2. Learning off by heart

Does anybody else find it hard learning off things? I used to be horrible at it. Everything I tried was hopeless, until I found the way that works for me. Every body's mind works differently and something that will work for me wont work for anybody else but hey lets try it anyway!

How I learn off picture stories, oral answers or essays is.....by writing it out about 20 times. I know I know its the best tip since sliced bread! Seriously this is how I learn off things. I break the piece of writing up into small sentences, write them out a good few times, test my self by saying it out loud, then write them again and test it one last time after an hour. I have to say this works amazingly for me, everything I try to learn doing it this way I can remember it.

Yes it is time consuming but it works for me. I can learn paragraphs off of German, Irish and History one after another and not get confused.

To do this you will need a lot of paper! I usually buy a few refill pads at the start of the year. In third year I think i could have filled a wheelie bin with all of the papers, so this year I have decided to keep them and see how many sheets I used.

I suggest using a pencil because with the amount of writing you will do the ink will be waisted whereas a pencil just needs to be sharpened every so often.

Most important thing to remember is to make sure you start off learning the correct sentence because once its glued in your brain it ain't budging if its wrong.

When you've filled up a sheet don't forget to recycle it or shred it and use for litter for your cat or rabbit.

Good luck, Slàn!

1: Organizing

    The first tip I think everybody will give you it but it is important. Get organised.

Organisation is key in achieving your goals. When you have all your study notes organised were you can grab what you need straight away it makes studying so much easier. And that is what we want to achieve right?

    If you think about it, if you don't have what you need you'll spend more time looking for what to study instead of studying.

    I know that I can only work when I have things organised. However I do remember doing the junior cert and spending each night before studying organizing things, basically I was procrastinating. Now mind you I did do good in the exams but I know I could have done better.

    Here is what I suggest when organising study notes:

    Set a time to organise each subject. You could do an hour each night and do a subject a night. But for me I usually take a day to go through everything.(Don't spend weeks!!!)

    Watch your rubbish bin! Please don't throw away sheets of notes or homework without looking through them and making sure you don't need them. But don't keep every single sheet you get because looking at a full folder to revise automatically puts me off. Keep what you need and shred the rest.

    Now once you have sorted through what you need and don't need you need to file them. What I like doing is to get a binder for each subject. I use poly pockets to store all my sheets witch keeps them clean and they wont rip as easy.

    Find a place to store all your books copy's and folders. There is no point in having a history book downstairs and your studying in your room. You'll just get sidetracked. Getting your history book will result in talking about school with your Nanna who offers you some sweets and shows you whats on TV so you watch only to keep her company...yea been there.

    
    Drawing up a study plan can really help you, I use one when big exams are coming up. If you make yourself stick to it believe it or not when you have done what you wanted to do you will feel happy, its an achievement even a small one but they all add up.

   Here is what i suggest buying:

• A binder or some sort of folder to hold sheets for each subject.
• Polly pockets. (I always go through these)
• Study planner or you can make one yourself! (shall I do a post on this?)

   I usually look out for school supplies in second hand shops they are usually cheap and in good shape!!

  I tried to keep this short and sweet because short tips are what I like to read. Get organising. If you have anything about studying you want my opinion on just comment and ill try my best to help out. Thanks!

Images from google.