How To Get Through Junior Cert

Sam3364

Hi guys. I'm starting third year in September meaning I will have the 2015 junior cert.

I was just wondering how to revise topics from 1st and 2nd year because for most of my classes we still have a bit of the curriculum to finish but it won't be completed until around Christmas. My school year has iPads so in first year I completely took advantage of that and used it for games and messages etc. So I paid very little attention in class. I was wondering if there is a way to revise all the topics on top of homework. In second year I paid more attention and came out with 7 A's, 3 B's and a C.

The subjects I'm most worried about are history, geography, science, business and Spanish because we did most of our work in first year. I'm sorry if I sound repetitive but I'm a bit flustered at the moment.

Any kind of answers would be appreciated so thanks in advance. This is my first post so I'm not too sure how it works but I'm sure I'll figure it out

dee_mc

Hi Sam, welcome to Boards.
Do you use textbooks for each subject as well as the iPads? There's a great checklist of course material at the beginning of book which you should use to guide your study.
Start with the basics, read over the material and see how familiar it seems. Then test yourself (under exam conditions, i.e. no checking the book) using the end of chapter questions or questions from past papers (available on examinations.ie) and see how much you know.
Anything you're completely blanking on or failing to understand, ask your teacher to run through an explanation with you during class time.
Don't panic too much: teachers typically do alot of revision with their classes during third year, so you will have a chance to make up for the past two years.
The most important piece of advice? Listen in class, and do your homework, properly, every night. If you do this, you should still have a good stab at the Junior Cert without doing too much extra study.

Sam3364

Thank you that makes it sound a bit more achievable we have iPads for all our textbooks but we do have the course material and contents at the start of each book

IrishLassie26

Hi and welcome to boards!

I have just completed the Junior Cert this June and honestly, it was easier than I expected. You are given options for which question to answer in many exams, which is a great advantage as you can pick questions you feel you are stronger at

As already mentioned, use the index at the front of your books. What was a great help to me was making a long term study plan. e.g. write out what chapters you will study each week from September until Halloween It gets you motivated to study. Its not about how long you study for but how much you understand and remember from your study time.Study similar topics together and divide what you will study into manageable junks.

Make sure you go over the chapters you have studied every so often also. For example I always said the third week of my study plan, I would revise the chapters I learned the previous two weeks.

Again make sure you do your homework completely inside out and learn anything you are given by teachers to learn.

I was also very worried about history but I think I could have gotten an A in the JC. Ensure you know 2nd year section inside out as that can cover a lot of questions 4,5,6. Learn off people in history answers before hand and complete as many exam papers as you can before hand. Most importantly, for question 6 pick which 2 parts out of the 4 you will answer and focus on revising them for the year. It really does save a lot of trouble but still make sure you have an idea of everything else for short questions.

DO NOT GET STRESSED! I know it is easier said than done but just put your mind down to it for the year and it will all be a success!

I`m sorry if this is long winded but this is what worked for me! Any more questions feel free to ask

Fifii

Honestly, I was in the same situation as you this time last year! Your results are fantastic already so you don't need to worry too much anyway but here's what I did:
1. Exam Papers- These you may have already or will get later on in the year and they are fantastic. Your teachers will probably set you homework from these and they give you are real feel of what you know and what you need to revise! At first I felt like I needed to revise everything and skip question after question but by the end of the year you will be able for anything that comes up! How I studied was also using exam papers; I would find a long question and if I couldn't get the required number of points in I would revise it and re-do the answer to the highest possible standard. I went straight through short questions until I finished them and then looked back over them with the marking scheme in hand. Personally I didn't write in my papers so I could test myself over and over again!After that , use the guidline times given in the cover of exam papers to time yourself doing your answer.

2.Sticky Notes- Sometimes definitions, dates and figures need to be spot on and on the tip of your tongue, especially in Science and History. I could never ever for the life of me do that without doing over and over them everyday! That's why I used Post it notes, write a question eg. What is an ionic bond? on the front and on the underside write the answer. Stick it somewhere you see often, like of a wall or door. Whenever you pass it try to answer the question and soon it'll stick for good! (I would definitely advise you to use the Real Post it notes though because they last forever but other brands I tried fell off soon after they were stuck up.)

3.Languages- Immerse you self in it! I watched videos and movies and listened to covers of songs in French. It helps sooo much with getting over the tricky accent and you could pick up on a few new phrases and words while your at it. Great for the aural!

4. Homework- People who don't do their homework and do it well, have a very long hard struggle after Christmas. It's worth it to do it.

5. Listen- This might sound basic but get good at listening in class. You need to actively listen and think in class. It might seem as though that teacher at the front of class is rambling on and on about something because your daydreaming or messing or sleeping but what they say could mean the difference between a pass and a fail grade. In my own experience, Business and Geography....just no from first to half way through second year. So....boring! And before every exam I would struggle badly and have to study so much!But then one day I listened to my teachers and sat up straight in my chair. I processed what they said for once instead of in one ear, out the other! After that I basically said goodbye to studying Geography and started getting 90%+ and Business got better too.
So think of it like this: Your in school for ~7 hours anyway so if you listen during school then that means less time spent indoors after school studying or doing homework and more of the things you actually do enjoy!

Finally don't stress out! Sure it's fun to get those around you to pity you, what with all those exams, but know that it isn't the be all end all!;) Good Luck!

Sam3364

IrishLassie26 wrote: »

Hi and welcome to boards!

I have just completed the Junior Cert this June and honestly, it was easier than I expected. You are given options for which question to answer in many exams, which is a great advantage as you can pick questions you feel you are stronger at

As already mentioned, use the index at the front of your books. What was a great help to me was making a long term study plan. e.g. write out what chapters you will study each week from September until Halloween It gets you motivated to study. Its not about how long you study for but how much you understand and remember from your study time.Study similar topics together and divide what you will study into manageable junks.

Make sure you go over the chapters you have studied every so often also. For example I always said the third week of my study plan, I would revise the chapters I learned the previous two weeks.

Again make sure you do your homework completely inside out and learn anything you are given by teachers to learn.

I was also very worried about history but I think I could have gotten an A in the JC. Ensure you know 2nd year section inside out as that can cover a lot of questions 4,5,6. Learn off people in history answers before hand and complete as many exam papers as you can before hand. Most importantly, for question 6 pick which 2 parts out of the 4 you will answer and focus on revising them for the year. It really does save a lot of trouble but still make sure you have an idea of everything else for short questions.

DO NOT GET STRESSED! I know it is easier said than done but just put your mind down to it for the year and it will all be a success!

I`m sorry if this is long winded but this is what worked for me! Any more questions feel free to ask

Thank you so much that sounds extremely helpful! Honestly with the history tips I feel more confident already and I hope you got your A you worked hard for

Sam3364

Fifii wrote: »

Honestly, I was in the same situation as you this time last year! Your results are fantastic already so you don't need to worry too much anyway but here's what I did:
1. Exam Papers- These you may have already or will get later on in the year and they are fantastic. Your teachers will probably set you homework from these and they give you are real feel of what you know and what you need to revise! At first I felt like I needed to revise everything and skip question after question but by the end of the year you will be able for anything that comes up! How I studied was also using exam papers; I would find a long question and if I couldn't get the required number of points in I would revise it and re-do the answer to the highest possible standard. I went straight through short questions until I finished them and then looked back over them with the marking scheme in hand. Personally I didn't write in my papers so I could test myself over and over again!After that , use the guidline times given in the cover of exam papers to time yourself doing your answer.

2.Sticky Notes- Sometimes definitions, dates and figures need to be spot on and on the tip of your tongue, especially in Science and History. I could never ever for the life of me do that without doing over and over them everyday! That's why I used Post it notes, write a question eg. What is an ionic bond? on the front and on the underside write the answer. Stick it somewhere you see often, like of a wall or door. Whenever you pass it try to answer the question and soon it'll stick for good! (I would definitely advise you to use the Real Post it notes though because they last forever but other brands I tried fell off soon after they were stuck up.)

3.Languages- Immerse you self in it! I watched videos and movies and listened to covers of songs in French. It helps sooo much with getting over the tricky accent and you could pick up on a few new phrases and words while your at it. Great for the aural!

4. Homework- People who don't do their homework and do it well, have a very long hard struggle after Christmas. It's worth it to do it.

5. Listen- This might sound basic but get good at listening in class. You need to actively listen and think in class. It might seem as though that teacher at the front of class is rambling on and on about something because your daydreaming or messing or sleeping but what they say could mean the difference between a pass and a fail grade. In my own experience, Business and Geography....just no from first to half way through second year. So....boring! And before every exam I would struggle badly and have to study so much!But then one day I listened to my teachers and sat up straight in my chair. I processed what they said for once instead of in one ear, out the other! After that I basically said goodbye to studying Geography and started getting 90%+ and Business got better too.
So think of it like this: Your in school for ~7 hours anyway so if you listen during school then that means less time spent indoors after school studying or doing homework and more of the things you actually do enjoy!

Finally don't stress out! Sure it's fun to get those around you to pity you, what with all those exams, but know that it isn't the be all end all!;) Good Luck!

Thanks especially for all these study tips :O I have a feeling I'll be using sticky notes a lot!

Beca19

The best thing to help with science is the marking schemes! Do the questions in your exam papers but always correct them with the marking schemes cause I sometimes found answers in the textbook that weren't on the marking scheme!
For geography I used the revise wise book and it was actually all I needed (apart from of course the homework over the past 3 years), it has some really good material and it was the reason I got an A in the mocks!:)
History is very predictable, when it comes nearer exam time you should be able to look over past papers and figure out the patterns, especially for sections like people in history. Don't try memorise your whole textbook, it's impossible! You can leave massive chunks out, for example I studied irish history and left out European entirely and I was able to answer everything needed on the paper! (Don't rely on this completely though, it's a good idea to at least vaguely know the whole course)
Business is also quite predictable and if you learn how to do your budget, final account and books of first entry as well as business documents, you only have to learn a little theory. They're tricky to get the hang of but well worth it if you can do all of them
Good luck anyway and really, don't kill yourself working before Christmas, there's a good chance you'll have forgotten most of it by June anyway haha. Even if you do good solid study after the mocks you'll be fine! Good luck

spurious

Many teachers spoof madly about how much you have to write for People in History answers. Look at the marking schemes yourself and realise an SRS is ONE Significant Relevant Statement.

You don't get any extra marks for having fifteen SRSs when 8 is the maximum you can be scored on - you just annoy the corrector who has to correct an extra couple of pages on each exam.