#macrobstudying

[qwedfas]

how do you guys revise for tests? cue cards?

Hey there,

It usually depends on what the subject is as there are obviously many studying techniques that are more effective for some subjects and not so much others.

For maths:

COMPLETE CHAPTER REVIEW - sometimes it’s impractical to do ALL questions but it’s definitely good practice and even doing every second one is better than none at all

Practice tests! - usually you’ll be given a practice test before a test and this will often be the topic test for the previous year. Definitely don’t disregard it because it is quite useful and it’s testing the skills you should be able to apply in your upcoming test

For content heavy subjects:

MAKE SURE YOU ASK QUESTIONS – when learning the actual content, asking questions is one of the best ways to ensure you understand what you’re learning and hence you’ll be more likely to remember

Cue cards – this doesn’t work for everyone but it’s a nice way to be productive during times where studying is hard (i.e. on public transport)

Practice questions – writing and structuring answers is a skill and to ensure you obtain all the possible marks, knowing what key-words to use and how to structure your answer is only possible through practice!

For languages:

Get into a study group and test each other

Go over what you’ve learnt straight after class

ASK YOUR TEACHER if you have questions

Flashcards for vocab!

These are quite general tips and of course everyone has a different sort of learning style that suits them best. Some people are visual learners and can remember and learn best from drawing diagrams, while some people like to write down the content multiple times to remember it. Hopefully some of the suggestions listed here will help you out and if you need more advice remember you can always send in another question and we also have a tag relating to study tips so be sure to check that out too!

All the best,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Could you recommend some pencil cases that will fit all of my stationery? What sort of stationery do you carry around to class?

Hey there,

There are some pencil cases at Daiso that can fit a lot of your stationery. It’s a two pocket zipped pencil case (There’s a smaller size, and a A4 equivalent sized one) You can also go to officeworks, kmart or target for some pretty cheap and good ones as well.

Generally in our pencil cases we’ll keep a few black or blue pens, a couple of red pens, a pencil, sharpener, rubber, smaller ruler, and highlighters. Some other things you might have are some coloured pencils or markers, a glue stick, scissors, compass and protractor, but it really depends on whether you do a subject that requires those things.

Hopefully this helps,

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

I feel so stressed. I can't sleep and I feel sick.

Hey there!

It is definitely that time of year when stress levels go through the roof and this of course has negative effects on your health. I think the most important thing you can do from now on is try to find something that will help you take your mind off school, something that will help you destress. Personally for me that was having study breaks where I would just dance to pop classics or going to a nearby park for a jog. There are countless options, you just need to find something that will make you happy. Initially you might just think of it as a waste of time but it will be useful in the end when you just want something to take your mind off exams, in fact it made me even more productive whilst studying.

If you feel sick, it’s important to take rest until you feel better, it can be daunting missing some school but it’s better to get it over and done with than having the same cold go on for more than a week.

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Should I listen to music while studying?? What do you guys do? If you do find listening to music helps you in efficiency while working, what type of music do you listen to and how quiet/loud do you keep it playing? Thanks FAM!!

Hey there!

This is really a thing of personal preference and would depend on what works for you. I find for myself that i love listening to music when studying, and that music can range from my favourite spotify playlists of Emo Forever (no joke) to some indie folk tunes. I find that having music playing gives me a little backgrounding soundtrack and blocks out other things i might get distracted by - like people talking, etc. Although there are plenty of people who prefer not to listen to music as it can be distracting to them, because really who can avoid singing along to a good song ;) Sometimes finding with song you want to play next, adjusting the volume and other little things can also take you away from the work that you’re trying to do.

What might be best for you to is to do some try and error - maybe try studying with your favourite kind of music playing at a normal level in the background and see how that goes. If you find it annoying try turning it down or switching the genre to something different (there are plenty of spotify playlist for study music), and if that is still bothering you trying studying without the music. Ultimately just go with whatever work for you :)

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

My english is so bad, I feel like it's worse than a year fives, but I feel like I have no interest in it whatsoever, and NAPLAN is coming up, and my parents place a lot of pressure on me "getting the the dot on the triangle", I really don't like tutoring, I feel like I'm getting my work done for me, but I do want to improve, I probably sound so high and mighty and lazy, anyway, thank you so much for your hard efforts, I mean balancing year 12 and answering our questions is impossible for me.

Hey there,

The thing to remember is that NAPLAN doesn’t mean anything for students. It’s just a way for the government to measure and see an overview of the state of education and student progress, which macrob performs well in every year. Whilst it’s understandable that parents may pressure you to “get the dot on the triangle” because they see it as getting an “A+”, in the long run, NAPLAN has no actual impact on your future learning plans or goals. Talking about this with them might help to change their mind and get them to lay off of you. You should let them know anyway how stressful the pressure that they put on you is, and that;’s it’s not a productive way to encourage and motivate you.

To be honest, if you feel that your tutor is doing all your work for you, then maybe it’s worth the hassle to find another one because tutors are supposed to help you understand the concept not answer the question for you. If you don’t like tutoring then maybe just have a little chat with your parents and tell them that at the moment you feel like it’s in your best interest to not have a tutor for at least this year. Instead, you can try writing some essays by yourself and going through it individually, with a friend or with a teacher. If you’ve got that motivation to improve, trust us that with or without a tutor, you’ll definitely be able to do it :)

Good luck for Naplan!

FAM xoxo

[qwedfas]

did you guys do checkpoints for unit 1/2?

Hey,

FAM member 1: no i didn’t, i barely had the time/energy to do checkpoints for my 3/4s hahahah. But you feel like it’ll help you and then go right ahead!, there’s nothing wrong with more practice.

FAM member 2: Nope! I felt like the help I got from the teachers were enough and didn’t do any study outside of class and homework.

FAM member 3: I personally didn’t use them but I know a lot of my friends who did as it helped them with revision. The library has a lot of checkpoints available so feel free to just go and borrow them to see whether they are for you before you go purchase them.

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hi fam! I want to ask about tuition. I go to a place where there the place is run by one teacher. There are four people in my class and he gives us a ‘test’ at the start of the lesson each week and he does a lecture for the remainder of the three hours. I’m not sure how I feel about his methods and just him in general. I talked to my parents about it but I can’t pick out anything I particularly dislike. How do I know that I’m getting the right learning for myself?

Hey there,

I think the best way to know if you’re getting the most out of a tutor would be to ask yourself the following questions:

Is the tutor trying to constantly work ahead of class, in order to get ahead so that he/she can start on practise papers early?

Is it an environment where I can comfortably ask the questions I want to ask without feeling bad/embarrassed?

Does the tutor’s teaching style allow me to feel comfortable with the concepts being taught? Do I understand the content being taught to me?

Am I/will I be given enough resources (past papers, practise questions etc.)?

If you find yourself answering yes to most of the questions, then you’re probably on the right track with your tutor and your studies.

Hope this helps!

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hi, I recently got my SAC back and I feel that I've done pretty well. However, I'm still not satisfied with my score and I feel like no matter how hard I try, there's always gonna be people better than me. How do I overcome this feeling and do you have any tips on improving from your SAC.

Hi There!

I’ve definitely had those feelings! I just want you to know, that for me those feelings never disappeared. I just learned to not let them get to me and affect how I see myself. Cause truly, as my friend often tell me before a SAC, ‘Marks don’t define who you are.’ So what’s the point in letting them dictate how you see yourself. Instead why not use them to motivate yourself to improve in the next SAC. Someone might get a higher mark than you, but there will still be many that get lower marks than you. Tha doesn’t mean you are better than them or the person who got higher than you is better than you. So don’t let that feeling get to you:)

Love,

FAMxx

[qwedfas]

Hi FAM! I got my first Bio 3/4 SAC back yesterday, and I got 71% scaled score :( It is a really low score, and because I had studied so much for it before, I feel really disappointed? Will this one bad SAC affect my results for the rest of the year? And can you give me any advice on how to bounce back and possibly do much better? Thanks so much!

Hey there!

Having studied Biology last year, I was also in the same situation as you. In fact, may I say in the exact same situation? I also didn’t do so well for my first SAC (~70% scaled I cri) and it was an incredibly upsetting way to start off the rest of the year. There’s nothing that can be done about right now (the only way to go is up!).

However, from then on I tried to improve my studying for exams and note-organising which is especially important for a content-heavy subject like Biology. Something that I think every student should abide by is that ‘studying smart is better than studying long’ - something along the lines of that. In the case of Biology, use your time wisely to understand vocab and definitions and how they fit into concepts - draw flow charts, teach others, write summaries, label diagrams. You have to be active in your study - reading the textbook or putting crash course in the background doesn’t count. You could even utilise travel time/ showering/ little breaks in between to memorise all the different vocab and definitions if you have trouble with that.

For future content, keep an up-to-date concepts book - whether written or online it’s up to you but personally I feel like I’m more engaged with my studying when it’s written. This is for when you move on to other topics - having and reading summaries of each topic (even brief ones) weekly/ fortnightly will help you remember past concepts for the final exam. I know someone who went as far as to summarise the entire textbook but uh, this really isn’t necessary unless you think it'd help.

I recommend doing topic tests/ checkpoints whenever you finish learning a topic. This is so then you can immediately apply your knowledge to questions, as well as to retain it better. Leave a few relevant questions (checkpoints, textbook) to do every week from each topic you’ve learnt.

Now, on SACs. The most essential part of taking SACs is not to freak out. Seriously, with so many things to remember, panicking is the last thing you’d want to do. Take a breath, focus your mind on the current page, and manage your time. I remember I lost 3 marks for something as small as “Through what methods do these substances pass through the membrane?” and I mixed up glucose, oxygen and CO2 for simple and facilitated (gosh, it still pains me). These small marks aren’t worth much but they add up a lot. So it’s not just about knowing your content but also not letting your mind go into disarray when the time starts.

Based on my experience,  your first SAC score does not affect the rest of your SACs or your study score! Just always revise what you’ve learnt, and keep your head clear for future SACs. If you succeed on your other SACs, your marks will hardly be affected. Most importantly, enjoy studying Biology! :D

Love,

FAMxx

[qwedfas]

Hey, how can I catch up on LOADS of work during the holidays (coming so soon!), but still have some fun?

Hey there!

We’ve answered a similar question recently that we think will help you out - http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/165078855822/tips-for-balancing-6-days-a-week-of-sport-and

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

hey guys, so we should be starting methods practice exams now, right? how would you recommend we go about attempting these? there are just so many and i feel so overwhelmed... thanks in advance! xx

Hey there,

It would be best to do older ones first and then closer to the exam to do more current ones as they will be most relevant to your exam. Remember to do both exam 1 and 2 as many people tend to concentrate on exam 1 because it’s easier. Make sure you practice using your bound reference as well! After you do them make sure to go back and see what you got wrong and correct it. You don’t have to do them in timed conditions yet but you’ll have to practice that the closer you get tot the exam.

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

do you guys know any sites where I can read really good persausive essays and stuff ? cos im pretty bad at persausive ;?// thanks FAM!!! ur honestly such beautiful and amazing people u guys deserve soooooooo muccchhh <333

Hey there!

Aww, thanks hun! We really appreciate that :)

Exposure to persuasive techniques might be able to help you figure out strategies.  I would suggest having  a look at the ‘Opinion sections of newspapers (http://www.theage.com.au/comment ) or at sites like The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/au) which isn’t always strictly persuasive but is very good at presenting facts and information in an engaging way. Newspapers/ online sites are generally good places to find relevant articles to read, but you can also find persuasive speeches by searching for them on youtube. You should also ask your teacher for some extra resources too as they can provide you with more specific examples.

Another thing you can do besides reading articles is to look at the way that your friends, teachers, family, politicians or others you see, express themselves when they are trying to show their opinion. The best persuasive writing is engaging and thoughtful - trying to lure your audience into believing you either through facts or emotional connections.

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

hardest chap in spech for you?

Hey there,

FAM Leader 1: It would definitely have to be dynamics

FAM Leader 2: Circular functions!!

FAM Leader 3: Vectors and complex numbers

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

i'm like in a pretty sad stupor.... but i've got so much i have to do rn. :( any advice??

Hey there honey,

We can definitely relate to feeling the same way and it can be hard to get back into the groove of things. The first thing we’d advise you to do is not to push yourself too much as it can be even more detrimental to your own mental health, and that should come before finishing your homework or studying. Try to figure out if there’s anything that have caused these feelings to arise or whether it’s just that you feel a lack of motivation to study. If your feelings are caused by something else then it’s best to deal with that thing first before pushing yourself, as even if you managed to finish the work, your emotions would remain the same. If you need some time to deal with these issues then it’s best to ask your teachers for some extension, and provide as much reasoning as you feel comfortable disclosing. You might want to reach out to friends and family too to help you out, and Gil if the issue is more serious. If it’s more an issue of motivation then we recommend you check out our motivation tag for some more advice.

In terms of tackling the work though we find the best way to approach your work is to prioritize the more important things (things due soon, subjects you’re more behind on, subjects with assessments soon, etc.), and from there to plan out how you’re going to approach your work. Whether this means you split up larger tasks into smaller ones, start on the things that you know is going to take longest, get together with someone else to study with, etc, find what works for you. After that it can just be an issue of sitting down, in a space conducive for your learning, and starting. Trust us, once you sit down and begin it gets a lot easier to work through everything, and hopefully you’ll feel less stressed the more you do.

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

aaaaa it's almost 2am and im busy overthinking abt the hol hw i haven't done/couldn't finish.

Hey there honey,

Don’t worry, there are plenty of people in a similar position to yourself, and there’s definitely things you can do on the last day to work through the stuff you still have to do.  Here’s a simialir question we’ve answered with some advice about what to do today and how to approach the homework you have left - http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/163038682197/i-kinda-left-all-my-work-till-like-now-and-theres.

But remember, even if you have a lot of work to get though, and this applies throughout the school year, that you’ve got to take care of yourself and get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is not only important to keeping you healthy, but also to your ability to work better.

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

i kinda left ALL my work till like now and there's only one day before school starts and im so disorganised pls help ah i'm also away most of this last day too :(

Hey there,

PRIORITISE!

Only do the things that are most important. If you are in year 11, do your ¾ subjects first, if you’re in year 12 do the subjects in order of which one you struggle with most, whichever one you have a SAC for soonest, of have first day back. Set your mind on one thing at a time (example - one subject at a time), and break up a larger task into smaller ones, and work through those. From there you’ve just got to sit down ando do the work and avoid procrastinating. Work is spaces where you won’t be distracted and can remain really focused on your work. Make sure you also check out our study tips tag for some more advice as well.

Hopefully this helps!

Love, FAM xx