Congrats..

spillit67

Always do your homework properly-i dont think your homework will be over 3 hours a night which while sounding bad is better than doing it half arsed(or not doing it like me:rolleyes:). I had to seriousely cram for a couple of subjects cos i neglected my homework for 2 years.

Always listen in class-its simple and better than daydreaming which is a waste of time and drags the class on rather than been engaged. I listened in subjects i liked and did well in them-i wish i had listened more in ones i didnt like.

Those 2 things are basically primary school habits which i certaintly lost to laziness in secondary. I got 500 but i reckon i could have got that without all my cramming and probably more points if i had heeded the above sooner. The LC is about how organized you are, you'll have less stress if you do it properly and trust me the feeling of doing well and not like a couple of wasters in my school is amazing. Dont go down my route of cramming its not worth it.

Oh and as for stuying, yes a certain amount for exams but dont kill yourself, its revision not learning new things. If you do your homework and listen you'll be grand.

Gone West

Congrats PFM

Piste

More importantly: How do you make yourself look awake and not hungover from all the 18ths?

Twee.

Piste wrote: »

More importantly: How do you make yourself look awake and not hungover from all the 18ths?

Brekkie roll, soluable Solpadine and concealer :pac:


Seriously though, everyone's been saying do your homework and I couldn't agree more. It's invaluable. You get practice doing the actual tasks and in the end will have a catalogue of work. Make sure you date, file and put page references on it.

Don't over stress, have fun. TBH apart from the actual exams, sixth year was my favourite school year!

sarahbrennan

keep up to date on your homework and make sure to have all your notes together and keep them organised.
Make use of your teachers!! if you don't understand something, ask, they might take you on your own for a lunch or something.
Know exam papers inside out, the format, patterns, trends and decide yourself what you think is likely to come up , don't always trust what other people say.
I found it helpful to write out all notes, it gave me a better idea of the syllabi and i didnt rely on books as much.
Mocks are the greatest oppertunity you could have.
Concentrate on your orals for four weeks before them, you'll have enough time to catch on study after that, from easter on do nothing else, give it everything its worthit. Best of luck!!

yay_for_summer

I'm going to follow the trend of DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

And work steadily before Christmas, you get an awful lot done in the first term and it leaves you free-ish for the orals/practicals.

Having said all that....cramming helped me too. Hugely. :rolleyes:

cHaTbOx

Guys this is nothin to do with exams but It might be advice some of you may need.

You may ,like me, get to have one of the worst years of your life outside exams and it may effect your study.But don't give in EVER.It is never too late to get what you want and if you want it bad enough, you will get it.

Look this year is not the be all and end all either.




Sh!t happens,but don't let it get to you.





Also If you havent listened in class,start paying attention.It is a big help

thebigcheese22

littlneutralone wrote: »

Never rule out good old-fashioned cramming.

I wholeheartedly agree with this! (up to a point obviously)
I was studyin not a lot in comparison with others in my class. In subjects like History and English i became really complacent...ended up doing grand in the exams until History and French came up,i freeeeaked out the night before! The only solution was to cram the bare minumum required,ended up gettin a C in french which was ok but an A1 in history,highpoint of my exams! Do your hw all the time and study an hour a day from christmas and youl do the best ya possibly can do
well done to everyone btw!

me!

do your homework from the very beginning, and do it properly!!!!!!!!! trust me, you will regret it if you don't. also a good way to keep your social life going is try to go out on a friday night cause saturday morning is time off anyway so you might as well double up on recovery time and sleep time. that's really only for closer to the exams though. learn stuff the day you're taught it cause it really does stay in your head for longer! and finally don't forget to have some time out with your friends. it really is so important and you'll sutdy so much better if you're happy:) good luck!!!!:):)

Piste

Should we be ditching our boyfriends/girlfriends now so we'll be better able to focus on school in September? :pac:

cHaTbOx

Piste wrote: »

Should we be ditching our boyfriends/girlfriends now so we'll be better able to focus on school in September? :pac:

No way piste ,bit of relief is a good thing.Remember Life is for living and your life doesn't stop because of the Leaving Cert

Mermy

In 6th year you really have to work hard, play hard! You dont go out all the time so you make the most of it when you do 18ths etc...after all everyone needs a break.

Also Id say it really helps to be organised...I had a ringbinder for each subject but i only put in good notes..corrected essays etc...it was so helpful towards the end cos I was able to find what I was looking for without stressing myself out!!

Lastly, I dont know if it was just my year but people tended to be quite emotional from say mocks onwards(myself included) so people snapped at each other easier. Id say relax as much as possible and try not to take things like that too seriously, we all laugh about it now!!

oh yeah...and DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!! ontime because it doesnt get any easier the later you leave it...as I found out...many a time!!!

Good luck

Kimmy-XxX

I think consistency is so important. If you say you're going to study for three hours a day, do it every day for the year not just for the first few weeks.
DON'T WORK..seriously, you just won't have the time, be poor for the year and you can make up for it when the exams are over.
Trust your teachers, alot if students have a tendency to think they know better than their teachers but you really don't, they know what they're doing, take their advice.
Do relax though, go out once every couple of weeks for the first few weeks but make yourself get up and study on Sunday morning.
Most importantly however, accept that studying/schoolwork is an aspect of your life now and remind yourself it's only a year and the sacrifices you make now will enable you to reap the benefits for the rest of your life..
GOOD LUCK.

jennyq

Don't just dismiss the mocks, it gives you a really good idea for timing. Even though you might not be finished the courses try & prepare as if you were doing the real thing to make the most of the opportunity of a trial run. For example, in my English Paper 2 mock I ran out of time giving too long to finishing the full essay questions & didn't get the unseen poetry done. Going into the real thing I knew I had to do it before the end or I wouldn't get it done. In the end I did it third & left my Othello until last. I still didn't get it all finished, had about a page to go on Othello, but I still got an A1, from a B2 in the mocks. If I hadn't the mocks experience I probably wouldn't have gotten to the unseen so it was definitely a good lesson!

For English paper 1 work like essays, speeches, etc., I'd advise reading newspapers in the months leading up to the exams, learn some good quotes (I bought a quotations dictionary, I think the Oxford one, which was good) & maybe some statistics even though they can be made up within reason. This is for the journalistic type essays (debates, articles, etc.) which I liked, and they're also much easier to get high marks in than in the more creative short story type essays. The internet is so handy for this, I had Google Reader & subscribed to the feeds for the Opinion columns from a few newspapers, the Indo, the Times, even a couple of columnists from big international papers like The Times (UK), NY Times, Washington Post every so often. It's really surprising at how much just reading helps with your own writing, I know for sure I wouldn't have done as well if I hadn't been reading so much.

As has been said already doing homework as it's given is the best thing to do. At the end of 6th year teachers' advise on revision can be really good as it's sometimes easier than working it all out on your own.

It might sound weird but I found that if I actually wrote down what revision I wanted to do I would be more likely to do it. Most schools have diaries or something similar so I'd write down my own revision plans or whatever with my homework, or instead of hw on a day we got none. It might not work for some people but if I wanted to cross off everything I'd written I had to actually do it, so I would. I guess it'd be the same as doing a to-do list, you feel a bit more satisfaction from what you've done if you can see it all being marked off.

Personally I found getting extra grinds in Irish was really good for making my work stand out a bit from the rest of my class. I had a bad substitute for 5th year & even though my actual Irish teacher was brilliant I just wanted to feel more confident so I got the grinds in 6th year. I guess it depends on where you go but mine in Clonmel were absolutely brilliant. I don't know for sure but I imagine it must be obvious to examiners when you're putting in stuff in your answers that nobody else has got. It doesn't have to be a really expensive grind school, even someone you know's old notes or something could do it but it's just really good to have something to set yourself apart, particularly in the oral. No matter how good your teacher's stuff is if you want to be sure of a really high grade try & get something that only you will have, even if you just ask your teacher to help you translate something extra for you. I prepared a little on the US election for mine & it had a great effect for relatively little effort, about a half page A4 of Irish.

Listen to the 2fm radio programmes on just before the Leaving Cert! This year they gave brilliant tips & somehow were able to predict a huge amount. I remember in particular that the teacher was right on an Irish essay topic that came up. It's silly not to listen even if you don't get something out of them all, they're free after all!

I guess the summary is if you're looking for very high points making a bit of extra effort in your own time pays off massively. It is hard work but if you get what you're looking for it's the best feeling in the world. I don't regret any of the work & it is possible to do without locking yourself away from civilisation for the whole school year, I promise

PrivateEye

Don't sit next to your best mate in school anymore, whatever you do.
We made a pact at the start of the year over this, because we used to get nothing done the way things were. Two smartarses, you know the normal stuff. I paid a lot of attention in class in sixth year.

I used to do my homework very rarely. Saying that, I did work when I got home none the less. We were often given time to do work in class that we'd have to finish at home so I would fly through it in class (properly, of course :pac: ) and then go home and relax. From March on, I did a fair whack of study each night...and would often do out notes for myself, but the homework being given to me was often of little benefit personally. Talk to your teachers about it, I remember going "Look missus, I know X pretty well...if I do a question on Y will you have a look at it tomorrow instead?" more often than not they'll meet you half way.

Sixth year is a very social year. Lots of your mates will turn 18, we used to go out twice a week on average at one stage (Don't do the Thursday night pissups we did at the start of the year, never made Friday fun.... :pac: ) so looking back now I'd keep my Saturday or Friday nights out, because I think they really kept us sane.

all work and no play.... comes to mind.

ryanj

I sent you an email and a PM.

Valde

What does everyone think of Study Plans? Good Idea?

Adventure

Here are my tips!


1. For maths , always do your homework.

2. For English , do NOT learn essays off (well except for comparative!:D)
Do learn lots of poetry/Single Text quotes.

3. For Science subjects

---

> marking schemes/papers are your best friend.:pac:

4. Applied Maths , Do ,literally ,a million questions. Prepare 8 or more questions, Be able to recognise the "horrific" q's and the "lovely" q's.

5. Go out every 2nd weekend!

6. Don't worry about mock results - They are a load of crap.

( and P.S. stay away from boards.ie during the mocks!)

claireybear

Organisation is so important, nothing worse than not being able to find notes etc. when you need them most. Basically, date and file notes for subjects in different folders. Even if you don't study every night make sure and do your homework, yourself! Don't be scabbing off friends! Try not to let stress get the better of you, the LC is not the be all and end all but its worth working hard to get to the place you want to go. It is so worth it, did the leaving in '07, living up the student life now in Cork, glad I work hard(ish!). You might aswell listen in class as to be day-dreaming, saves time at night trying to figure out what actually went on. Don't become a recluse, go out every so often, every second week maybe...it'll do you good;) I did all honours, 7...regret it to this day...should have dropped to pass irish/maths and concentrated on getting the best 6 grades I could:o Just be focused and best of luck! It'll be over before ye know it!:D

PurpleFistMixer

*scratches head*

I feel like I've read that post before...

Also coco-pop, aren't you going into 3rd year?

jennyq

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

*scratches head*

I feel like I've read that post before...

Also coco-pop, aren't you going into 3rd year?

The purple bit is my earlier post again Weird..