Advice for getting the most out of GCSEs...

[mrcharly-YHT]

These are her exams, not yours. It is her responsibility to learn, and to perform as she wishes. My strong experience is that if you give her responsibility for her learning she is more likely to achieve what she wants to achieve.

In my experience as a parent, this is very true. Particularly with girls.  Inventive learning techniques . . . . a friend of my daughters disliked french, but knew 'Friends' by heart, so she downloaded 'Friends' in french and listened to the episodes. Got very high marks for her aural French.

Boys sometimes need pushing to do the work and it is very very painful. My son loathed doing anything that was 'practising' or any written work. I pushed and coached him painfully and he managed a B and C* for the rest. Two years later he said he'd wished he'd listened to me and done what I said (which boiled down to "Do one hour's work every night, even if you have no homework set").

Kim, yes I include mind maps, typesetting on pc etc as 'writing down'. Some people seem to think that reading a noddy revision guide once is enough.  Apart from people with near perfect memories, just reading through once doesn't fix it in the head.

[Kim]

The corollary to that is that some people - usually girls - get into a mindset where work is measured in hours or pages (primary school has a lot to answer for here), and produce copious amounts of beautifully written revision notes, complete with colour-coding, tables of contents and whatever - but fail to actually understand or even take any of it in.

Add a bit of exam anxiety and it becomes a vicious circle...

[arabella]

Nothing to add but I have a son doing exams.
Wow, can I also have your daughter's stuff?  thx.

[Fab Foodie]

Now, please, please, don't be offended, but I have quite a lot of experience in this area:

These are her exams, not yours. It is her responsibility to learn, and to perform as she wishes. My strong experience is that if you give her responsibility for her learning she is more likely to achieve what she wants to achieve.

GCSEs are part of a journey. She will be most likely to do well if she enjoys the journey, and doesn't feel too pressured. These days it isn't anyway a "fail once and you're doomed". If she goes on to A levels and HE a rounded experience will be highly important. A friend of mine (until he retired recently) interviewed potential students for a, typically,minimum 3 A grade entry university course. His view was "we know you can do exams, but tell me about what else defines you, your passions etc". He turned down a lot of "boring" (his words) straight A students - "hothouse flowers" (again, his words).

As I say, please don't be offended. I don't know any of you, and how you interact. However, I have seen quite a lot of young people collapse under the pressure of exam expectations.

this definately ....

[Fab Foodie]

 ... and quite a bit of this ...

The corollary to that is that some people - usually girls - get into a mindset where work is measured in hours or pages (primary school has a lot to answer for here), and produce copious amounts of beautifully written revision notes, complete with colour-coding, tables of contents and whatever - but fail to actually understand or even take any of it in.

Add a bit of exam anxiety and it becomes a vicious circle...

[andyoxon]

I just don't know what she has been or will be told by the school about how to manage the work load etc etc.  I guess they just have to find their way - going to be tough doing grades in different instruments, and all the GCSEs including Art, Music & a language... at the moment I don't thing the discipline is there.   From experience it's a battle to get them to get the practice their instruments;  they want to play them but often other things are more inviting, like BGT...

[hellymedic]

Unlike Julian, I did not learn from taking notes, only from listening and reading - just as well as I never wrote fast enough for much.
I did fine anyway.
We are all different.
Mini must find out what works for her and do it in spades.
Teaching clssmates can be a good way of crystallising a subject in one's own mind.

I think it's important she identifies any hiccups in understanding and sorts these out with a teacher before cumulative learning suffers.

As someone who proudly did almost no homework for at least five years of secondary education, I might not be best qualified to answer!

[why1040]

I'm mostly a kinaesthetic learner, so for me "doing" on some level helps me learn a LOT.  This has been really helpful to know as an adult, but IME they don't really go into that when you're a child, so my grade schooling didn't have the benefit of that knowledge.

For example, for my equine anatomy and physiology, I bought the colouring in books and if I could've I'd have got the model to put together.  For nutrition, I cut information off of feed bags and pasted them together into collages.  For those subjects where you just plain have to learn stuff off by heart, I wrote, wrote, wrote...preferably with lots of different colours and headings and sub-headings etc.  My original classnotes are colour coded and surprisingly easy to read, because that's how I worked.

My classmate who learns aurally on the other hand often sat and doodled during class, but took every word in.  She'd go home and study from books afterwards for the detail, but if she hadn't had the explanation during class, she didn't learn it as well.

Understanding how you learn and what works/doesn't work can help you really set up your learning environment so that it benefits you, which can make it more fun.  I'm one very much for colour-coding and find new binders, schedules etc really exciting, but have a hard time maintaining the filing and organisation, so that's where I'll get distracted and not do so well, which makes it harder to study.  I'm also more likely to work "away from discomfort" than "towards reward", so I find myself working like mad last minute to avoid missing deadlines rather than organising myself in advance to gain good grades...

But it's also important to remember to have some fun in there somewhere...just studying isn't any more healthy than not studying at all! 

[Jacomus]

I'm mostly a kinaesthetic learner, so for me "doing" on some level helps me learn a LOT.  This has been really helpful to know as an adult, but IME they don't really go into that when you're a child, so my grade schooling didn't have the benefit of that knowledge.

For example, for my equine anatomy and physiology, I bought the colouring in books and if I could've I'd have got the model to put together.  For nutrition, I cut information off of feed bags and pasted them together into collages.  For those subjects where you just plain have to learn stuff off by heart, I wrote, wrote, wrote...preferably with lots of different colours and headings and sub-headings etc.  My original classnotes are colour coded and surprisingly easy to read, because that's how I worked.

My classmate who learns aurally on the other hand often sat and doodled during class, but took every word in.  She'd go home and study from books afterwards for the detail, but if she hadn't had the explanation during class, she didn't learn it as well.

Understanding how you learn and what works/doesn't work can help you really set up your learning environment so that it benefits you, which can make it more fun.  I'm one very much for colour-coding and find new binders, schedules etc really exciting, but have a hard time maintaining the filing and organisation, so that's where I'll get distracted and not do so well, which makes it harder to study.  I'm also more likely to work "away from discomfort" than "towards reward", so I find myself working like mad last minute to avoid missing deadlines rather than organising myself in advance to gain good grades...

But it's also important to remember to have some fun in there somewhere...just studying isn't any more healthy than not studying at all!

OT Rant

Oh colour-coding, that brings back some horrible memories - the only real learning support fail my school made - making me take notes in different colours 'because that's how dyslexics learn best' The only thing that does for me is mean that I can't remember it. It took a lot of arguing to get them to accept that black text on white paper is the only way stuff gets into my brain and also that I find large-font text, particularly Comic-fucking-Sans, almost impossible to read

[Julian]

For learning by heart (which I'm not too bad at) I screw my eyes tight shut, rock slightly and mutter it to myself.  I didn't realise I rocked until someone pointed out that I looked like a documentary on Afghani madrassas. 

[David Martin]

Not at GCSE level, but the way I encourage my students to revise is to look at the subject, identify discrete parts of it and write a description of that area (of appropriate length and level) using whatever source material necessary. The act of learning, rehearsing and writing does a lot to instil the base knowledge. Then repeat later without the source material, then worry about trying to answer the questions appropriately. If you don't have a basic understanding and knowledge of facts, it is like being a one armed man in a pull-up competition.

[barakta]

_{[1] In these more enlightened days, I'd be able to use a keyboard, or get extra time.}

No you wouldn't.  GCSE exam boards even more bastardly than ever.  They're going to remove extra time from dyslexics who are above-average achieving even if they're achieving their potential of above average or highness COS of extra time for dyslexia/impairment reasons. So anti social model it's stupid!  Then again, exams, such a limited form of assessment.

Computer for exams ONLY permitted if handwriting speed is lower than 15wpm unless there's some other reason for it.

Or you get a GP to say you have RSI which would be the path I'd take if I didn't have criphands. Keep complaining of RSI, keep complaining, do physio, go back over 1 yr period = bingo legally a disability. 

[barakta]

Oh colour-coding, that brings back some horrible memories - the only real learning support fail my school made - making me take notes in different colours 'because that's how dyslexics learn best' The only thing that does for me is mean that I can't remember it. It took a lot of arguing to get them to accept that black text on white paper is the only way stuff gets into my brain and also that I find large-font text, particularly Comic-fucking-Sans, almost impossible to read

Fail!  Complete fail at understanding dyslexia

I work with dyslexics (and non dyslexics) and it's always a "do you find X helpful?" "No, OK, that's really very OK, how about Y?". 

"Try it and see" "if it doesn't work, don't do it" etc etc

Colour coding and mind mapping DO MY HEAD IN.  Neither are suitable for my learning style which is horribly verbal/wordy and horribly small-picture - I did my uni dissertation on learning styles in people with dyslexia and dyscalculia.  This makes it fun trying to teach students it in software which I think is moderately limited in scope even for those who use it.

It's like digital recorders - they're not a panacea for dyslexia either.  Mileage varies hugely depending on the course, student, task and commitment to it.

[HTFB]

Computer for exams ONLY permitted if handwriting speed is lower than 15wpm unless there's some other reason for it.

How does that speed---presumably tested in a dictation exercise---translate into the exam hall? I never managed to write essays at more than 350 words / hour in an exam, and I've no mechanical or functional disability except left-handedness.

[Jaded]

Don't forget 'exam technique'.

Reading a paper, understanding the questions properly, and dividing up the time to make a plan is worth more points than a lot of revision.

[redshift]

For learning by heart (which I'm not too bad at) I screw my eyes tight shut, rock slightly and mutter it to myself.  I didn't realise I rocked until someone pointed out that I looked like a documentary on Afghani madrassas. 

Oh, stimming.  People used to tell me off for that.

I used writing to get me through O-levels (showing my age now).  For Latin, I typed the set text and my translation for revision.  Latin was rigid, my handwriting crablike. Typing was the answer, and I received an 'A' which in those days was as good as it got.  It also taught me to type.  For chemistry, physics and biology I got good at manipulating equations, which needed maths.  Everything else was reading, which is why I'm still no good at French.

I learned much later that I have a visually augmented memory.  These days, the guys at work say 'go and ask Liz and she'll draw you a diagram.'  diagrams and models help me much more than words on the page these days.  My classic 'do I really know and understand this?' method is to teach someone else.  If I get tied in knots explaining it, or they ask a question I can't answer, then I don't know it.  I still read though - everything.  Wiki, books, Khan Academy, TED, iFixit, Make, you name it.

As others have said, the 'how' is personal - the learning method will be as unique as the individual, and can change over time.  The trick is to do the actual learning, rather than focus on method.  mrcharly's 'one hour per night' was three hours for my school (3 subjects per night, one hour each, and 4 at weekends), but it works.  'Repetition, adaptation, repetition' whatever the method

[barakta]

Computer for exams ONLY permitted if handwriting speed is lower than 15wpm unless there's some other reason for it.

How does that speed---presumably tested in a dictation exercise---translate into the exam hall? I never managed to write essays at more than 350 words / hour in an exam, and I've no mechanical or functional disability except left-handedness.

I'm not 100% sure to be honest, cos most of my students using computers have RSI or have had surgery on a hand which means they can't handwrite for more than an hour or so without severe pain - sort of mild mild disability which is fine till exams.  I think the dyslexics etc all get assessed for handwriting speed by an ed psych and it'll be either dictation or copying - there will be standardised tests of gibberish or something.

Personally I think everyone should be allowed to type but a surprising number of my students turn down the use a PC option cos they think to write and thinking to type is a different skill - it took me a few years to switch from handwriting (badly) as a child to total typing. 

Left handedness can make writing very hard indeed and there's interesting correlation between higher numbers of dyslexics etc being left handed which I think is interesting. 

[HTFB]

Left handedness can make writing very hard indeed and there's interesting correlation between higher numbers of dyslexics etc being left handed which I think is interesting.

It can have surprising effects. I found, aged 7 or so, that the simplified cursive script we were taught didn't work for me, because it needed a lot of picking up and putting down of the pen, and I couldn't do that reliably in the right place (it's fine in mirror writing). So I developed a scrawl with letter-forms that meant the pen doesn't leave the paper so often. So also, I preferred writing a few long words to many short ones, which makes for a densely-composed style of language; and in speech this is pompous and could lose me friends; and then my thoughts go faster than my hand, and a tendency to over-think and not always complete ideas becomes part of my character; and then I lose marks in history (say), or subjects where the teacher is marking by ticking boxes rather than reading closely to follow the ideas (as in English), so I choose one subject over another

My handwriting has had all sorts of implications for my course of life and personal development. It's a theory of reverse graphology.

[hellymedic]

Though right-handed, my writing was slow and joining it up mostly did not work for me.
I developed legible if, not neat, writing and kept my notes concise.
Hauled up in Court for describing 23 stone man as 'big chap!'

[mrcharly-YHT]

Computer for exams ONLY permitted if handwriting speed is lower than 15wpm unless there's some other reason for it.

How does that speed---presumably tested in a dictation exercise---translate into the exam hall? I never managed to write essays at more than 350 words / hour in an exam, and I've no mechanical or functional disability except left-handedness.

I'm not sure. I have dreadfully slow handwriting. My daughter and step-daughter are blisteringly fast - they can churn out a 6-page handwritten essay in a one-hour exam. Probably about 200words per page, so 1200wphour.

Being able to write fast and legibly is an immense advantage.

[andyoxon]

Our youngest is doing a week and half of KS2 SATS... so far so good.

Older mini wasn't impressed when I set the TalkTalk homework filter up yesterday, it's a work in progress, but could be very useful to have a distraction reduced time...

[Kim]

Older mini wasn't impressed when I set the TalkTalk homework filter up yesterday, it's a work in progress, but could be very useful to have a distraction reduced time...

I suppose that depends on how distracting learning about tunnelling, proxies, VPNs and so on might be

[Julian]

Visible panty lines?

[TimC]

For learning by heart (which I'm not too bad at) I screw my eyes tight shut, rock slightly and mutter it to myself.  I didn't realise I rocked until someone pointed out that I looked like a documentary on Afghani madrassas. 

Oh, stimming.  People used to tell me off for that.

I used to learn lines like that when I was Han Hamateur Hactor.

I learned much later that I have a visually augmented memory.  These days, the guys at work say 'go and ask Liz and she'll draw you a diagram.'  diagrams and models help me much more than words on the page these days.  My classic 'do I really know and understand this?' method is to teach someone else.  If I get tied in knots explaining it, or they ask a question I can't answer, then I don't know it.  I still read though - everything.  Wiki, books, Khan Academy, TED, iFixit, Make, you name it.

Oh! That's me, that is! I never had any idea it was called something. I always draw my explanations - helped a lot when I was a flying instructor, and still does with the kids. Well, I think so anyway. And I read knowledge voraciously.

[Kim]

Visible panty lines?

Maybe Andrew S. Tanenbaum could do an article for Grazia?