#macrobstudytips

[qwedfas]

To the annon who wanted study tips. Whilst taking in FAM's tips, you can look at motivation2study, studyquill, tbhstudying and Strivetofit (definetly this one, because she does a tone of study with me videos. if you feel lonely studying, you play the video in the backround and it helps u stay on track because u feeling like somone is watching you and you feel motivated to study). The rest of the youtubers are studytips, planning and general study bloggers. Happy studying!!:)) (ps, my peral opin)

Hey!

Thank you for sharing this :)

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

how to create a good study schedule?and any good study youtubes for inspo?

Hey,

Everyone studies differently so, if it helps, be sure to check out our study tips tag (#macrobstudytips) for some advice.

In terms of study schedules, here is what some of us have to say:

FAM Member 1: I try my best to do all my study on the weekdays, during my frees and after school. If I’m studying after school, I’ll either stay at school until 6 get as much as done as possible, go home eat dinner and then sleep. Or I’ll go home and eat, then head out to my local library until 8, head home, shower and sleep. I try my best to do this every weekday hahah as for youtube I try to avoid going on it because I know i’ll get sidetracked REally easily and quickly :)

FAM Member 2: I don’t watch youtube so I’ve no idea what’s out there that might be inspirational sorry! I definitely need to improve my study schedule as I think personally for me it’s hard to get into a groove and just power through what needs to be done. At the moment, I’ll study during my frees (usually in the library) and then after school on most weekdays I’ll go to the library for a couple hours and study there because the environment is better for studying than it is at home. In terms of creating a good study schedule, it’s best to keep in mind what other activities you’ve got going on so that you don’t overwhelm or over-work yourself and realise you’ve run out of time for particular things after scheduling them in. In other words, only set yourself things that are realistically achievable after considering what else might be going on. For example, say you have sport after school. That will obviously take some time out of your day and then resting and generally taking care of yourself post-sport will take up some time too. As we all know, physical health correlates with mental health so you might not only be physically tired but also mentally tired. Thus, when scheduling in study sessions and homework tasks, try and gauge what would realistically be achievable for you so that you can get it done and not feel bad about setting more than you can do. By setting only 2 or 3 tasks and accomplishing them as opposed to setting 5 or 6 and only doing one or two of those, you’ll feel much better at the end of the day as have a much better mindset for the day after because sometimes, being unable to complete all that you’ve set can be super demotivating which can then affect your productivity over a couple of days.

FAM Member 3: Honestly I don’t really study enough so I’m probably not a very good example. I try and study during all my frees, but usually don’t during lunch and recess because I like to have a break. Also, I just sleep through all of my frees in the morning because I like to sleep and usually can’t really be bothered getting up. Then, I try and study at school till 4:45 or 5pm (depending on whether I’m in the library or silent study space. After that I go home and eat dinner while watching the news or youtube (which admittedly isn’t the best habit), and then study until 9/10pm if I can be bothered (which is about another 2 hours). After that I might study a bit more I want to (usually because I have a SAC), or i’ll just have some time to relax, and then get ready for bed. That’s a pretty good day for me study wise, but I’ve been really tired of late so I’ve haven’t been studying that much when I get home. I find the thing that helps me the most is to be strict with my dinner break, and then go straight to studying, because if I don’t vaguely discipline myself, I end up wasting away the whole evening because I never start studying. Setting reasonable goals for your day is also good, ie. just picking 2-4 things you want to achieve that day depending on the size of the task. I tend to be pretty chill with studying, because not having anytime to do things I want to in the evening makes me feel pretty unhappy. I’ll probably start to get a lot more strict with studying as the term comes to a close so I can catch-up on work i’ve neglected over the year and try and get in a good routine for preparing for exams. As for study youtubers, I don’t really watch that may but I enjoy Ruby Granger, Holly Gabrielle (Vegan Holly) and Unjaded Jade for study-related content + Rowena Tsai and The Seoul Search for organisation/motivation content to help improve my study routine. I also like watching videos for Planner-related content but I don’t know if you’re interested in that.

Hope this helps,FAM xx

[qwedfas]

What do you do in German VCE?

Hi,

In German ½ we did a lot of grammar to build the foundation for ¾ which is more conversational and more about the German culture and history. In ¾ we spend a lot of time doing our own detailed study research about the GDR which is part of the oral exam in October. Frau Hohmann is very dedicated and takes really good care of us and you can ask her for help any time.

However, the curriculum is changing next year so it’s best to have a look at the study design:

This year’s: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/german/germansd.pdf

Next year’s: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/german/GermanSD_2019.pdf

Other documents on the vcaa website:

https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/lote/german/germanindex.aspx

Regardless of how the study design changes, you will definitely learn a lot about:

Grammar, vocab & foundations of the German language

Various aspects of Germany (e.g. culture, history, etc.)

Language skills: reading, writing, listening, speaking…

It would also to be advisable to talk to the German teacher Frau Hohmann, as she will be able to answer questions about the subject, and how it is taught at macrob more accurately.

Hope this is useful!

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hey Fam! Do you have any tips on how to be more disciplined when studying?? Just got through a while term of sacs and soon they’ll start again :/

Hey,

We can all totally relate! Especially with next term essentially being our last term of school, it’s full steam ahead so during this so-called ‘holiday’ break it’s super important to try and get on top of things as best you can and pretty much have a game plan right up until exams. This is not going to be easy which is the reason why we need to be really proactive and move forward taking small steps, one step at a time.

The best way to maximise your study time is to work in bursts of productivity. This basically means to try and work with full focus for a certain time period and then have a short break in between. For example, you could plan to do study sessions of 30 minutes with 5 minutes break in between and then maybe after four of these sessions have a longer break of say 15 minutes. This is a technique used to try and maximise productivity through shorter periods of heightened concentration because for most people it’s not an easy task to sit down and stay fully focused for a couple hours without a break in between. (Eventually this is something we’ll need to practice since our exams will each be a few hours.)

Another thing that might be something to consider is the state of your study space. Do you have your own desk? What’s on the desk – is it cluttered or tidy? Does it have enough space for all your books? Is there enough light? These are the kind of things you need to be aware of because the more stuff there is that’s unrelated to school, the more likely it is you’ll get distracted or be less motivated to study which means you’re not getting the most out of your study sessions. Try and keep your space as tidy as possible to ensure that you aren’t bringing in accidental distractions. Following on from the physical state of your study space comes what else do you do there? If you have your own desk – are you watching movies and/or youtube videos? Are you sitting at your desk while scrolling through social media? Is your phone in your hand rather than a pen? If you said yes to any of these, you’re not about to be scolded no, however, by continually associating these behaviours with sitting at your desk, you’re subconsciously training your brain to be distracted every time you sit at your desk so when you feel motivated to get some studying in and you sit down at your desk your brain will think “yes, time to go on youtube” and before you know it you’ll be sucked into a youtube vortex and any intention of study flies out the window. The bottom line here is just to make sure that your desk is study-friendly both in terms of its physical nature as well as on a psychological level.

With regards to actually studying, building a routine and making a habit out of it might be something you want to have a crack at. This may not be for everyone but writing out a list of things to do for the day or for the week and breaking down each task into smaller tasks might be a way to not only stay on task but also stay more motivated as breaking down these things might make them seem easier to manage. Something else you might like to incorporate to help stay disciplined while you study is to schedule in proper breaks. Reward yourself. Perhaps after a certain amount of time of after the completion of a certain amount of tasks, take a proper break and reward yourself for doing what you did. We have to work hard and work smart but we also deserve to acknowledge that we’re working hard.

Hopefully some of this helps.

Good luck!FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hey guys, would you be able to make a masterlist of info regarding year 11 entry?

Hey,

We’re very sorry but no one from year 12 this year was from year 11 entry, so we can’t share any personal experiences concerning the test or the interview! But feel free to check out the information regarding Year 11 entry, on our school website at: http://www.macrob.vic.edu.au/enrolment-information.html

However here are some tips for VCE!

Starting VCE can seem a little daunting but it really is just being stricter with yourself, have better time management, etc. Perhaps the thing people have the most problem with is how they study. Here’s a list of links that’ll direct you to our previous answers relevant to Year 11.

Beginning VCE:http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171358988257/hi-fam-just-wondering-what-is-the-jump-from-year

Studying links:

Procrastinating/Time management: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171445405767/im-such-a-procrastinator-halp-im-in-yr-12-and-sohttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170902151917/hey-fam-i-am-unable-to-get-any-work-done-inhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170864599637/how-do-you-guys-focus-when-studying-and-nothttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170789245507/i-honestly-dont-know-how-to-stop-procrastinating

Resources:http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171434157482/what-are-some-useful-apps-for-schools-andhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172053083452/what-did-you-guys-do-with-last-years-notes-whathttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171750006692/do-you-use-loose-leafs-or-notebooks-do-you-have-ahttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171404688387/what-are-some-great-topical-practice-exams-andhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171407509932/hey-what-do-you-do-with-past-testsexams-and

Tests:http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171749714827/hi-fam-just-wondering-how-do-you-guys-prepare

Self Study:http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171142228342/hey-what-are-some-effective-ways-to-self-study

Subjects links:

Year 11: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171445048297/hi-fam-im-now-in-year-11-and-i-keep-hearinghttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/173126752167/hey-fam-please-help-me-im-in-year-12-and-therehttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172549739532/hey-fam-how-many-12s-can-i-do-in-yr-11-and-alsohttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172372785302/hi-fam-is-it-possible-to-drop-a-unit-12-subject

Doing two 3/4s: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/173114909452/hey-fam-i-am-in-yr-10-and-am-doing-2-vcehttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171570407612/am-currently-in-year-11-and-doing-two-34s-how

Languages: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172306165917/how-do-you-study-for-a-language-how-to-youhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171407304437/hi-fam-for-those-doing-french-or-just-any

English: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171749245277/how-do-you-annotate-a-novelbookplay-for-englishhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170789180992/hi-fam-i-would-like-to-know-how-to-improve-myhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172955925697/hey-fam-english-is-like-literally-my-weakesthttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171125339187/hi-are-all-english-vce-exams-the-same-or-do-they

Maths: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171650154802/heyy-fam-so-basically-ive-been-having-troublehttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171126384107/hey-those-of-you-who-did-methods-last-year-do-youhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171125373137/how-do-i-become-a-maths-god

Eco: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171407422192/hey-fam-members-who-did-eco-i-was-really-set-onhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170567132817/hey-fam-im-in-year-10-and-im-really-stressed

Biohttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/173140812777/guys-do-you-think-biozone-biology-units-1-2

VET: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172709662062/hey-fam-i-just-wanted-to-know-about-doing-a-vethttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171125382402/hi-im-interested-in-studying-allied-health-next

HHD: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171219399832/hey-fam-have-any-of-you-done-both-34-accounting

Spesh: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170705344262/do-any-of-you-guys-do-spesh-maths-is-it-really

Psych: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170640123667/hi-fam-i-was-wondering-if-anyone-has-done-unithttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/173052876307/hey-avon-i-was-just-wondering-if-you-can-share

Glopol/history:http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170482898047/hey-i-was-planning-my-vce-subjects-and-i-cant

Balancing life links:

http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171917283892/is-there-anything-more-to-life-other-than-schoolhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171585133197/hi-fam-i-have-no-idea-how-to-fit-everything-into

Stress, motivation, bad feelings links:

Workload:http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171858074157/hey-fam-i-have-tons-of-work-to-do-every-day-andhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171691125447/do-you-guys-ever-feel-like-your-so-done-withhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171858074157/hey-fam-i-have-tons-of-work-to-do-every-day-and

Motivation: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/173052821112/i-feel-dead-all-the-timehttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171650036307/how-to-stop-procrastinating-and-be-motivated-to-do

Stress: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171514805747/hey-hey-i-have-my-first-sac-coming-at-up-and-imhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171620919012/ways-to-stop-thinking-about-all-the-mistakes-i-didhttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170863778962/hey-sometimes-i-cant-really-deal-with-stress

Doing extracurricular/ exchanges/ etc links:

http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/172404517212/hey-fam-is-it-ok-to-start-a-sport-late-like-ihttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171404653717/i-always-get-rejected-i-tried-out-for-a-couple

Exchanges: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170902108662/hi-fam-so-im-in-year-10-and-i-wanted-to-do-2-34shttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/170705250817/what-is-the-best-year-to-go-on-overseas-exchange

Things specific to Year 11:

Olympiads: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171445715387/has-anyone-done-the-chemistry-olympiad-was-ithttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171445474032/what-are-some-textbooks-and-resources-do-you-guyshttp://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/171570540647/hey-fam-apparently-the-yr-11s-had-to-resit-their

These are only the links to this year’s answers - there are a many more from previous years that you can find here: http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/tags

Love,FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hey those of you who did methods last year do you mind if I asked some questions? What resources did you use throughout the year, and did any of you do well without having a tutor? Is it worth learning the course early in the year? Thanks guys xx

Hi!FAM member 1: I used mainly the textbook and Checkpoints to study, and just doing a lot of practise exam papers towards the end of the year. It’s definitely worth keeping up-to-date with everything and starting preparations for SACs and exams earlier rather than later, but I don’t know if learning the course ahead would be the best use of your time because the teachers seem to have a good idea of how to get through all the content throughout the year, and personally I get bored and zone out when I learn something for the second time. Hope that helps!FAM Member 2: Hey there, I worked through the textbook in advance (a couple chapters ahead) and did checkpoints and other past exams questions for test and SAC preparation. I had a tutor, but I think if you listen in class and stay on top of the workload throughout the year and address any problems/questions you may have throughout the year to your teachers, you should be fine without a tutor :)

Best of luck for methods!Love,FAM xx

[qwedfas]

How do I become a maths god?

Hey!This is a bit of a broad request but nonetheless we’ll try our best to help! I’m going to start by saying that maths is not for everyone. Maths is NOT for everyone. If you like maths by no means do you need to be the best. I know it’s hard to get out of the mindset that you do need to be the best but because all of us at Mac.Rob (including you!) are such bright and intelligent people, the competition is insane. Rather than aim to be a maths god, try and create smaller goals that eventually lead to where you want to be in terms of your mathematical abilities.For example, completing all the set work and making sure you understand each concept in depth is a great way to start and gain confidence in what you do. This can also apply for other subjects. Once you’ve covered the basic and necessary understanding of different concepts studied in class, feel free to delve into different waters and explore what those concepts can lead to. Ask your teacher and friends about their thoughts on particular ideas and perspectives on different things.If you’re simply trying to manage the set work and find it difficult to understand topics during class, it might help to go to maths help! Don’t feel bad because you feel like you’re the only one struggling because I promise most of us would be in the same boat and we’re all really kind and supportive people so even if you’re not some maths god, don’t be disheartened by that.Good luck with it all!Love,FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hey fam!! I am unable to get any work done in class. I don’t know, but I get sidetracked or don’t know how to do it, so I postpone til I get home. But when I reach home I never seem to do anything and can’t concentrate. In the end, I sleep really late and dont get hw or extra study done.

Hi there!

This is quite a relatable situation to be in, for many of us, since different classes and teachers use different teaching techniques, which may not necessarily suit us. In these times, it is important to ask yourself questions to figure out why this is the case… Do you not enjoy the content? Do you not feel like studying it? Do you not feel motivated during class time?

Once you address the reasons for this, you can work on it to change it. For example, if don’t feel motivated in class, maybe you can talk to your teacher about your class learning. If you don’t understand the content, or take longer to understand, that can put many people off, so maybe you can read ahead before that class to solve that issue. Reading ahead, learning the class material before your actual class at school, is a very effective way to get the most out of class. If you do this at home, then when you go to class, it will be revision for you, and you can take it more chill as well as avoid stress.

As for studying at home, this is a much more flexible place where you can arrange your study area and routine the way you want it. Although it is easy to sometimes get distracted, you have to take responsibility to maintain your focus. Again, ask yourself why you tend to not be productive at home. It may because of travel time, or family or anything else… but be aware of this, so that you can stop yourself when you get distracted.

Another very important thing is that you should always make time to do the things you enjoy and make you happy. Anything that sparks you up, whether it be going for a run, playing board games, swimming, something you are passionate about. Because this will probably give you more motivation for the rest of the things in your life such as school work, as well as build a positive mindset to handle it with.

Good luck this year! Remember to sleep well. Health comes first. We know you can do it girl!

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hey! VCE is really tough and I find that when I have a 3/4 SAC coming up, I tend to only study that subject for a week and fall behind in others which isn't great because when I have assessments in my other subjects I have to cram. So how can you keep that balance between all your subjects so you don't fall behind and also do well in your 3/4s?

Hey there! 

I think we all struggle with this - well I for one definitely understand. Let’s say there are about 4 hours a day to study. You dedicate half of that time to your ¾ and the other half to your other subjects. A thing about VCE is that many teachers don’t set you homework and expect you to do your own thing and kinda help yourself to keep up with the content and do your own work. Another thing I do is to maximise class time. If you do a maths subject, try to finish the exercise in class. Sometimes I ALMOST finish in class and finish it during lunch.

You’ll notice that between SACs there’s kinda a little lull in stress. Like when there are no SACs or assessments coming up, rather than using that time to procrastinate, you could get ahead in the content. For me, the UMAT was coming up and I knew I was solely going to study for it for a week, so during the holidays and the first week of school I tried really hard to complete as many spesh exercises as possible so I wouldn’t fall behind. It’s also good to have a timeline of your ¾ course. Usually they’re very accurate so you can tell when a SAC is coming even if your teacher doesn’t tell you. If you see it coming up in 3 weeks, rather than waiting until 1 week before to fully study, you could start your revision earlier and do a little bit everyday. By the time it comes to 1 week beforehand you’ve cut down so much of the workload and can focus on really solidifying your knowledge.

Every subject is different. You know yourself better than anybody else and should know which subjects require more effort/practise/attention.One tip my teacher taught me was to have 3 levels of intensity. High level - such as doing a practice sac/essay/exam/etc. Medium level - Writing/finalising notes. Low level - revising flash cards/notes. These are just a few examples and could vary depending on subject. But you should do the lower intensity activities later at night cos you’ll be tired. There are also heaps of articles on how to manage your time and be more productive.

Hope this helps!

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

I have a fear for long, time-taking tasks, and of not doing the task amazingly, so as a result I put the whole thing off for later :(

Hey there,

I can definitely understand where you’re coming from. There is often a lot more pressure on us (that we mostly create for ourselves, tbh) when we’re given a lot of time on a task, and it can often lead to us procrastinating or just putting it off. However, we can’t let these feelings, and, I guess, a form of perfection get the better of us. There are some things that you can do that might help:

Tell yourself that something is better than nothing. Just write/do something - anything. Then at least you’ll get a mark for the task, which is a lot better then getting no mark for the task. And think of it this way, once you’ve got a basic outline for the task, the only way you can go is up ie. the only thing you can do from here on is improve your work. There will be heaps of time once you’ve done a draft to edit your task to your standards, and make it amazing

Instead of viewing the task as one big thing, break it down into smaller tasks so it is not as daunting. For instance, if you’re writing an essay, maybe break it down into smaller tasks such as 1. Find evidence and quotes, 2. Plan ideas, 3. Write intro 4. Write body paras, 5. Write conclusion. You only need to do a few small things each day to bring you closer to completing your goal

Do 5 minutes of the work, and you’ll find that since you’ve already started you’ll continue it without having to force yourself to :)

Good luck :) Check out #macrobstudytips for more tips :)

Love, FAM xx

[qwedfas]

if it's already like 10-10:30pm and I spent the entire day procrastinating, should I just go to bed or should I stay up a bit more and try to start something? I'm usually very behind and should do work but i also need more sleep :// this dilemma is a common occurrence for me and I never know what to do halp

Hey love,

Sorry for the late reply! But you should go to sleep when this happens because your health is what is most important!!! Your body needs sleep and before you begin studying properly again I advise you to go to sleep, to catch up on sleep so you can concentrate again and better too. Once you have caught up on sleep your brain will be so much more refreshed and ready to learn, so take baby steps to catch up on what you have missed out on. What you learn when you are tired will probably not consolidate into your memory so there is no point pushing yourself.

Tips with dealing with procrastination

Try a new study space such as state library

Get rid of distractions: turn your phone off

For more tips go on our previous answered http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/search/procrastinating

Love, 

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Yo Lisa how did you study for your bio sacs

Hey anon,

I studied for my bio sacs by always re-reading my class notes, particularly the book that is used in class and was provided by the bio teachers. After reading and ensuring I understood everything I would write notes from the powerpoints that i found really informative. I honestly never used a textbook but always relied on class notes/ powerpoints, A+ notes and my tutor notes. I recommend 100% doing checkpoints!!! I cannot stress this enough - these will prepare you for the real exam too as they are VCAA questions and some are quite challenging. I did occasionally do topic tests, NEAP questions but honestly it isn’t essential. As long as you know your content well you can answer any application question.

I always wrote flashcards - writing things down again just helped me consolidate my memory but it was also convenient to re read. Get your friends to test you or test each other! Another thing that I used to do to recall content was do a self test, where I pretty much copy and pasted dot points from the study design onto Notes on my macbook and just re typed the content relevant to that study design. This helped for definitions that you need to memorise and rote learn.

So in summary what worked for me was cue cards to help with memorising and then checkpoints!

Good luck with bio!

FAM XX

[qwedfas]

Would you write notes and do homework in pencil or pen? For me, I don't like using pen and use a pacer because I'm prone to making a lot of mistakes and I can rub it out (except english, where i use pen). I'm not sure but I think in VCE you have to use a pen? I cant imagine myself doing maths in pen haha, there will definitely be lots of crossing out.

Hey there,

FAM Leader 1: I prefer using pen, and in the exam you are usually supposed to use pen

FAM leader 2: Hey! I do my maths and chemistry homework, SACs and exams in pencil always. Even though VCAA prefers you to use pen for the exams for these subjects, they still mark your exam if you do it in pencil (I did my methods ¾ exam in pencil). I do make a lot of silly mistakes so I think crossing out with pen would just use up too much space, and make things more messy (for me!). As long as your pencil is dark and is visible on paper when it is scanned (because VCAA scans the exams), then you will be fine. On the other hand, for subjects that are less calculation based such as English or Biology, I use pen as it is a stricter requirement from VCAA to  do so in these subjects. I’m not sure what happens when you use pencil for the exam… but I would use pen for these subjects just to be on the safe side. So to answer your question, I would recommend using pencil for homework for maths, and pen for English/similar subjects.

Best wishes,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

How are you approaching the holidays? How are you going to tackle all the school work?

Hey there!

Most of us are using these holidays, while also for sleep and relaxation, as a chance to catch up or get a head start on some unit 4 stuff. The ways we’ll be doing this are pretty varied but you can find a whole compilation of different methods in our study tips tag that’ll hopefully help you out!

 Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

yo im kinda dying in every subject

Hey there!

We definitely feel you and have been there before but remember there’s always time and a way to bounce back. We reckon having a look through our study tips, motivation and stress tags would be the best help

Love,

FAM xx

[qwedfas]

Hi, I have a couple of questions what is the best way to deal with performing poorly in a subject (lol maths), I'm been doing horrendously in it and consistently getting awful results. And how is VCE literature? is it fun, what is it all about? if it helps to answer the questions better im in year 10 thanks

Hey there!

It sucks to hear about how you’re doing in math but here’s a few previous asks that can hopefully help you out:

http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/161234274457/what-happens-if-you-consecutively-fail-and-yes

http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/161158881322/im-failing-so-many-subjects-i-just-hate-school

http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/161158217667/i-do-so-bad-at-school-in-certain-subjects-and

http://friendsatmacrob.tumblr.com/post/161157788652/hey-fam-3-so-im-really-struggling-with-maths

And in regards to lit - I personally love it! I did the ½ unit and now am doing the ¾ and while it can be super confusing at times, and you’re asked to float a lot of ideas at the same time in trying to comprehend the texts you study, everything we’ve done has been so interesting. If you’re into going into the nitty and gritty of how a book constructs itself (in terms of the language, imagery, tones, etc that are used), looking at the deeper meanings of texts and don’t mind essay writing then it should be a good subject for you. In the ¾ (for this year at least) we study Robert Browning’s poetry and learn to closely analyse that, Gogol’s short stories for which we write a creative piece on, and write essays on ‘Heart of Darkness’, ‘A Doll’s House’, and ‘Twelfth Night’ through various theoretical lenses (feminist, post-colonialist, marxist, etc - although you’ll learn about these in ¾). While it can definitely seem like a lot, and at times it is (especially when you’re adjusting to writing lyrical essays and doing deep analytical work), the hype around it is a being the hardest english or only for people who like to read isn’t really true. If you want to know more you could also ask any of the current lit teachers (Ms Purcell, Ms Arnott and Mr Muir). And i’d definitely recommend doing the ½ as a taster to the ¾, but also as it gives you time to practice and find your footing.

Hopefully this helps!Love, FAM xx